AMD Ryzen 9 7950X Can Hit Up To 5.85 GHz at Stock Only If Temps Are Below 50C, 5.1 GHz All-Core Frequency

We have some more details regarding the clock speeds of AMD's fastest Zen 4 CPU, the Ryzen 9 7950X with 16 cores.

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X All-Core & Max Boost Clocks Detailed, Cooling Is The Single Most Important Thing For Zen 4 Overclock & Stock Operation

Last month, we were the first to give you information regarding the clock speeds of the AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs and also their launch dates. Today, we have some more information regarding the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X CPU. We have definitely seen the official specifications of this monster of a chip that will be coming to consumers later this month but there's more than meets the eye.

You see, what we have been told so far by AMD themselves is only the official information but our sources managed to dig out some new information and also reaffirmed some leaks. So first up, the 5.85 GHz fMax or peak frequency. The peak frequency for AMD's Ryzen 9 7950X will be rated a little higher than the 5.70 GHz boost clock. Both frequencies are only applicable to a single-core at stock but temperatures play a very important role here. You see, in the majority of cases, the CPU will be running at its 5.70 GHz boost clock and only if you have the best of the best cooling solution, you'll be able to hit the peak frequency.

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X 16 Core "Zen 4" Desktop CPU

The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X retains its healthy 16-core and 32-thread count from the previous two generations. The CPU will feature an impressive base frequency of 4.5 GHz and a boost clock of up to 5.7 GHz (5.85 GHz F-Max) which should make it 200 MHz faster than Intel's Alder Lake Core i9-12900KS which has a boost frequency of 5.5 GHz on a single-core.

It looks like AMD is extracting every ounce of Hertz that it could within that 170W TDP (230W PPT) for the Ryzen 9 chips. As for the cache, the CPU comes with 80 MB of that which includes 64 MB from L3 (32 MB per CCD) and 16 MB from L2 (1 MB per core). The flagship is going to cost $699 US which means that it will be priced slightly higher than the Core i9-12900K while offering a significant performance leap in multi-threading apps such as Chaos V-Ray of up to +57% and doing so with up to 47% higher energy efficiency.

Internally, AMD discloses that the Ryzen 9 7950X can only hit the 5.85 GHz peak frequency if the temperatures are below 50C and over 50C, you will be getting 5.70 GHz boost clocks. Knowing just how hot the AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs run, the 5.70 GHz frequency is where 90% of the chips will use and only a few custom-loop configurations or those running dual-sided 420mm AIO kits will be able to hit that golden 5.85 GHz fMax peak clock at stock.

• 7950X Base Clock - 4.50 GHz (Stock)
• 7950X Boost Clock - 5.70 GHz (Stock)
• 7950X Peak Clock - 5.85 GHz (Stock)
• 7950X All-Core Boost - 5.10 GHz (Stock)

But that's just the 1-core peak, we also know the maximum all-core boost of the CPU & that's rated at 5.1 GHz. The 5.1 GHz CPU frequency is the maximum default all-core frequency but once again, temperatures are crucial here. In heavier loads that can push temperatures up, the CPU will run a bit under the 5.1 GHz all-core limit. A more realistic all-core boost should be around 4.9-5.05 GHz (varies between the two CCDs. CCD0 runs at slightly higher clocks while CCD1 runs at a slightly lower clock rate).

To keep the thermals in check, especially within the limited 95C TjMax threshold, you will require an absolute beast of a cooling configuration. With overclocking, these temps are expected to rise and while users have the option to tune the performance using undervolt or with CBP disabled (which is non-stock operations and reduces performance as seen here), there's no going around the higher temperatures on the AM5 platform.

AMD Ryzen 7000 'Raphael' Desktop CPU Specs (Official):