If you’re reliant on single-core computing performance with older applications,
you probably aren’t (and shouldn’t be) looking at a beastly CPU like this one,
and it’s not a slam-dunk over the equivalent Intel silicon when single-core is
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still holds a small edge here.
That said, these are edge cases. This chip capably rivals the Core i9-9900K and
the lower-tier prosumer CPUs in AMD’s own Ryzen Threadripper and Intel’s
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thread-count advantage is far from it. And there the Ryzen 9 3900X delivers
big-time.
Choosing the Ryzen 9 comes down to whether you can leverage those extra
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performance should be near-indistinguishable. (It’s also possible that the new
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discount Ryzen’s cutting-edge features such as PCIe 4.0 support, as well as
niceties including its slick, bundled cooling fan and backward-compatibility
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the in-box cooler are compelling; you gain a top-performing CPU right now as
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3900X is without peer on value for money in mid-2019. If you can harness all
the power of this beast, then you won’t regret building your computing world
around it.
TOM BRANT
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION (^) I SUBSCRIBE (^) I AUGUST 2019