My experiences so far with the 7950x3d

[adamr]

I know there are many considering the new x3d chips from AMD and having had it for two days perhaps I can give my initial views on specifically the 7950x3d variant. Im not going to give you performance reviews and charts but rather things to consider when getting this new chip especially if you coming from intel.

Step 1 (am I doing this right?)
Im new to AMD, so off the bat installing the corsair AIO on the chip had me scratching my head if the rudimentary two hooks on the block was the correct way to install this … but it seems “this is the way’’; am still worried it might pop off or break the plastic retainers. The thumbscrews were tightened by hand but I still see the clip “bowing” which makes one second guess if my install was correct or not. Lets see but it appears from online searches this is fine … just be careful not to overtighten as one can break those plastic retainers

New tech adopter issues?
Yes there are a few. The first issue I noticed are with my memory modules. The Corsair Vengeance RGB pros have a quirk in which they work fine but cant be seen in iCue, so I cant change the RGB lighting. There was a manufacturing flaw with a few skus that Corsair have noted in their forums and will replace them for free (so waiting on the new dims to arrive) .. so people should note this and should check their DDR5 modules to make sure they not in this list of “defective” modules

My bios was not updated to accommodate x3d but was able to boot the machine fine and update to the latest bios for the Aorus Master X670e. Chipset drivers off Gigabytes site would just not install. It was stuck on the splash screen. After much ‘’wtf now’’ and trying I got the latest chipset drivers off AMDs website and that installed fine. It is important one does install this as it enables windows to optimally use the cache design of these x3d chips. Running Timespy I got about 30000 points with everything stock. So suppose ‘’íts ok’’ … just wanted to make sure everything works

Gigabytes control centre is a piece of %$!#
I thought the intial woes I had with my 4090 was due to conflicts between Asus Armoury Crate and Gigabytes sw (when I was still running a 9900k). Turn out on an all Aorus setup the sw just sucks. My LCD colours will revert to colours ive not chosen … ever. The tabs in the software app freezes and hangs. It just sucks. So at the moment its uninstalled

My PC is right now rainbow vomit and this is why …
Yup all rgb controlling software has been removed (for now). So cyberpunk has become my benchmark go to game and on the 9900k with the 4090 with everything maxed out I got a crazy 153fps avg on the bench. With the 7950x3d im getting 182fps … that’s a healthy jump. But the one time I ran it it was only 100fps and it turns out one of those RGB sw programs is causing havoc with performance so they all uninstalled for now. Need to get to the bottom of it ☹. But a more concerning problem is cyberpunk stuttering like crazy. On one occasion there will be no stutters and other occasions start it up again and crazy stuttering. I’ve uninstalled drivers reinstalled drivers, went back to old drivers. Changed my memory settings as well to only have “low latency” enabled as opposed to both ‘low latency’’ and the high bandwidth option as well (read that one should only have one or the other enabled). Google tells me that cyberpunk has an issue with DLSS3 and Ryzen. So for now am guessing this is the problem. But its very odd in that it happens ‘sometimes’.

It runs cool
Whilst it idles high at 50deg C the chip runs very cool. Under some stress tests etc. Seen max temps just over 70deg on argus monitor. In gaming its around 60deg c. For me this is the biggest draw card for 7000 x3d. Whilst it trades blows with the 13900k and besting it in most games; the fact that it does so with at a fraction of power and heat is just amazing. Big win here for AMD imo.

Overall, it is early days and I’m sure with more bios updates and chipset updates things will improve. But already off to a great start. Hogwarts sees my fps pretty much stuck on the screens refresh rate of 144fps (everything maxed out). Its great, but at R15k the 7950x3d wont be the best x3d chip to buy. As I look more into these new chips it is becoming more and more apparent that the 7800x3d will be the chip to get! As I figure more things out and get more experiences I will post more. Hope this helps people thinking of going x3d

 

[Areola Grande]

Do you have XBOX Game Bar enabled? I assume so, but Windows requires it to be enabled in order to disable the other CCD and utilize the cache on the first CCD. Worth checking, might explain your stuttering and whatnot.

 

[Nyt Ryda]

Gigabytes control centre is a piece of %$!#
I thought the intial woes I had with my 4090 was due to conflicts between Asus Armoury Crate and Gigabytes sw (when I was still running a 9900k). Turn out on an all Aorus setup the sw just sucks. My LCD colours will revert to colours ive not chosen … ever. The tabs in the software app freezes and hangs. It just sucks. So at the moment its uninstalled

It's trash. Luckily the RGB area is tiny on my motherboard, so I run without it and just control the fans with FanControl.

 

[adamr]

Do you have XBOX Game Bar enabled? I assume so, but Windows requires it to be enabled in order to disable the other CCD and utilize the cache on the first CCD. Worth checking, might explain your stuttering and whatnot.

It is enabled but should it be running!? I’ll double check this … thanks for this tip

 

[adamr]

It's trash. Luckily the RGB area is tiny on my motherboard, so I run without it and just control the fans with FanControl.

When I upgrade (if I do) def going non rgb … signalrgb works well (but not with the bloody gpu) . Rgb just sucks with so many sw apps needed

 

[adamr]

Touch wood so far the cyberpunk 2077 game is not stuttering. Confirmed Xbox bar was installed and the kernel versions matched !? (from the video below)

So yes there is a once off ritual of sorts that needs to be performed to get x3d working optimally with windows 11 (video above explains it)

Installed ms flight sim and again absolutely maxed out with all the sliders as well and the fps is stuck at 144fps (my monitor refresh) … not seen it drop at all from this number. One doesn’t expect this high a jump in fps from just a cpu change. A note on x3d … Whether you get 5200 ram or 6000 ram it makes almost zero difference to performance. My recommendation is 5200 ram on this platform. This is because of that massive vcache that is being utilised. The cpu has hit 77deg at times (likely for a split second as argus monitor shows max temps on the graph at like 70). Reseated my cpu block and my skill at installing the cooler on this socket has improved 😀 … will see if there are any temp improvements

 

[adamr]

... its a frosty CPU. Dont know when the 81Deg C happened ... never saw it in the graph !?

so yesterday i reseated the cooler as mentioned and this morning decided to fire up 3dmark ... two observations:
1. My temps were initially over 60deg C and with more time as the stress test ran it dropped to 55deg c (not sure if this was the thermal grease settling in or what !?).
2. CPU16-32 is being utilised. Both chiplets active (for those who have not looked at the 7950x3d, they have two chips ... one with the fat vcache the other without. The new chipset drivers allow Windows to choose between the chiplets depending on if you playing a game and need high cache or just normal tasks)

When running a game the one chiplet will be parked (16 of the "processors parked" and i tested this to make sure the chipset drivers are working. If you alt-tab between the game and desktop you can see the immediate parking and unparking of the CPU processors

"PARKED'' ... half the chiplet working 0-15 to maximise the cache when gaming. A good way to check if your "ritual" went right . Im thinking my initial stuttering in cyberpunk might have been as a result of the chipset drivers not perhaps installing correctly the first time !?

''UNAPRKED'' ... all cores active with me alt tabing to the reource monitor

So in the end a 7800x3d is a 7950x3d with one chiplet parked. In gaming youd see the same performance (if not better with less heat) i reckon. 7800x3d is thus the chip to get imo esp if you not going to do any heavy creative and video editing stuff.

 

[adamr]

so there is a new benchmark out called "blue protocol" ... japanese anime stuff. Looks pretty cool. Ran it will all the sliders max. To those struggling with Japanese you can use the google translate camera function to trasnlate the menus

BLUE PROTOCOL

blue-protocol.com

default settings I get 35692

max of 58deg C in this bench on the CPU

 

[adamr]

So more observations … I’ve seen the cpu now hit 81deg c and high 70s while loading any game . Or in game menus !? But weird for me … did install the new nvidia hot fix and not sure if this is the cause

In gameplay it’s on the low 60s or under

 

[adamr]

Figured I’ll give further updates to this chip after some good time on the platform. It’s runs beautifully cool and that is honestly my biggest positive. The game that utilises the cpu a bit is hogwarts and I’m running at 68deg C for most of the time. Seen it touch 70. Most games 60-65deg C. I’ve not yet seen it hit it’s 89deg C cap. My conclusion is don’t get the 7950x3d… get 7800x3d - absolute no brainer (most of us will never need the extra cores on a 7950x3d). Had my reservations about going AMD. But it’s is great and I ain’t looking back 😀

My only gripe with my AM5 system is gigabyte software. Like the Aourus master 4090 is a silent beast (no coil whine, solid build quality and very beautiful indeed). Motherboard is well a motherboard and operating great (got use to the interface). But God damn GCC is such a pos sw. Like it can’t even be classified as beta tbh …

 

[ShadowRaven007]

Very nice.
I have convinced myself that I need to upgrade from my 5900X system as my wife needs an upgrade. She is on a 4770k and it's doing weird things.
So far I got the Asus Strix B650E - E Gaming motherboard and 6400Mhz CL32 G.SKill ram. Want to play with the timings. Hopefully in the line of 6200 CL 28. Last to get is the 7800x3D.
The worst part about this upgrade is that I now need AM5 standoff screws for my water block. They cost $3.14 but the shipping is $44, FML like really :I
I love SA but it's so frustrating that we can't even get simple things like this here. There is just not a big enough market for it.

 

[Areola Grande]

Very nice.
I have convinced myself that I need to upgrade from my 5900X system as my wife needs an upgrade. She is on a 4770k and it's doing weird things.
So far I got the Asus Strix B650E - E Gaming motherboard and 6400Mhz CL32 G.SKill ram. Want to play with the timings. Hopefully in the line of 6200 CL 28. Last to get is the 7800x3D.
The worst part about this upgrade is that I now need AM5 standoff screws for my water block. They cost $3.14 but the shipping is $44, FML like really :I
I love SA but it's so frustrating that we can't even get simple things like this here. There is just not a big enough market for it.

I also want to order, just waiting for @Oj0 to stop being lazy and add a price to the website. Very lazy hobbit he is.

 

[adamr]

WARNING !!!!
AMD CHIPSET DRIVERS INSTALL ONLY FROM AMDS WEBSITE

So what I’ve learnt

1. Install only the AMD chipset drivers from AMDs site (there are vendor versions that appear to be more recent … but trust only the amd website drivers 🙏)
2. If you bork your install for the chipset drivers you need to reinstall windows sadly … no way to uninstall this shit cleanly. Hopefully AMD fixes this

you will see a marked drop in gaming performance if you dont follow this properly (i went from 125fps to 105fps avg in CP2077 when i tried to update the AMD chipset driver from Gigabytes site (it appeared newer). Trying to uninstall and reinstall the chipset drivers did not help at all. Had to saldy reinstall windows and performance was back.

 

[adamr]

So manufacturers have been scrambling to get out new bios updates with this whole saga of dying x3d cpus (for my board I just received the new F10C update from gigabyte so you might want to check)

seeing I’ve been an early adopter and had thermal paste changed very recently I honestly have noticed no issues physically with my chip. It all looked fine. But then again expo on 5600 ram was like 1.25v or something like that

 

[Areola Grande]

I see I have a new BIOS as of yesterday - will update today as well.

 

[Ageless_ZA]

I see I have a new BIOS as of yesterday - will update today as well.

Update your sig too, neanderthal.

 

[Areola Grande]

Update your sig too, neanderthal.

I'm incognito

 

[Areola Grande]

Update your sig too, neanderthal.

Better?

 

[Areola Grande]

Any ideas about the below warning?

I know excessive voltage would be an issue, but do we expect an issue with a voltage too low? I mean in terms of damage more than anything else.

I've noticed it a few times, always when I'm at the desktop or have only a few things running and not really using the PC - not an issue when Youtubing, gaming etc.

 

[dainluke]

WARNING !!!!
AMD CHIPSET DRIVERS INSTALL ONLY FROM AMDS WEBSITE

So what I’ve learnt

1. Install only the AMD chipset drivers from AMDs site (there are vendor versions that appear to be more recent … but trust only the amd website drivers 🙏)
2. If you bork your install for the chipset drivers you need to reinstall windows sadly … no way to uninstall this shit cleanly. Hopefully AMD fixes this

you will see a marked drop in gaming performance if you dont follow this properly (i went from 125fps to 105fps avg in CP2077 when i tried to update the AMD chipset driver from Gigabytes site (it appeared newer). Trying to uninstall and reinstall the chipset drivers did not help at all. Had to saldy reinstall windows and performance was back.

I used to have to uninstall them all the time. You need to use a third party app. When I was going for 3DMark rankings with the all-AMD PC a couple years back, I corrupted my drivers like four times that morning, and DDU would sorta damage chipset drivers too so I kinda just had to cleanly reinstall both multiple times. I rarely have to reinstall OSs though. Just need to tactically use DISM and sfc.

 

[adamr]

Any ideas about the below warning?

I know excessive voltage would be an issue, but do we expect an issue with a voltage too low? I mean in terms of damage more than anything else.

I've noticed it a few times, always when I'm at the desktop or have only a few things running and not really using the PC - not an issue when Youtubing, gaming etc.

What app or widget is this. I've honestly only set expo in the bios and memory on low latency mode. Nothing else changed

 

[Areola Grande]

What app or widget is this. I've honestly only set expo in the bios and memory on low latency mode. Nothing else changed

Gigabyte Control Centre.

Did some googling but only came up with old articles, nothing for the new platform and nothing indicating it's an actual problem to be concerned about. I think it may just be aggressive undervolting under low load.

 

[adamr]

Gigabyte Control Centre.

Did some googling but only came up with old articles, nothing for the new platform and nothing indicating it's an actual problem to be concerned about. I think it may just be aggressive undervolting under low load.

I have GCC running but not experienced anything like this. You under volting or tweaking your bios

 

[Areola Grande]

I have GCC running but not experienced anything like this. You under volting or tweaking your bios

Nope, all stock besides EXPO.

I haven't dug around in the BIOS at all - I did see a mention of Fast 'n Quiet perhaps playing a role.

Honestly it's working perfectly and I'm worried about an overvolt than an undervolt. It's just curious behaviour, a quirk of the new architecture perhaps.

 

[adamr]

Nope, all stock besides EXPO.

I haven't dug around in the BIOS at all - I did see a mention of Fast 'n Quiet perhaps playing a role.

Honestly it's working perfectly and I'm worried about an overvolt than an undervolt. It's just curious behaviour, a quirk of the new architecture perhaps.

i see now for my chip a new bios F10d from gigabyte. Maybe worth checking out as it talks to SOC voltages etc

 

[Areola Grande]

Yea I actually checked yesterday for a BIOS update but there wasn't one. The one I am running is not listed there either, surprisingly - they must have pulled it. I do see there is a new one with yesterday's date - F6c - so I must have just been a few hours too early.

Will update now and seee what's what.