PC World - USA (2020-12)

DECEMBER 2020 PCWorld 39

a pure CPU test, the results don’t move much
even with OS, driver or BIOS updates. In the
chart, the you’ll see the two new Zen 3-based
Ryzen 5000 chips, the Zen 2-based Ryzen
3000 chips, and various Intel chips.
As a CPU test, Cinebench R20
performance increases with more CPU cores,
but holding higher clock speeds matters, as
does the actual efficiency of the cores.
On top is the new Ryzen 9 5950X with 16
cores, which offers an impressive 14-percent
increase in performance over the 16-core
Ryzen 9 3950X chip. While 14 percent is an
incredible bump, AMD said much of the
limitation on all-core loads is due to the CPU
socket power limit. The small-socket AM4
can’t push the same power like a big-socket
Threadripper TRX40 socket.
One step down, the 12-core Ryzen 9 5900X

is less power-restrained, and we see it open up

an even more impressive 17-percent gap over

the 12-core Ryzen 3900XT. Technically, the XT

was the best of the best of Zen 2, so when you

compare the Ryzen 9 5900X against the Ryzen 9

3900X it’s actually a 20.7-percent increase in

performance in an all-core load.

But no one really cares about Ryzen to Ryzen

performance—nerds only want to see Ryzen to

Intel. There, it’s the total knockout you

expected. With Intel stuck in the mud at 14nm,

the best it can field in a smaller consumer socket

is 10 cores in the Core i9-10900K. The rightfully

“more expensive” Ryzen 9 5950X justifies itself

with 63 percent more performance. More in its

price range, the Ryzen 9 5900X outruns the

10-core Core i9 by 36 percent.

What’s jaw-dropping, though, is that even

Intel’s $980 18-core Cascade Lake-X Core

Ryzen 9 5950X Vermeer 16/32

Ryzen 9 3950X Matisse 16/32

Core i9-10980XE Cascade Lake-X18/36

Ryzen 9 5900X Vermeer 12/24

Ryzen 9 3900XT Matisse 12/24

Ryzen 9 3900X Matisse 12/24

Core i9-10900K Comet Lake S10/20

Core i9-9900KS Comet Lake R8/16

Core i9-9900K Comet Lake R8/16

LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE

10,389

7, 3 9 2

8,736

6,359

9,114

7, 1 6 1

8,646

5,010

4,902

Cinebench R20 nT

Multi-threaded performance

Ryzen 9 5950X Vermeer 16/32

Core i9-10980XE Cascade Lake-X18/36

Ryzen 9 3950X Matisse 16/32

Ryzen 9 5900X Vermeer 12/24

Ryzen 9 3900XT Matisse 12/24

Ryzen 9 3900X Matisse 12/24

Core i9-10900K Comet Lake S10/20

Core i9-9900KS Comet Lake R8/16

Core i9-9900K Comet Lake R8/16

LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE

10,689,70 0

6,910,938

8,592,240

6,175,36 0

9,381,540

6,655,840

8,412,8 4 0

5,0 69,16 0

4,962,880

Corona Renderer 1.3

Rays per second