Shadow of the Tomb Raider continues to heavily favor the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, leading the 7950X by 25% and 22% at 720p and 1080p, respectively. The Callisto Protocol runs notably better on the X3D, with a 20-22% lead over the 7950X.
Ryzen 9 7950X3D vs Ryzen 9 7950X: Frametimes (Smoothness)
Frametimes represents the time taken to render frames through the benchmark. The more consistent the frametimes, the smoother the gameplay.
The Ryzen 9 7950X3D runs slightly smoother than the 7950X in Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Cyberpunk 2077 with higher frametimes.
The frametimes are all over the place in Metro Exodus EE on both CPUs, but the 7950X3D experiences higher spikes than the 7950X. The Callisto Protocol is known for its horrible performance. Barring a few outliers, however, the two chips offer similar frame times in this title.
Conclusion
The Ryzen 9 7950X3D is clearly the better gaming CPU. At the same time, it’s worth remembering that both chips deliver over 200 FPS in CPU-bound scenarios, even closing in on the 400 FPS mark in Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Dying Light 2. If you’re on a Ryzen 9 7950X, 7900X, or even the 7700X, you’re unlikely to “feel” a notable improvement in gaming performance with the 7950X3D. On the other hand, if you’re upgrading from a Ryzen 5000 part (barring the 5800X3D), you’re in for a treat.
