Ryzen 9 5950X vs Athlon 950
Primary details
Comparing Athlon 950 and Ryzen 9 5950X processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | not rated | 159 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | no data | 26.60 |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Desktop processor |
| Series | no data | AMD Ryzen 9 |
| Power efficiency | no data | 25.88 |
| Architecture codename | Thunderbird (1999−2000) | Vermeer (Zen 3) (2020−2022) |
| Release date | 6 March 2000 (24 years ago) | 5 November 2020 (4 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $999 | $799 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Athlon 950 and Ryzen 9 5950X basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.
| Physical cores | 1 (Single-Core) | 16 (Hexadeca-Core) |
| Threads | 1 | 32 |
| Base clock speed | no data | 3.4 GHz |
| Boost clock speed | 0.95 GHz | 4.9 GHz |
| Multiplier | no data | 34 |
| L1 cache | 128 KB | 64K (per core) |
| L2 cache | 512 KB | 512K (per core) |
| L3 cache | 0 KB | 64 MB |
| Chip lithography | 180 nm | 7 nm, 12 nm |
| Die size | 102 mm2 | CPU cores: 2x 80.7 sq. mm., I/O: 125 mm2 |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | 70 °C | 95 °C |
| Number of transistors | 22 million | no data |
| 64 bit support | - | + |
| Windows 11 compatibility | - | + |
| Unlocked multiplier | - | + |
Compatibility
Information on Athlon 950 and Ryzen 9 5950X compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.
| Number of CPUs in a configuration | 1 | 1 |
| Socket | A | AM4 |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 62 Watt | 105 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Athlon 950 and Ryzen 9 5950X. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | no data | MMX (+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4A, AES, AVX, AVX2, FMA3, SHA |
| AES-NI | - | + |
| AVX | - | + |
| Precision Boost 2 | no data | + |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Athlon 950 and Ryzen 9 5950X are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | - | + |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Athlon 950 and Ryzen 9 5950X. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR1 | DDR4 |
| Maximum memory size | no data | 128 GB |
| Max memory channels | no data | 2 |
| Maximum memory bandwidth | no data | 51.196 GB/s |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | N/A | - |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Athlon 950 and Ryzen 9 5950X.
| PCIe version | no data | 4.0 |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 6 March 2000 | 5 November 2020 |
| Physical cores | 1 | 16 |
| Threads | 1 | 32 |
| Chip lithography | 180 nm | 7 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 62 Watt | 105 Watt |
Athlon 950 has 69.4% lower power consumption.
Ryzen 9 5950X, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 20 years, 1500% more physical cores and 3100% more threads, and a 2471.4% more advanced lithography process.
We couldn't decide between Athlon 950 and Ryzen 9 5950X. We've got no test results to judge.
Should you still have questions on choice between Athlon 950 and Ryzen 9 5950X, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Similar processor comparisons
We picked several similar comparisons of processors in the same market segment and performance relatively close to those reviewed on this page.
