AMD Ryzen 9950X3D disappoints in benchmark rumor - but it seems the CPU may be close to release

AMD's Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D processors are rumored to be debuting in March, and some freshly leaked benchmarks back up that idea - though the results themselves look rather disappointing, particularly for the flagship CPU.

These are Geekbench results flagged up by VideoCardz and a regular contributor to hardware rumors on X, Olrak29.

The Ryzen 9950X3D presents a robust enough single-core uplift here compared to its predecessor, being around 15% faster than the 7950X3D. However, for multi-core, the generational increase is only about 4%, which looks disappointing to say the least.

For the Ryzen 9900X3D versus the 7900X3D, the difference is much the same for single-core, with the new CPU being 15% faster, and a bit better for multi-core at a 9% generational gain (but notably still lagging).

Of course, these are just a couple of prerelease results, and we must be very cautious about leaks - and they're based entirely on one metric (Geekbench) too.

So don't panic yet, we need to see the Ryzen 9950X3D and 9900X3D CPUs fully put through their paces in reviews before any conclusions can be reached, naturally.

However, the appearance of these benchmarks is a good sign that AMD's purported launch for these two CPUs is on track for March 2025. (Previous rumors have suggested the Ryzen 9 X3D models for Zen 5 will be out alongside AMD's RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 graphics cards, and the current rumor is those models might be launched on March 6).

Of course, the original hope was the Ryzen 9950X3D and 9900X3D would be out in January, perhaps, but clearly that didn't happen - and February is looking unlikely at this point, too (though you never know, we guess).