High-end benchmark duel: Ryzen 9 7950X and Core i9-13900K play on RTX 4090

High-end hardware has become significantly faster in recent weeks. ComputerBase compares the gaming performance of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and the Intel Core i9-13900K on an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090. The performance is tested in ten different games and three resolutions – from theoretical to practical.

Table of contents

Core i9-13900K and Ryzen 9 7950X on RTX 4090 in comparison
1. The CPU duel is “only” on Ampere to date
2. Theory AND practice in focus
3. So far Results checked again
The test system and the game settings
1. New games in three resolutions
Benchmark results
1. FPS and frame times in 1,280 × 720
2. FPS and frame times in 1,920 × 1,080
3. FPS and frame times in 3,840 × 2,160 incl. upsampling
Conclusion

Core i9-13900K and Ryzen 9 7950X on RTX 4090 compared

There have rarely been as many new products as there were in autumn 2022. In terms of both processors and graphics cards, important manufacturers are presenting new components in their product range, some of which clearly overshadow the old generation. For the CPUs, AMD entered the Ryzen 7950X (test) and Intel the Core i9-13900K (test). Nvidia started with the graphics cards with the GeForce RTX 4090 (test), while AMD will present RDNA 3 in the form of the Radeon RX 7000 generation on November 3rd.

The CPU duel is “only” on amps to date

Since this all happens within a few weeks, it has not yet been possible for ComputerBase to carry out a “combined test”. The CPUs still had to prove themselves in games on the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, but not on the clearly better GeForce RTX 4090. This will now be made up for at this point: the Core i9-13900K and the Ryzen 9 7950X are high-end duel on what is currently by far the fastest graphics card. So it's quite possible that this article will come to a different result than the comparison in the CPU limit with the RTX 3090 Ti in the Raptor Lake test from October.

Theory AND practice in focus

However, the editors are not only looking again at the absolute processor performance in the theoretical 720p resolution, which literally takes the graphics card out of the game as far as possible, but has nothing to do with reality. In addition, there are two other test scenarios in this test up to Ultra HD resolution with maximum details including ray tracing and upsampling, which pretty much correspond to the requirement profile of the GeForce RTX 4090. Both the theory and the practice have found their way into this article.

Previous results re-examined

Of course, the editors did not ignore the fact that the distance between the Ryzen 9 7950X and the Core i9-13900K in games was larger on ComputerBase than in other tests. Although the results were confirmed and some reasons (such as turning off the GPU limit more effectively than on some other sites) were given for this, the game selection was adjusted again for this test in order to rule it out as a cause as well. The focus was on the question of which current games the owners of a GeForce RTX 4090 use. The selection was made with the arguments topicality and technology.

So off we go with the question of how the Intel Core i9-13900K and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X on the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 behave in gaming benchmarks. And the question is also clarified as to whether the processor with such a graphics card only makes a difference in low and therefore not practical settings or whether it also plays an important role in realistic scenarios.

The test system and the game settings

All processors are operated in the test series according to the specifications of AMD or Intel – the same applies to the GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition from Nvidia. The Ryzen 9 7950X runs on the Asus Crosshair X670E Hero with BIOS 0705, the Core i9-13900K on the Asus Maximus Z790 Hero with BIOS 0502. Both test subjects will have 32 GB of memory in the form of two 16 GB bars at one speed of DDR5-5200 at AMD and DDR5-5600 at Intel. The timings are 32-32-32-61 (AMD) and 34-34-34-67 (Intel). This approach is discussed again and again in the community, but it remains the editorial approach here.

Windows 11 21H2 including all updates was reinstalled before the tests. The GeForce 522.25 is installed as the graphics card driver.

New games in three resolutions

The game course has been renewed for the article. The goal was to test either new games that a buyer of high-end hardware would try, or older titles that are still graphically top-notch. Accordingly, the graphics details were set to the maximum including ray tracing, because you shouldn't do anything else with a GeForce RTX 4090.

Three different resolutions are used, the graphics details are at all the same. In order to look at the pure CPU performance, 1,280 × 720 is used and at the same time massive upsampling is used to further reduce the influence of the graphics card. This is a purely theoretical scenario that best demonstrates CPU performance, but has nothing to do with reality.

The second series of tests is a hybrid of theory and reality. While 1920×1080 is not a resolution that should ever be used with Nvidia's high-end graphics card, it is still a popular one and probably the lowest that will be used anywhere with a high-end GPU. Upsampling is switched off in this case.

The third scenario is the “reality scenario”, which will often be seen with a GeForce RTX 4090 in connection with high-end processors. 3,840 × 2,160 is selected as the resolution, the details are set to the maximum. The hardware combination would feel very comfortable here, but in order to be able to compare the processors a little better, upsampling, be it AMD's FSR 2 or Nvidia DLSS 2, is set to the “Quality” level. So the render resolution is 2560 × 1440 instead of 3840 × 2160. This is something that often makes sense even with sufficient computing power – not only for performance reasons, but also for quality reasons or a combination of both.

The following table describes the ones used Graphics options in all games at the three different resolutions.

The games used and the graphics details Graphics details A Plague Tale: Requiem 720p: Ultra Preset, DLSS “Ultra Performance”
1080p: Ultra Preset
2160p: Ultra preset, DLSS “Quality” Call of Duty: Warzone 720p: Maximum details, no RT, DLSS “Ultra Performance”
1080p: Maximum details, no RT
2160p: Maximum details, no RT, DLSS “Quality” Cyberpunk 2077 720p: Ray-traced Ultra preset, DLSS “Ultra Performance”
1080p: Ray-traced Ultra preset
2160p: Ray-traced Ultra preset, DLSS “Quality” Dying Light 2 720p: Raytraced “High Quality”, FSR 1 “Performance”
1080p: Raytraced “High Quality”
2160p: Raytracing “High Quality”, DLSS “Quality” F1 22 720p: Ultra High Preset, RT Reflections + AO + Shadows, DLSS “Ultra Performance”
1080p: Ultra High Preset, RT Reflections + AO + Shadows< br>2160p: ultra high preset, RT reflections + AO + shadows, DLSS “Quality” God of War 720p: maximum graphic details, DLSS “Ultra Performance”
1080p: maximum graphic details
2160p: maximum graphic details, DLSS “Quality” Gotham Knights 720p: Highest Preset, RT On, DLSS “Ultra Performance”
1080p: Highest Preset, RT On
2160p: Highest Preset, RT On Overwatch 2 720p: Epic Preset, 50% Resolution
1080p: Epic Preset
2160p: Epic Preset Spider-Man Remastered 720p: Maximum Details RT: Resolution + Geometry on “Very High”, View Distance on “10”, IGTI “Performance”
1080p: Maximum Detail RT: Resolution + Geometry set to “Very High”, View Distance set to “10”
2160p: Maximum Detail RT: Resolution + Geometry set to “Very High”, View Distance set to “10”, DLSS “Quality” Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves 720p: Ultra Preset, FSR “Ultra Performance”
1080p: Ultra Preset
2160p: Ultra preset, FSR “Quality”

Benchmark results

FPS and frametimes in 1280 × 720

At 1280×720, the Core i9-13900K averages 18 percent more AVG FPS than the Ryzen 9 7950X and 17 percent better percentile FPS in games on a GeForce RTX 4090. The result is very similar to the measured values of the launch article on the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, which were 17 and 19 percent respectively.

From this it can be deduced: The GeForce RTX 3090 Ti has not slowed down the high-end CPUs with extremely few render pixels, so that the GeForce RTX 4090 cannot bring any advantages. And the old measurements were also confirmed in the slightly adjusted course.

And because the editor, platforms and the Windows installation were changed, the results from October can once again be regarded as confirmed.

Performance rating 1,280 × 720

AVG FPS
Percentile FPS

Edit Performance rating 1280×720 – AVG FPS Inflow charts All None

A Plague Tale Requiem – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, Average
Call of Duty Warzone – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, Average
Cyberpunk 2077 – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, Average
Dying Light 2 – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, Average
F1 22 – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, Average
God of War – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, Average
Gotham Knights – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, Average
Overwatch 2 – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, Average
Spider-Man Remastered – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, Average
Uncharted Legacy of Thieves – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, Average

- Intel Core i9-13900K100.0
- AMD Ryzen 9 7950X84.8

Unit: Percent Edit Performance Rating 1,280 × 720 – Percentile FPS Inflowing Charts All None

A Plague Tale Requiem – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, 1% percentile
Call of Duty Warzone – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, 1% percentile
Cyberpunk 2077 – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, 1% percentile
Dying Light 2 – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, 1% percentile
F1 22 – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, 1% percentile
God of War – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, 1% percentile
Gotham Knights – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, 1% percentile
Overwatch 2 – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, 1% percentile
Spider-Man Remastered – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, 1% percentile
Uncharted Legacy of Thieves – 1280×720, RTX 4090: FPS, 1% percentile

- Intel Core i9-13900K100.0
- AMD Ryzen 9 7950X85.2

Unit: percent

It then goes back and forth in the individual games: both CPUs have their strengths and weaknesses. In Cyberpunk 2077, the Core i9-13900K is the strongest and can deliver 33 percent more FPS than the Ryzen 9 7950X, the situation is similar in F1 22. In Overwatch 2, the AMD CPU is on par with the Intel counterpart, but both products run into the game's FPS limit of 600 FPS. Second best is the Ryzen God of War. The Core i9-13900K is also ahead here, but the Ryzen 9 7950X can keep the gap small at 4 percent.

1,280 × 720, RTX 4090

A Plague Tale Requiem – 1280 × 720, RTX 4090

FPS, Average:
- Intel Core i9-13900K210.6
- AMD Ryzen 9 7950X177.8
FPS, 1% percentile:
- Intel Core i9-13900K177.1
- AMD Ryzen 9 7950X143.4

Unit: frames per second (FPS) Call of Duty Warzone – 1,280 × 720, RTX 4090

FPS, Average:
- Intel Core i9-13900K246.0
- AMD Ryzen 9 7950X224.6
FPS, 1% percentile:
- Intel Core i9-13900K161.7
- AMD Ryzen 9 7950X155.9

Unit: frames per second (FPS) Cyberpunk 2077 – 1280 × 720, RTX 4090

FPS, average :
- Intel Core i9-13900K105.5
- AMD Ryzen 9 7950X79.2
FPS, 1% percentile:
- Intel Core i9-13900K85,1

Unit: frames per second (FPS) Dying Light 2 – 1280 × 720, RTX 4090

FPS, Average:
- Intel Core i9-13900K219.3
- AMD Ryzen 9 7950X178.4
- FPS, 1% percentile:
  - Intel Core i9-13900K181.4
  - AMD Ryzen 9 7950X155.6
Unit: frames per second (FPS) F1 22 – 1280 × 720, RTX 4090
- FPS, average :
  - Intel Core i9-13900K220.4
  - AMD Ryzen 9 7950X168.3
- FPS, 1% percentile:
  - Intel Core i9-13900K140.5
Unit: frames per second (FPS) God of War – 1280 × 720, RTX 4090
- FPS, Average:
  - Intel Core i9-13900K218.0
  - AMD Ryzen 9 7950X209.4
  - FPS, 1% percentile:
    - Intel Core i9-13900K98.1
    - AMD Ryzen 9 7950X97.4
  Unit: frames per second (FPS) Gotham Knights – 1,280 × 720, RTX 4090
  - FPS, Average:
    - Intel Core i9-13900K82.4
    - AMD Ryzen 9 7950X67.4
  - FPS, 1% percentile:
    - Intel Core i9-13900K50.5
    - AMD Ryzen 9 7950X40.0
  Unit: frames per second (FPS) Overwatch 2 – 1,280 × 720, RTX 4090
  - FPS, Average:
    - Intel Core i9-13900K599.8600 FPS Limit
    - AMD Ryzen 9 7950X599.7600 FPS Limit
  - FPS, 1% percentile:
    - AMD Ryzen 9 7950X523.2
    - Intel Core i9-13900K521.5
  unit : Frames Per Second (FPS) Spider-Man Remastered – 1280 × 720, RTX 4090
  - FPS, Average:
    - Intel Core i9-13900K115.9
    - AMD Ryzen 9 7950X90.6
    - FPS, 1% percentile:
      - Intel Core i9-13900K90.1
      - AMD Ryzen 9 7950X65.6< /li>
    Unit: frames per second (FPS) Uncharted Legacy of Thieves – 1280 × 720, RTX 4090
    - FPS, Average:
      - Intel Core i9-13900K170.7
      - AMD Ryzen 9 7950X149.2
    - FPS, 1% percentile:
      - Intel Core i9-13900K122.9
      - AMD Ryzen 9 7950X107.4
    Unit: frames per second (FPS)
    
    FPS and frametimes in 1,920 × 1,080
    
    The second test scenario offers significantly more render pixels than the first with the native Full HD resolution, so the graphics card is subjected to significantly more stress. This is still an unrealistic scenario for the GeForce RTX 4090 – buyers of the graphics card (hopefully) hardly play in Full HD – but it's probably the smallest resolution that the 3D accelerator has to deal with in practice nonetheless.
    
    Both processors unsurprisingly slip a little at 1,920 × 1,080, but the GeForce RTX 4090 is fast enough that there are still differences between the two CPUs. In the second test scenario, the Core i9-13900K is still an average of 12 percent faster than the Ryzen 9 7950X, so the gap has shrunk by 6 percentage points.
    
    Performance rating 1,920 × 1,080
    - AVG FPS
    - Percentile FPS