AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
Simply the best processor around thanks to its fantastic performance in games and demanding tasks
SCORE
PRICE
£583 (£700 inc VAT)
from
scan.co.uk
A
MD’s Ryzen 9 9950X3D is something special. It’s the company’s latest “flagship” chip, and I’m comfortable saying that it’s the best processor ever made for the consumer market.
For sure, that comes at a price. As well as being the greatest mainstream CPU, it’s also the most expensive at £700 inc VAT. By comparison, Intel’s current top-ranking chip, the Core Ultra 9 285K, seems positively affordable at only £572. Then again, the new AMD processor will work in any AM5 motherboard, while Intel’s offering requires a whole new chipset.
The best way to understand what’s so special about the Ryzen 9 9950X3D is to compare it to its predecessor. This means stepping back not one but two generations: the Ryzen 8000 series didn’t include any Ryzen 9 processors, so this chip replaces the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, released back at the start of 2023.