12 PCWorld JULY 2019NEWS AMD RYZEN 9 3950X
performance testing
AMD has done on
the chips.
These gaming
claims are, of course,
to be taken with a
grain of salt, because
no one has tested
them independently.
We have a few
outstanding
questions, but the
main one is whether
the Core i7 and Core
i9 were tested with
Multi-Core
Enhancement turned
on. MCE on Intel
chips are themselves
somewhat
controversial. Some
feel it’s “cheating”
for Intel, because it
automatically
overclocks the chip
beyond the stock
guidelines.
Our own take in our Core i9-9900K (go.
pcworld.com/i900) review is more nuanced.
Because MCE usually comes set to “auto” out
of the box on most Intel Z390 motherboards,
we test it set to off, on, and auto. All three
produce different results depending on the
motherboard.With the Ryzen 7 2700X, AMD opted for
MCE Off. The company confirmed it did the
same with these benchmarks.IS AMD CHEATING?!
If you’re thinking AMD may be cheating by
turning off MCE to make its chips look
better, here’s something to chew on.AMD claims it can stand tall with Intel’s chips in gaming, even at 1080p.If AMD’s numbers are to be believed, the new Ryzen 3000 just took away the
Core i9’s last defense.