Are you looking to upgrade your PC and searching for the perfect CPU?
The CPU is said to be the brain of the computer, and if you are looking to buy a powerful machine, it is important to know which CPU to go for. There is a war between Intel CPUs and AMD’s Ryzen series, and Ryzen, being resurrected, has been dominating the competition ever since. The Ryzen series CPU uses the AM4 socket, which has been the standard since the first generation of the series.
As of this time, Ryzen has released its 3rd generation of processors, and the Ryzen 9’s are the most powerful CPUs in the series. Whether for gaming or running multiple heavy tasks on your PC, Ryzen 9 can take the load without any problems. With multiple models in the series, the two CPUs that are termed as the best and commonly available in the market are the Ryzen 9 3900X and Ryzen 9 3900XT.
It can be difficult to choose between these two processors as they are quite new and both very powerful. We have compared both of them, so you know which one would be best for your requirements.
Overview
When it comes to AMD battling AMD, things get a little unpredictable. The Ryzen 9 3900XT’s most challenging opponent is the Ryzen 9 3900X, which is the earlier edition of itself. Basically, 3900XT is the rebranded version of 3900X but with better clock speeds.
Consumers of Ryzen 9 do not see a lot of incentive in upgrading their CPU to a slightly better version of it, but for the ones who have been holding back on AMD, buying the Ryzen 3900 XT is still a decent choice for them to consider.
We ran a few tests and created a spec sheet in order for you to better understand what is in store for you with the Latest Ryzen model. The processor is pretty much similar to that of Ryzen 9 3900X and very identical too. But AMD has made a few tweaks to the latest processor in order to juice more performance from the CPU.
The new variant ‘Ryzen 9 3900XT’ has been built on the great CPU architecture by adding a little more power. The base clocks have a 100MHz difference. Also, the Boost has increased from 4.6GHz to 4.7GHz. That’s a full 100MHz extra!
The R9 3900XT does not include the Wraith Prism cooling, which is different from the previous 9 3900X. As a result, the Boost clock gains 100MHz at the expense of a cooler.
AMD’s new XT CPUs are said to be capable of maintaining boost clocks more efficiently than the preceding Zen 2 generation, but there’s not much to get excited about.
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | AMD Ryzen 9 3900XT |
|---|---|---|
| Cores / Threads | 12/24 | 12/24 |
| Base Clock | 3.8 GHz | 3.9 GHz |
| Max Boost Clock | 4.6 GHz | 4.7 GHz |
| L3 Cache | 32 MB | 32 MB |
| TDP | 105 W | 105 W |
| Process | 7 nm | 7 nm |
| Socket | AM4 | AM4 |
| Architecture | ZEN 2 | ZEN2 |
| FP32 Performance | 2,649.6 GFLOPS | 2,707.2 GFLOPS |
| Die Size | 74 mm² | 74 mm² |
| Transistors | 3,800 million | |
| Launch Date | July 7th 2019 | July 7th 2020 |
| Available | Amazon | Amazon |
Major Improvements in R9 3900XT
AMD’s Infinity Fabric mesh, which is used to communicate across cores, will also benefit from this update. Having a rather flexible architecture allows AMD to build processors having as many cores as they like and without letting the cost fluctuate out of control. However, it also brings additional core-to-core latency, which has a small impact on performance.
The Ryzen 9 3900XT has the same 12 cores and 24 threads, 64 MB L3 cache, die size, and TDP / energy usage as the preceding version. The 7nm process from TSMC is improving all the time. Therefore AMD went for this upgrade as it allows them to offer these new CPUs at the same price as the prior Matisse Zen 2 CPUs.
The next Zen 3 architecture is still not disclosed yet. Nevertheless, it appears to have an acceptable performance boost to look excellent also while being compared to this current version, the Zen 2 upgrade. However, the Ryzen 9 3900XT, along with the Ryzen 9 3900X, are still excellent choices today, both in terms of value and functionality. If you are unable to find a decent deal on the outgoing models, picking up one of them would still offer you incredible performance for forthcoming years.
Benchmarks
We have run some tests on the Ryzen 9 3900 X and the Ryzen 9 3900 XT to see the difference in performance between the two. For our tests, we have benchmarked the CPUs in two identical test rigs to find out the difference between the two CPUs.
Our test bench consisted of the following configuration of hardware:
- Motherboard – Asus TUF Gaming B550m Plus
- RAM – KLEVV CRAS X RGB DDR4 RAM 2 sticks of 8GB @3600MHz
- GPU – Asus ROG Strix 2080 Super
- Storage – KLEVV CRAS C700 RGB NVME SSD 480GB
- Cooler – Fractal Design Celsius + S24 Dynamic AIO cooler
We tested the CPUs in the standard benchmarking tests as well as a few games to see how the processors perform under different workloads.
Both the processors were tested at the stock frequency with the stock cooling (Wraith Prism) and AIO cooling as well as after overclocking them to 4.3GHz with both test bench coolers.
The tests that we conducted were the Cinebench R15 Single-Core, Cinebench R 15 Multi-Core, Cinebench R20 Single-Core, 7-Zip Compression and Decompression scores, and Handbrake video conversion timings. A few games that we tested on the rigs were CS: GO, F1 2018, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Doom Eternal.
Cinebench R 15 Single Core
The Cinebench R 15 Single-Core tests show that the Ryzen 9 3900 XT at the stock frequency with the AIO scores 209. The Ryzen 9 3900 XT at the stock frequency with the wraith prism scores 208. The Ryzen 9 3900 X at the stock frequency with the AIO scores 208.
The Ryzen 9 3900 XT overclocked to 4.3Ghz with the AIO scores 202. The Ryzen 9 3900 XT overclocked to 4.3Ghz with the wraith prism scores 201. The Ryzen 9 3900 X overclocked to 4.3Ghz with the AIO scores 201.
Cinebench R 15 Multi Core
The Cinebench R 15 Multi-Core tests show that the Ryzen 9 3900 XT at the stock frequency with the AIO scores 3338. The Ryzen 9 3900 XT at the stock frequency with the wraith prism scores 3337. The Ryzen 9 3900 X at the stock frequency with the AIO scores 3322.
The Ryzen 9 3900 XT overclocked to 4.3Ghz with the AIO scores 3146. The Ryzen 9 3900 XT overclocked to 4.3Ghz with the wraith prism scores 3140. The Ryzen 9 3900 X overclocked to 4.3Ghz with the AIO scores 3108.
The Cinebench R 15 tests show almost no difference in the score, proving the CPUs to be almost identical.
Cinebench R 20 Single Core
The Cinebench R 20 Single-Core tests show that the Ryzen 9 3900 XT at the stock frequency with the AIO scores 518. The Ryzen 9 3900 XT at the stock frequency with the wraith prism scores 515. The Ryzen 9 3900 X at the stock frequency with the AIO scores 514.
The Ryzen 9 3900 XT overclocked to 4.3Ghz with the AIO scores 500. The Ryzen 9 3900 XT overclocked to 4.3Ghz with the wraith prism scores 499. The Ryzen 9 3900 X overclocked to 4.3Ghz with the AIO scores 498.
Cinebench R 20 Multi Core
The Cinebench R 20 Multi-Core tests show that the Ryzen 9 3900 XT at the stock frequency with the AIO scores 7611. The Ryzen 9 3900 XT at the stock frequency with the wraith prism scores 7609. The Ryzen 9 3900 X at the stock frequency with the AIO scores 7550.
The Ryzen 9 3900 XT overclocked to 4.3Ghz with the AIO scores 7162. The Ryzen 9 3900 XT overclocked to 4.3Ghz with the wraith prism scores 7144. The Ryzen 9 3900 X overclocked to 4.3Ghz with the AIO scores 7092.
The Cinebench R 20 tests run for a longer time, and there is a small increase in the scores of the Ryzen 3900 XT, but it is still not enough to be considerable.
7 Zip Compression and Decompression
In this test, we have calculated the 7 Zip scores for compression and decompression of files.
The Ryzen 9 3900 XT stock with AIO scores 80641 in compression and 138478 in decompression The Ryzen 9 3900 XT @4.3GHz with AIO scores 81330 at compression and 141418 at decompression. The Ryzen 9 3900 X stock with AIO scores 80794 in compression and 134143 in decompression, the Ryzen 9 3900 X @4.3GHz with AIO scores 79608 at compression and 142298 at decompression.
As the results showed us, these scores are very close to each other, and it sets the Ryzen 9 3900 XT to be just 3% better than the 3900 X.
Handbrake Test
In this test, we have calculated the Handbrake compression scores for 1080p and 4K videos.
The Ryzen 9 3900 XT @4.3 GHz with AIO takes 166 seconds to convert 1080p videos and 295 seconds to convert a 4K video. The Ryzen 9 3900 X @4.3 GHz with AIO takes 166 seconds to convert 1080p videos and 294 seconds to convert a 4K video.
The Ryzen 9 3900 XT stock with AIO takes 172 seconds to convert 1080p videos and 311 seconds to convert a 4K video. The Ryzen 9 3900 X stock with AIO takes 175 seconds to convert 1080p videos and 316 seconds to convert a 4K video.
Yet again, we see almost negligible differences in the performance of both processors.
Gaming
Now we come to the fun part of the testing, the games. We have tested most of these games at lower graphical settings to avoid the GPU bottleneck in games. We have tested these games at lower resolutions and textures, so the games are tested for their CPUs and not their GPUs.
CS: GO @1080p Highest Settings
The Ryzen 9 3900XT @4.3GHz gives players a framerate of 287.3 FPS and 180.7 FPS for its 1% Percentile framerate. The Ryzen 9 3900XT stock gives players a framerate of 286.8 FPS and 177.4 FPS for its 1% Percentile framerate.
The Ryzen 9 3900X @4.3GHz gives players a framerate of 277.6 FPS and 177.3 FPS for its 1% Percentile framerate. The Ryzen 9 3900X stock gives players a framerate of 277.2 FPS and 175.5 FPS for its 1% Percentile framerate.
In CS: GO the 3900XT wins by 3% advantage on the average score and around 2% in the 1 percentiles.
F1 2018 @1080p Medium settings
The Ryzen 9 3900XT @4.3GHz gives players a framerate of 232.4 FPS and 148.1 FPS for its 1% Percentile framerate. The Ryzen 9 3900XT stock gives players a framerate of 228 FPS and 150.5 FPS for its 1% Percentile framerate.
The Ryzen 9 3900X @4.3GHz gives players a framerate of 228.5 FPS and 145.2 FPS for its 1% Percentile framerate. The Ryzen 9 3900X stock gives players a framerate of 220.1 FPS and 142.1 FPS for its 1% Percentile framerate.
In F1 2018 the 3900XT wins by 2% advantage on the average score and around 2% in one percentile.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider @1080p Lowest settings
The Ryzen 9 3900XT @4.3GHz gives players a framerate of 181 FPS and 139.8 FPS for its 1% Percentile framerate. The Ryzen 9 3900XT stock gives players a framerate of 178.8 FPS and 139.6 FPS for its 1% Percentile framerate.
The Ryzen 9 3900X @4.3GHz gives players a framerate of 175.7 FPS and 136.4 FPS for its 1% Percentile framerate. The Ryzen 9 3900X stock gives players a framerate of 177.9 FPS and 138.3 FPS for its 1% Percentile framerate.
In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the 3900XT wins by 1% advantage on the average score and around 1% in one percentile.
Conclusion
As we can see, both these CPUs have very similar performances, and the last thing that you need to take a look at is the pricing. The Ryzen 9 3900X can be bought for under 400$ (After the recent price cut in MSRP), and the Ryzen 9 3900XT can be bought for a little under 500$, which makes the price gap between the CPUs a considerable amount.
Taking into consideration that both CPUs have a minor difference, the 100$ price difference doesn’t make sense. Buying the Ryzen 9 3900X is more value for money as the 1-5% performance isn’t worth the 100$ extra that you need to pay to get the Ryzen 9 3900 XT.
A talented writer, a passionate gamer, and an avid reader. She is a lifelong learner with an insatiable desire to learn new things and enjoys keeping up with current events. She writes by combining her curiosity and her experience. Her passion is for all things artistic. She is a firm believer in first-principles thinking, which she weaves into her work.