AMD Zen 5 CPUs rumored to receive a performance and TDP boost with next AGESA update

Several reports suggest that AMD plans to raise the TDP and power rating for the Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X CPUs from 64W to 105W. The rumor source looks to be hardware leaker Chi11eddog on X, who claims this will arrive as part of a new BIOS and microcode update as part of AGESA 1.2.0.1a Patch A.

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The Ryzen 7 9700X is reportedly getting a TDP boost from 65W to 105W.

We heard about this before AMD's new Zen 5-powered desktop processors launched, with previous rumors hinting at AMD raising the power rating of the Ryzen 7 9700X in time for launch. The single-core performance of Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X CPUs is impressive. A TDP increase could lead to more performance across a broader range of workloads, including gaming.

The increase to 105W would put the power rating for the new Zen 5 CPUs on par with the previous generation's Ryzen 7 7700X and Ryzen 5 7600X - both of which are rated at 105W. The Zen 5 launch has not been without controversy, with many believing that due to poor or non-existent gains in gaming performance, it's a step back from Zen 4.

With our reviews, we didn't have the previous generation's Ryzen 7 7700X and Ryzen 5 7600X on hand to directly compare. Still, we were impressed based on efficiency, thermals, and single-core performance, especially when gaming performance was on par or faster than the previous-gen flagship - the Ryzen 9 7950X.

With a 105W TDP, these CPUs should perform even faster and deliver a notable performance increase compared to the previous generation. Outlet Tom's Hardware predicts that for the 9700X, this could mean a 22% increase in performance in some multi-threaded workloads.