AMD Ryzen 9 9900X review shows gaming performance falling behind the Ryzen 7 7800X3D

An early review of AMD's new Ryzen 9 9900X CPU has appeared online via Italian tech outlet SaddyTech ahead of the Ryzen 9000 Series launch and official reviews from outlets receiving pre-release samples from AMD. This review is still online and hasn't been taken down because the outlet managed to snag a retail version of the CPU early.

The 12-core CPU with a Boost Clock of 5.6 GHz and a 120W power rating isn't the flagship option in the new Zen 5 line-up (that title goes to the Ryzen 9 9950X), but it's still up there as an enthusiast-grade, high-end desktop CPU. With that, SaddyTech tested the Ryzen 9 9900X in ten games, comparing performance to the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D gaming processor.

The test rig sports a GeForce RTX 4090 GPU (to minimize bottlenecks), an X670 motherboard, and DDR5-7200 memory. Gaming performance between the two CPUs is close, with the 7800X3D pulling ahead, with up to double-digit gains in some titles.

The complete list of games tested: Alan Wake 2, Total War Warhammer, City Skylines 2, Call of Duty: Warzone 2, CS: GO 2, Cyberpunk 2077, Fortnite, Hogwarts Legacy, Starfield, and The Last of Us: Part 1.

Looking at 1080p gaming performance, the 7800X3D can deliver an impressive 23% lead compared to the brand-new Zen 5 9900X - with this figure dropping to around 15% when looking at games like Cyberpunk 2077, The Last of Us: Part I, and Fortnite. Increasing the resolution to 1440p and performance between the two CPUs is closer and even closer when gaming in 4K.

In 4K, the newer Ryzen 9 9900X is faster in games like Starfield, performing roughly the same or within a few percent of the 7800X3D. However, the SaddyTech review does note that the 9900X draws more power when gaming, sometimes double that of the 7800X3D and runs warmer.

The conclusion from this review is simple - if you're looking to build a new AMD gaming rig, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is the better option. That, and wait for the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which will most likely turn up later this year. Naturally, when it comes to productivity, the 9900X will be notably faster than the 7800X3D-however, it's hard not to be a little underwhelmed with the results we see here.