*Official Benchmark Thread* - Post it here or it didn't happen :D

[Mr. Fox]

17 hours ago, tps3443 said:

I’m looking at a 9950X3D2, and a X870 Crosshair Dark Hero, I am struggling on which ram to get. Any tips? 

The only truly excellent memory kit for a Ryzen 9 CPU is a G.SKILL Trident Z5 Neo 6000 CL26 EXPO kit. You cannot find them when you need to, and now they are going for like $1,200 or more. But, essentially 100% of the impressive memory overclocking on AM5 involves one of those kits. There are two variations. The one with "G" in the part number is slightly better. I have the "H" version and it needs a little more voltage and won't clock quite as high due to that.  The part numbers in question are F5-6000J2636H16G and F5-6000J2636H16H.

 

I have one in my Apex and it is definitely head and shoulders above all others, and ASUS has specifically tuned the firmware FOR THOSE sticks. But, even with one of these memory kits you're going to need to source one of the dozen good bin quality Ryzen CPUs in existence to do anything impressive with the memory kit. What I have right now is about is good as it gets with AMD CPU and memory overclocking and it is very mundane compared to what I was used to with Intel.

 

Whatever memory you get, be sure it is EXPO. Older Intel XMP kits are crap on Ryzen, even when manually tuned. The XMP SPD timing values left on Auto often malfunction and it is a pain in the butt to find stable settings unless you are starting with an EXPO kit. Ask me how I know. Painfully time-wasting and frustrating when you don't start with an EXPO kit.

[electrosoft]

2 hours ago, tps3443 said:

Im really curious to test that and see the gains in 4K compared to my current setup. I feel like my current setup performs well. But, I’m considering moving away from the 4K/120hz. It’s pretty big. I still run my 48” OLED Aorus panel. Thing has like 4,500+ “panel on time hours now” lol. 😂 Probably gonna run maybe a 27” 1440P. 
 

I didn’t hang on to any DDR5, I would only run one set at a time back then anyways. Other than the set that’s in my son’s rig, he has some nice 2x16GB Gskill 6400 Mdie sticks. I’m sure those can crank 8000+

 

If I made the switch, I do have a lot of DDR4 Bdie to offload and maybe recoup from. I have a 16x16GB set of Gskill Bdie 3200c14. 
 

The 9950X3D may not make sense, so maybe just a 9850X3D would be fine. 
 

Is there a significant different with the X870 Apex, and just a regular X870 Crosshair black? I’m not going to run a delid setup. Probably just pretty mild OC. Setup, grab a block, and swap it in to my current case with 3x480MM GTX, 4x D5. 

 

You could move to 4K 240hz which is what I run with fps capped to ~175fps so I don't get a monster differential between 1% lows and fps for more consistent game play experience.

 

Yeah, a lot of those kits can crank 8000. I'm still stuck in Arrow Lake mental land where everything is 8800+ or bust and tuning around 9066 G2 atm while fighting the urge to bin some more boards....

 

If you're mainly looking for gaming, get s 9850X3D and call it a wrap. If you want the best of both worlds, get a 9950X3D (or Epyc like @Mr. Fox alluded to) and call it a wrap. If you absolutely do NOT care about value and want the best of the best, get a 9950X3D2 which I can't see being worth it but good for testing. Either way, when I ran a 7950X3D, I just took the 20 seconds it took to enter the bios and enable my profile that turned the non X3D CCD off when gaming and had the X3D CCD tuned up. No muss, no fuss. This was my preferred way of gaming after dealing with M$ and even PL.

 

Them: "Hey, here's some software so you can properly park and/or manage core isolation" 

Me: "Or, I can just shut it down completely and fine tune around the X3D binned CCD only for gaming and it takes a hot few minutes tops to just enable that user profile"

 

You will need absolute Sugi level binning to find a super unicorn golden chip to hope for the 8800 he's running properly on his rig. You're most likely going to do 8000 for proper sync and either board can handle that.

 

14900KS is still a viable option and like I've said numerous times, that SP109 14900KS dialed in still at 59/45/50 (on an AIO no less) running crisp and cool running on the wife's system with my original launch edition Asus Z690-A Strix and 2x16GB G.Skill B.die tuned at 4133. She'll run that thing into the ground as I don't see anything coming out that will hinder it anytime soon at 4k. 

 

If you DO stick to 4k gaming, Arrow Lake is also a very viable platform vs AMD and testing has shown it matches X3D and actually can have better lows too on top of it if that is something you'd want to entertain. It is also different enough to present a new challenge and fun OC'ing and tuning. Not as radically different as AMD vs Intel, but enough vs Intel to make it fun.

 

One thing to keep in mind X3D is a, "better to have it and not need it vs need it and not have it," tool in your arsenal. It really is a game by game situation. One game will show nothing and another will have insane results. If you go dual CCDs, you can even enable and disable them back and forth to really see the difference in certain titles which is what I did with Fallout 76 and the 7950X3D vs my 13900KS tuned because I just wasn't believing the performance gains X3D was bringing but they were valid. In WoW? Not so much....

 

 

 

 

 

[electrosoft]

53 minutes ago, Mr. Fox said:

The only truly excellent memory kit for a Ryzen 9 CPU is a G.SKILL Trident Z5 Neo 6000 CL26 EXPO kit. You cannot find them when you need to, and now they are going for like $1,200 or more. But, essentially 100% of the impressive memory overclocking on AM5 involves one of those kits. There are two variations. The one with "G" in the part number is slightly better. I have the "H" version and it needs a little more voltage and won't clock quite as high due to that.  The part numbers in question are F5-6000J2636H16G and F5-6000J2636H16H.

 

I have one in my Apex and it is definitely head and shoulders above all others, and ASUS has specifically tuned the firmware FOR THOSE sticks. But, even with one of these memory kits you're going to need to source one of the dozen good bin quality Ryzen CPUs in existence to do anything impressive with the memory kit. What I have right now is about is good as it gets with AMD CPU and memory overclocking and it is very mundane compared to what I was used to with Intel.

 

Whatever memory you get, be sure it is EXPO. Older Intel XMP kits are crap on Ryzen, even when manually tuned. The XMP SPD timing values left on Auto often malfunction and it is a pain in the butt to find stable settings unless you are starting with an EXPO kit. Ask me how I know. Painfully time-wasting and frustrating when you don't start with an EXPO kit.

 

@tps3443

 

Those sticks with G are available on Amazon for $699.99 direct from G.Skill:

 

F5-6000J2636H16G:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F1WX47YD?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback&th=1

 

$799.99 for the 2x24GB variants

$1299.99 for the 2x32GB variants

 

If you want a set, might want to snap them up now. 

 

 

 

[Mr. Fox]

14 minutes ago, electrosoft said:

 

@tps3443

 

Those sticks with G are available on Amazon for $699.99 direct from G.Skill:

 

F5-6000J2636H16G:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F1WX47YD?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback&th=1

 

$799.99 for the 2x24GB variants

$1299.99 for the 2x32GB variants

 

If you want a set, might want to snap them up now. 

 

 

 

100%. I have not seen them priced that low for a LONG time. (I paid like $300 before the AI-retarded nonsense ruined everything.) @tps3443 better get them before they are gone or go back to $1200+ again.

 

Edit: Good find Brother @electrosoft. Those are the "H" variant with 1.450V but the advice is still the same... 2x16GB. The Amazon listing appears to include typos or conflicting info as to whether they are G or H but the voltage indicates H. The G variant is 1.350 or 1.400V with the same timings.

 

To add to my previous comments about older Intel XMP kits on Ryzen, the default SPD timings are not good for Ryzen as I mentioned, but the ODT values are also wonky and don't work well. So, you are chasing not only Ryzen-friendly timings but also different ODTs for Ryzen versus Intel. ASUS Crosshair mobo firmware sets all of the right ODTs specifically for these 6000 CL26 G.SKILL kits.

 

Edited 7 hours ago by Mr. Fox
may be H instead of G but either way... grab 'em

[Mr. Fox]

43 minutes ago, electrosoft said:

You will need absolute Sugi level binning to find a super unicorn golden chip to hope for the 8800 he's running properly on his rig. You're most likely going to do 8000 for proper sync and either board can handle that.

LOL... my WTB thread was 1 year ago today... 6/18/2025. FreakFreak is hunting unicorns. He posted this today. I wish him better luck than I had (which was none). What he is asking for is even more rare that what I was looking for. An X3D with a strong IMC and high core clocking capacity is even more unlikely. What he is asking for is also less relevant... X3D CPUs are largely memory clock agnostic in terms of the effect on performance. The benefit of memory bandwidth is mostly negated by the cache.

[tps3443]

@electrosoft Thanks for sharing the memory kit. Crazy that $699.99 is considered cheap these days for an enthusiast ram kit. Lol. 

 

@Mr. Fox If you did not already own a 9950 class chip, would you consider buying a 9950X3D2? Are these generally be better bins than a regular 9950X3D1? 
 

Money wise, the value doesn’t seem crazy to me. My thought process is, the 9850X3D is $499.99 8/16, and the 9950X3D2 is 16/32 for $899.99. So in my mind, it doesn’t seem all that crazy. 
 

I might just grab CPU+Board for now, and wait a bit longer on memory. I suppose the X870 Apex is probably the one I’ll get with a x3D2 on top lol. 😂 The Dark Hero looks good too though. Decisions, decisions. This may seem silly, but the ROG Crosshair 20th anniversary edition is the only thing holding me back. I love the way it looks. It’s that retro blue/white/copper. Not going to lie, this board alone lured me in to this whole idea. I was in the hobby running an overclocking AMD Athlon XP 3200 and AMD 64 3000 systems in 2006 😂

 

[Talon]

If any of yalls are interested in a really good AIO, I just got the new Noctua 420mm AIO and I'm blown away by the performance of the AIO. I had my Corsair 420mm AIO before this, using the same exact Noctua Fans and Thermal Grizzy Kryonaut pad. I tested a before and after run in CB23 with 300w power limits and the improvement is shocking. Best of all, no longer need Corsair iCUE garbage on my system. Just a clean, no RGB AIO and I love it. 

 

Same Noctua 140mm Black Fans, Same Thermal Pad, Same Fan Speed. 

 

Noctua 420mm AIO

 

 

Corsair 420mm AIO

 

I've been on a bit of a spending spree lately lol. Picked up the new MSI MPG Ai1600TS PCIE5 power supply with current monitoring and dual 12v2x6 outputs. Finally running native cables and being able to monitor the current on each pin with my HOF 5090D is awesome. No need for a fancy GPU to do this, I can do it with the MSI PSU and monitor all of it in HWINFO64 and MSI Afterburner. Can also overlay it in an OSD so I can keep an eye on it at all times if I want. 

 

Then picked up this Noctua AIO and very happy I did. The cooling improvement and headroom it provides me for Nova Lake is very cool. My system is Nova Lake ready lol. 

 

Grabbed the Logitech Pro X2 mouse with haptic triggers. It's a total game changer for me. I've never done better in games and just using the mouse on the desktop with a clean and satisfying mouse click. Also it's basically silent, so if my wife is in the office and I'm gaming, my trigger click is dead silent. No more annoying the heck out of her while I click away lol.

 

Think I need to cool it for awhile lol. 

[Talon]

1 hour ago, tps3443 said:

@electrosoft Thanks for sharing the memory kit. Crazy that $699.99 is considered cheap these days for an enthusiast ram kit. Lol. 

 

@Mr. Fox If you did not already own a 9950 class chip, would you consider buying a 9950X3D2? Are these generally be better bins than a regular 9950X3D1? 
 

Money wise, the value doesn’t seem crazy to me. My thought process is, the 9850X3D is $499.99 8/16, and the 9950X3D2 is 16/32 for $899.99. So in my mind, it doesn’t seem all that crazy. 
 

I might just grab CPU+Board for now, and wait a bit longer on memory. I suppose the X870 Apex is probably the one I’ll get with a x3D2 on top lol. 😂 The Dark Hero looks good too though. Decisions, decisions. This may seem silly, but the ROG Crosshair 20th anniversary edition is the only thing holding me back. I love the way it looks. It’s that retro blue/white/copper. Not going to lie, this board alone lured me in to this whole idea. I was in the hobby running an overclocking AMD Athlon XP 3200 and AMD 64 3000 systems in 2006 😂

 

 

I love that board. Looks retro and cool. I swear I had a board that looked just like it back in the day. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FH173B3C?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback&th=1 -- CL28 at $440

 

https://www.newegg.com/klevv-32gb-2-x-16gb-ddr5-6000-pc5-48000-cas-latency-cl30-desktop-memory-white/p/N82E16820101096?Item=N82E16820101096 -- CL30 at $419 with code

 

https://www.newegg.com/klevv-32gb-2-x-16gb-ddr5-6000-pc5-48000-cas-latency-cl30-desktop-memory-black/p/N82E16820101095 --CL30 at $419 with code

 

The CL28 are SK Hynix A-Dies and the 6000 CL30 should also be A-Dies. At 1.35v with CL28/CL30, you should have no issue pushing CL26 at 1.45v if you want to manually tune them. I believe this is SK Hynix own branded ram. I think I'd probably go with the sure thing CL28s as they're probably slightly better binned. 

 

 

[tps3443]

So I may go with this setup below. 
 

CPU: 9850X3D (Might change for 9950X3D or 9950X3D2 still considering) 

 

RAM: Dominator Titanium 6000c30 2x16GB

 

Board: ASUS Crosshair X870e Apex (May swap to something more basic) 

 

Lately I find my self less and less interested in extreme overclocking, so the Apex may get replaced with something less extravagant like a cheaper ROG board or maybe even a Strix/TUF/MSI etc. 

 

 

[electrosoft]

3 hours ago, Mr. Fox said:

LOL... my WTB thread was 1 year ago today... 6/18/2025. FreakFreak is hunting unicorns. He posted this today. I wish him better luck than I had (which was none). What he is asking for is even more rare that what I was looking for. An X3D with a strong IMC and high core clocking capacity is even more unlikely. What he is asking for is also less relevant... X3D CPUs are largely memory clock agnostic in terms of the effect on performance. The benefit of memory bandwidth is mostly negated by the cache.

 

His better bin did 8200 so he's looking for 8400+ so good luck. Sugi's 8800 binned unicorn is bonkers good.

 

Also another reason I was hesitant over his delidded one for sale with F&F..... Tempting with the delidded heatsink and offset mount, but not for $800 and SP117. Seems like a good dude, though that loves hardware so +1 on that.

 

2 hours ago, Talon said:

If any of yalls are interested in a really good AIO, I just got the new Noctua 420mm AIO and I'm blown away by the performance of the AIO. I had my Corsair 420mm AIO before this, using the same exact Noctua Fans and Thermal Grizzy Kryonaut pad. I tested a before and after run in CB23 with 300w power limits and the improvement is shocking. Best of all, no longer need Corsair iCUE garbage on my system. Just a clean, no RGB AIO and I love it. 

 

Same Noctua 140mm Black Fans, Same Thermal Pad, Same Fan Speed. 

 

Noctua 420mm AIO

 

 

Corsair 420mm AIO

 

I've been on a bit of a spending spree lately lol. Picked up the new MSI MPG Ai1600TS PCIE5 power supply with current monitoring and dual 12v2x6 outputs. Finally running native cables and being able to monitor the current on each pin with my HOF 5090D is awesome. No need for a fancy GPU to do this, I can do it with the MSI PSU and monitor all of it in HWINFO64 and MSI Afterburner. Can also overlay it in an OSD so I can keep an eye on it at all times if I want. 

 

Then picked up this Noctua AIO and very happy I did. The cooling improvement and headroom it provides me for Nova Lake is very cool. My system is Nova Lake ready lol. 

 

Grabbed the Logitech Pro X2 mouse with haptic triggers. It's a total game changer for me. I've never done better in games and just using the mouse on the desktop with a clean and satisfying mouse click. Also it's basically silent, so if my wife is in the office and I'm gaming, my trigger click is dead silent. No more annoying the heck out of her while I click away lol.

 

Think I need to cool it for awhile lol. 

 

Hmmmm, I might have to give the Noctua a whirl then. I've been using my LF II 420 for years now and it gets it done and has held its own against just about everything I've thrown it against so far but it's Noctua! I know Nova is going to be beast....

 

28 minutes ago, tps3443 said:

So I may go with this setup below. 
 

CPU: 9850X3D (Might change for 9950X3D or 9950X3D2 still considering) 

 

RAM: Dominator Titanium 6000c30 2x16GB

 

Board: ASUS Crosshair X870e Apex (May swap to something more basic) 

 

Lately I find my self less and less interested in extreme overclocking, so the Apex may get replaced with something less extravagant like a cheaper ROG board or maybe even a Strix/TUF/MSI etc. 

 

 

 

I'd really go with the G.Skill C26 from Amazon if you're going to be paying that much from BB for those or at least the sticks quoted from @Talon unless you have a crapton of reward points saved up or want/need to use BB credit instead.

 

I also think the 9850X3D is the smart move too. Like you said, you're not into extreme OC'ing anymore. I think you've come back down to my level where I tune and apply a modest OC but everything I do is tuned around D2D stability. You still run custom water though which is nice.