Can AMD Ryzen 9 9950X be overclocked to 6GHz?

According to leaked information, the 9950X can reach impressive boost clock speeds of up to 6GHz.

Tech blogger @9950pro shared a screenshot of the Geekbench 6 review results for the Ryzen 9 9950X spec model. The CPU is paired with an Asus ROG Crosshair X670E motherboard and 32GB of DDR5 memory. Notably, the processor's maximum clock speed reaches 5.95 GHz — nearly 300MHz higher than the default boost clock. In these tests, the overclocked chip scored 3,706 points in single-core performance and 26,047 points in multi-core performance.

In fact, a few weeks ago, there was also a successful attempt to overclock the Ryzen 9 9950X past the 6GHz mark. AMD's in-house overclocking team pushed the chip's peak clock to a staggering 6.75GHz, breaking the world record on Cinebench R23 with 53,557 points in the multi-core test. This achievement, including the achievement of many other important milestones, was only possible using a high-performance liquid nitrogen (LN2) cooling system. This method is often used in tests for extreme overclocking, but is impractical for everyday consumer use.

The newly leaked Geekbench benchmark is especially intriguing as it is believed that the engineering prototype in test was not LN2 cooled. This essentially gives users a better understanding of what they can expect with this chip in typical cooling systems.

As Tom's Hardware points out, achieving similar overclocking results up to 6GHz may be possible using a high-performance air cooling solution, or an all-in-one liquid cooling solution ( AIO). This opens the door for enthusiasts to push the boundaries of their systems without the need for dedicated cooling setups.

The above results are generally very promising. However, it is currently just a reference rumor, especially because the Ryzen 9 9950X model used for testing is a technical sample. Performance and stability may vary between end user versions.

In a related update, AMD recently announced the postponement of the release of Ryzen 9000 series CPUs, which were originally scheduled to go on sale on July 31. The new series will now be available for the first two weeks of August. Specifically, Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X will launch on August 8, while Ryzen 9 9900X and Ryzen 9 9950X will be available from August 15. According to AMD, the reason behind the delay These delays are initial production batches that do not meet the company's "adequate quality expectations."

Overall, early results for the Ryzen 9 9950X are encouraging and suggest that AMD will maintain its competitive edge in the high-end desktop processor market. Stay closely tuned for further developments and official release details to see how these chips perform in real-world scenarios.

Marvin Fry

Update 28 July 2024