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

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. TweakTown may also earn commissions from other affiliate partners at no extra cost to you.

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.

2

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.