I'm considering upgrading my CPU from a Ryzen 3900X. I'm deciding between the 9800X3D and the 9950X3D. My main concern is that the 9800X3D has fewer threads and cores, and I'm wondering if I will actually notice any performance loss with those fewer resources. I'll be using it mostly for high-end web browsing and gaming, paired with a 5070TI. I've outlined the specs below:
|3900X|9800X3D|9950X3D|
|:-|:-|:-|
|12 (Threads: 24)|8 (Threads: 16)|16 (Threads: 32)|
Would I miss the extra threads and cores with the 9800X3D?
4 Answers
The 9950X3D is more for productivity tasks. In gaming, it doesn’t outperform the 9800X3D, and unless you're doing heavy multitasking, the extra cores aren't necessary for gaming.
If your main focus is gaming and web browsing, the 9800X3D is a solid choice. Most games don’t even utilize more than 8 cores, so the lower core count shouldn't impact your gaming performance much, especially with that architecture improvement.
Exactly! I find most games run fine with 8 cores, and the 9800X3D's clock speeds really help in keeping up with performance.
100%! I’ve been gaming on a 9800 and it handles everything I throw at it without any issues.
You won't feel the loss, trust me. For your use case, the 9800X3D has such significant architectural improvements that it can outperform the 3900X in many scenarios, even with fewer cores.
So true! I switched from a 3900X to the 9800X3D and noticed a massive performance boost.
You might be amazed at how well the 9800X3D performs compared to the 9950. Even in tasks that usually benefit from more cores, the gains with the newer architecture are noticeable without needing 16 threads.
I agree; if anything, managing fewer cores can lead to more stability in games.
For sure! I did the same upgrade and didn’t miss those extra cores for gaming at all.
Yeah, if you’re mainly gaming, the 9800X3D is where you want to go. It's all about efficiency.