Are you making a choice between 3900X and 5900X? Are you hesitant to upgrade from 3900X to 5900X? MiniTool Partition Wizard talks about the topic of 3900X vs 5900X. Just read it, and choose one to fit your needs.
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X has been released in 2019, which began to compete fiercely with Intel Core i9 processors. But it failed to beat Intel’s i9-10900K in the terms of single-core speed. AMD Ryzen 9 5900X has been released in 2020, which beats the rivals from Intel with its high single-core speeds.
It seems that 5900X is better than 3900X. However, the detailed comparison of the two is not entirely so. Read on to find out more details about 5900X vs 3900X.
3900X vs 5900X: Specification
Please see the specifications of the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X and AMD Ryzen 9 5900X listed below.
| AMD Ryzen 9 3900X | AMD Ryzen 9 5900X | |
| Core/Thread Counts | 12/24 | 12/24 |
| Base Clock Speed | 3.8GHz | 3.7GHz |
| Boost Clock Speed | Up to 4.6GHz | Up to 4.8GHz |
| L1 Cache (per core) | 64KB | 64KB |
| L2 Cache (per core) | 6MB | 6MB |
| L3 Cache (shared) | 64MB | 64MB |
| Architecture | Zen 2 | Zen 3 |
| TDP | 105W | 105W |
| RRP (Now!) | $513 | $319.86 |
- Base Clock
The base clock speed is the minimum clock speed that the CPU is supposed to run at when it is adequately cooled. It refers to the frequency that all cores will maintain as a baseline. This is usually done when dealing with typical low-to-mid level workloads.
Tip: Do not confuse the base clock with the idle clock. Compared with the base clock, the idle clock saves more power by lowering voltage and frequency.
- Boost Clock:
The Boost Clock happens when the workloads become more intense and a boost performance is needed as the CPU increases the number of cycles it processes per second.
Also read: Is It Good to Overclock Your CPU? Let’s Figure It out
3900X vs 5900X: Architecture
The AMD Ryzen 9 3900X is constructed from the Zen 2 architecture, while the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X was created by the Zen 3. Both Zen 2 and Zen 3 are based on a 7nm process, but the latter holds higher power efficiency.
Because of the changes in cache layout, Zen 3 also holds many performance improvements compared with Zen 2. In fact, both 3900X and 5900X have the same core/thread counts and cache capacity, but the cache section of the 3900X is 4x16MB, while that of the 5900X is 3x32MB.
That is to say, the 5900X is able to give 8 CPU cores simultaneous access to one 32MB L3 cache, while the 3900X can only access two 16MB L3 caches with 4 CPU cores. Hence, the 5900X provides better performance with the same core/thread counts and cache capacity for you.
Also read: Computer Processor/CPU Architecture: ALU + Registers + CU
3900X vs 5900X: Gaming Performance
How about the 5900X vs 3900X in 1440p? In fact, the more times you increase the resolution, the more GPU-bound the game becomes rather than CPU-bound. You can choose the AMD Ryzen 9 3900x, but you may not want the older CPU to interfere with the GPU. Without any bottlenecks, the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X still wins.
Also read: Best CPU & GPU Benchmark Software for Windows 10 PC