AMD’s quest to bring Zen 5 up to speed continues, with the brand now reportedly turning its focus to its Ryzen 9 SKUs. Unlike its lower-end models, the brand won’t simply be turning up TDP to unlock extra performance. Instead, it plans to address underlying issues with inter-CCD (core chiplet die) latency currently affecting Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X.
On paper, Ryzen 9 9950X & Ryzen 9 9900X should serve as prime examples of what Zen 5 is capable of, equipped with 12 and 16 cores, respectively. While these processors are indeed the best CPUs in AMD’s current generation lineup, they’re by no means light-years ahead of their predecessors in their current state. As the only chips in the series (thus far) to sport two CCDs, snappy communication is between the dies is paramount to their success.
Problems with Zen 5 inter-CCD latencies have existed since launch, with outlets like Anandtech noting as such in their Ryzen 9 9950X & 9900X reviews. Presumably, AMD was also aware of these issues prior to pushing its processors out the door. However, given the scramble to deploy branch prediction optimisations and TDP increases to address Ryzen 9000 performance, anything goes.
Whatever the case, though, AMD will address these issues soon. This is according Bilibili user Geekerwan (via 9550pro), who claims that a BIOS patch is in the works.
It’s unclear how much more performance AMD can squeeze out of its dual-CCD chips via latency improvements. However, Intel has shown how addressing such inefficiencies boosts its Lunar Lake architecture, relative to Meteor Lake. Any effort to speed up communications between dies will be welcome, and should benefit Ryzen 9 9000X3D processors in the future too.
Commendable as this move and those prior are from AMD, one can’t help but feel Zen 5 hasn’t received the launch it deserved. Not only does this complicate cultural perceptions of AMD itself, but it leaves consumers confused too. Ryzen 7 9700X & Ryzen 5 9600X reviews published at launch no longer reflect the processors’ performance following patches published so shortly after release, and the same could soon be true of Ryzen 9 SKUs.
To be clear, we expect and welcome post-launch optimisations, but this feels more like saving face than it does improving value. Until AMD drops its BIOS patch, check out our Ryzen 9 9950X vs. Core i9-14900K piece to see how the most powerful processors on the market today compete.