DECEMBER 2020 PCWorld 4116-core Ryzen 9 5950X comfortably sits in
front of the 18-core Intel CPU, and the 12-core
Ryzen 9 5900X comes impressively close to
the older 16-core Ryzen 9 3950X. The Ryzen
9 5900X again destroys the 10-core Intel chip
by an astounding 42 percent.
Our last multi-core modeling test is the
Persistence of Vision Raytracer, which dates all
the way back to the Amiga. It’s been updated
since then by a global team of volunteers. Like
most 3D modelling programs, it scales up in
performance with core count.
While we include historical scores in some
other tests, we only include the most current
results with POV Ray. We did this not because
we think POV Ray requires special treatment,
but because the results are very consistent.
The 18-core Core i9-10980XE doesn’t come
out on top, nor does the 10-core Core
i9-10900K. If someone found a multi-core
rendering test where Intel came out on top
over Ryzen, it would be actual news.
It’s not unusual to find Ryzen hammering
Core in multi-core benchmarks, but ever since
the Zen 2-based Ryzen 3000 line, Intel has
clung by its fingernails to its lead in single-
threaded performance. With the Zen 3-based
Ryzen 5000, Core i9’s slim lead finally loses its
tenuous grip.
You can see that in the POV Ray Single-
core chart: The same Core i9-10900K that’s
6.6 percent faster than the Ryzen 9 3900XT is
14.5 percent slower than Ryzen 9 5900X, and
16 percent slower than Ryzen 9 5950XT.
Ryzen 9 5950X Vermeer 16/32
Ryzen 9 5900X Vermeer 12/24
Ryzen 9 3900XT Matisse 12/24
Core i9-10900K Comet Lake S10/20
Ryzen 9 3950X Matisse 16/32
Core i9-9900KS Comet Lake R8/16
Core i9-9900K Comet Lake R8/16
Ryzen 9 3900X Matisse 12/24
Core i9-10980XE Cascade Lake-X18/36
LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE653529547506641522541504
466Cinebench R20 1t
Single-threaded performanceYou can see this again in Cinebench R20,
where the 10th-gen Core i9-10900K is
basically within the margin of error with the
Ryzen 9 3900XT, and about 7 percent faster
than the Ryzen 9 3900X. The Ryzen 9 5900X,
however, is an insane 18.4 percent faster than
the Core i9. The slightly faster Ryzen 9 5950X
delivers a solid 20.7-percent performance
advantage over Core i9-10900K.
We’ll see how this manifests itself in
gaming, where single-threaded performance
still matters, but we can’t overstate this
enough: This is simply a stunning turn of
events. AMD wipes out the only remaining
justification to buy an Intel desktop CPU today.CONTENT CREATION
PERFORMANCE
Content creation is an activity where