Last (socket) upgrade, 5900 or 5950x?

[Waldorf]

i got a new board (six M.2) and wont go for AM5 soon, so the only upgrade would be swapping my 5800x.
while i use it for gaming +90% of the time, i do some de/encode etc (no render), and usually gpu bound (play at 2K/4K).

not doing any other upgrade, so its really down to if its worth another 200E (over the 5900), when it comes to gaming,
not worried about power/thermals etc for the moment, just difference between them regarding "pure" gaming perf.

unfortunately most reviews dont list the games i play (outside BF V), so im not sure if there is a benefit of 16C (over 12).

 

[Panther_Seraphin]

If your gaming 90% of the time then the 5800x3d is a no brainer

 

[Dr. Dro]

The 5950X is better, but if you're just gaming, I concur, buy the 5800X3D.

 

[Waldorf]

the clock drop and locked Multi is a no go for me, my 5800x is almost as fast using pbo (running custom loop),
and higher res tends to favor 59xx vs the X3D

yes, mainly gaming, but not exclusive, and non-game stuff can always make use of cores,
cache not so much, and why i didnt even care for it/and no reason to include for choice.

its really just about the difference in price (300 vs 480E), and if it translates in (noticeable) gains.

 

[las]

5800X with OC is def not as fast as 5800X3D in gaming unless you are GPU bound anyway

If you play at 4K/UHD and is GPU bound the upgrade will be pointless

Pretty much no games benefit from more than 8C/16T, unless you do stuff in the background maybe

 

[JrRacinFan]

Save your money.

 

[Waldorf]

while i really appreciate all answers, some have shown i need to detail things a little more
(even that i tried to Keep stuff short" by only listing 5900 and 5950).

- i wont replace the board probably until it dies, so the 5800X3D is out of question,
as 12 or 16C makes more sense with planned use of at least another 4y.

- i can "swap" the 5800x i have with a friend (part i want), so im not worried about "losing" money by having to sell it,
or even worse, unable to sell it (dont care for ebay/app selling).

- i have 500$ from a settlement i didnt expect to have, so i will spend it this no matter what, there will be no "save your money".

with the fact that i HAVE to get a new one, knowing i try and keep MB/cpu until they die,
and knowing that even at 4k (the few benches i have seen), tests seem to favor the 5950 (over the 5900),
i just want to know if its worth the additional 200$ over the cost for the 5900...


if it wasn't for the higher cost to replace my gpu (nothing below xx60ti, nothing air-cooled),
i would prefer to upgrade that, but spending +1K on a gpu i dont really need (rn)...
so its down to cpu, as ram (3600C14 bdie) and drives (pcie 4.0) and psu (750 RMx) are fine.

 

[Vlooi]

Get the 5950X. It is more efficient than the 5900X and runs at higher clock speeds in applicable scenarios as it is a higher binned chip. Also the extra 4 cores / 8 threads may come in handy in the future seeing that you won't be upgrading soon. I have both, and while the 5900X is a great CPU, I will recommend the 5950X in your case. The 200 dollars extra is well worth it discounted over a few years.

 

[freeagent]

I would do 5950X.

All reviews show out of box settings pretty much. A tuned 5900X or 5950X is still a major contender against X3D and will leave it in the dust with everyday stuff. I game at 4K and I prefer my 5900X over my X3D for that.

 

[Waldorf]

true, forgot its clocked even better than the 5800X.

 

[Dahita]

I went for the 5950x for the same reason (maxing out my platform), never regretted it. This thing is a bulldozer, chews anything you throw at it. The way I see it, you might have 10-15% less perf in games, but upgrading your GC down the road will give you 100% more FPS anyway, so I'd rather have a balanced maxed out platform for the upcoming GC gen rather than a slightly more game efficient CPU that is way behind in everything else.

 

[P4-630]

This thing is a bulldozer

Better not talk about "Bulldozer"...

AMD Bulldozer 'Core' Lawsuit: AMD Settles for $12.1m, Payouts for Some

www.anandtech.com

 

[oxrufiioxo]

If you are dead set on the 12 or 16 core get the 5950X it's just generally better and if you are already dropping money into an old platform you might as well get the best.


I still think in gaming the X3D part will age much better over the next 3-4 years I guess only time will tell.

 

[Waldorf]

@oxrufiioxo
i dont want to rely on 7xxxX3D selling good or intel working on the same stuff, and that "might" get me something out of it down the road (using cache),
as the past has shown "more cores" is def not the worst bet, as well as seeing it will be faster when i use the rig for editing 4K vid.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

@oxrufiioxo
i dont want to rely on 7xxxX3D or intel working on the same,
that "might" get me something down the road, as the past has shown "more cores" is def not the worst bet.

I have both a 5950X and 5800X both great cpus but if someone offered me an X3D part for my 5950X it would be mighty tempting although I could also easily buy one. I just recently did a build with a R5 7600 for fun and even it is decently faster in gaming.

 

[kapone32]

while i really appreciate all answers, some have shown i need to detail things a little more
(even that i tried to Keep stuff short" by only listing 5900 and 5950).

- i wont replace the board probably until it dies, so the 5800X3D is out of question,
as 12 or 16C makes more sense with planned use of at least another 4y.

- i can "swap" the 5800x i have with a friend (part i want), so im not worried about "losing" money by having to sell it,
or even worse, unable to sell it (dont care for ebay/app selling).

- i have 500$ from a settlement i didnt expect to have, so i will spend it this no matter what, there will be no "save your money".

with the fact that i HAVE to get a new one, knowing i try and keep MB/cpu until they die,
and knowing that even at 4k (the few benches i have seen), tests seem to favor the 5950 (over the 5900),
i just want to know if its worth the additional 200$ over the cost for the 5900...


if it wasn't for the higher cost to replace my gpu (nothing below xx60ti, nothing air-cooled),
i would prefer to upgrade that, but spending +1K on a gpu i dont really need (rn)...
so its down to cpu, as ram (3600C14 bdie) and drives (pcie 4.0) and psu (750 RMx) are fine.

The 5950X is good but the 5900 is a true value pick. With the latest BIOS and chipset performance would be great.

 

[Waldorf]

@kapone32
already wasted +400$ on the board alone, replaced 3 drives (incl 1TB for my games) with gen 4 of same capacity,
so im past the "value" point on this build

 

[Deleted member 229121]

Ask yourself how long you plan to keep that rig going w gaming being 90%, and if you plan to drop a newer video card in it down the line.

What made my decision easy was when the 4090 came out.
The 5800X3D was literally the only CPU on AM4 that wasn't bottlenecking it.

This was important to me because eventually a mid grade card will be 4090 level performance.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Ask yourself how long you plan to keep that rig going w gaming being 90%, and if you plan to drop a newer video card in it down the line.

What made my decision easy was when the 4090 came out.
The 5800X3D was literally the only CPU on AM4 that wasn't bottlenecking it.

This was important to me because eventually a mid grade card will be 4090 level performance.

I get why you went that route and don't think it's a bad option I have a 4090 but I game at 4k so the 5950X is doing just fine haven't felt the need to swap yet. I am currently waiting for intels next socket or the next line of X3D chips whatever is better.

I do miss the days of swapping everything every 2 years though lol gpu pricing has gotten too crazy for that.

 

[QuietBob]

unfortunately most reviews dont list the games i play (outside BF V), so im not sure if there is a benefit of 16C (over 12).

What games do you play? In most titles the 5800X3D will be faster than either the 5900X or 5950X. And I don't know of any game that can take full advantage of 16 physical cores. Even those that favor 12 cores over 8 are very few.

 

[Waldorf]

i have VRR on my (tv) moni, i dont care for +100fps, most of my games are 2-3y old,
some are +20y old or dont need much (pinball), so im not worried about starving a gpu,
as by the time i have the funds to upgrade that , i have the funds to upgrade everything (needed),
as my new job "keeps" me from spending money outside food/cost of living.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

What games do you play? In most titles the 5800X3D will be faster than either the 5900X or 5950X. And I don't know of any game that can take full advantage of 16 physical cores. Even those that favor 12 cores over 8 are very few.

I get where the OP is coming from though he is betting that the 4-8 more cores will be more beneficial in more things than the extra cache. I don't see anything wrong with that.

Also it can be boring going from an 8 core to an 8 core with extra cache....

i have VRR on my (tv) moni, i dont care for +100fps, most of my games are 2-3y old,
some are +20y old or dont need much (pinball), so im not worried about starving a gpu,
as by the time i have the funds to upgrade that , i have the funds to upgrade everything (needed),
as my new job "keeps" me from spending money outside food/cost of living.

I hear you and honestly a 5950X is not a bad decision by any means. Not trying to persuade you that it isn't the better choice for you just trying to throw my 2cents in for what it is worth.

 

[Super Firm Tofu]

i have VRR on my (tv) moni, i dont care for +100fps, most of my games are 2-3y old,
some are +20y old or dont need much (pinball), so im not worried about starving a gpu,
as by the time i have the funds to upgrade that , i have the funds to upgrade everything (needed),
as my new job "keeps" me from spending money outside food/cost of living.

Then why the desire to spend money on a dead platform and 10% of your usage. Put the money aside and use it to upgrade the entire system sooner.

 

[Waldorf]

@QuietBob
mixed.
i tend to go by mostly synthetic bench/test when comparing hw, but any reviews listing all 3 cpus and ran 4K,
the 5800 won only 3 out of ten when it comes to highest fps.

my main issue is, no one can guarantee if any of the games i play in 3y will be optimized for it,
while im sure most (non gaming) stuff will perf better, and seeing im fine using non X3D (which is slower than 5900),
i rather focus on long term, than just gaming, even that its mainly a gaming rig.

​

@Super Firm Tofu
if you had read my longer post:
the 5800 is "gone", and i have to buy a new cpu (for AM4), as i wont be able to recover 400$ for the board (selling it).

and wont spend another 500$ to buy into AM5, especially when i dont need any of the perf gains in all other areas.
ignoring that i never buy the first gen of a new socket (for multiple reasons).

 

[Super Firm Tofu]

​

@Super Firm Tofu
if you had read my longer post:
the 5800 is "gone", and i have to buy a new cpu (for AM4), as i wont be able to recover 400$ for the board (selling it).

and wont spend another 500$ to buy into AM5, especially when i dont need any of the perf gains in all other areas.
ignoring that i never buy the first gen of a new socket (for multiple reasons).

Apologies - I missed those details later in the thread. In that case, 5950x. The 5900x is just a 5950x that didn't make it, and the fact that in reality for gaming there's going to be a penalty in being a 6c+6c design that wouldn't necessarily show up in max FPS benchmarks . Based on your current GPU, game choices, and the fact you're not worried about 100+fps the X3D wouldn't really make the difference to you.

(for reference, I've owned the 5800x, 5950x, and 5800x3d).