AM4 vs AM5 X3D vs Intel Core Ultra CPU Benchmark Comparison

Gaming and productivity benchmarks highlight architectural gains between AM4, AM5 X3D processors, and Intel Core Ultra hybrid design.

Hardware by Godrics01 on Mar 13, 2026

Ryzen 7 5800X3D is still the fastest CPU on the AM4 platform. Ryzen 7 9850X3D is the newest X3D processor for AM5. This comparison of these processors shows how the older AM4 platform stacks up against newer designs in both gaming and productivity tasks.

The study also covers Intel's Core Ultra 7 265K to provide further information on other CPU designs and core configurations.

AM4, AM5, X3D, Intel Core Ultra, CPU Benchmark Comparison, NoobFeed

Context and Prices for the Platform

We are primarily comparing the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, the fastest AM4 CPU, with the Ryzen 7 9850X3D, the current AM5 flagship in this sector. AMD sent us the 9850X3D for testing, which makes benchmark comparisons easier.

Prices of current gear affect judgments about upgrades. Memory prices are still high, GPUs are still getting more expensive, and upgrading your platform costs more overall. Because of this, many people who still use AM4 systems are wondering whether the 5800X3D is still good enough for recent games when paired with GPUs like the Radeon RX 7900 XTX, which performs about the same as the Radeon RX 9070XT and the GeForce RTX 5080.

It's hard to find a fresh 5800X3D at a store, and the prices are higher than usual because there aren't many in stock. But you may find used 5700X3D and 5800X3D CPUs at good pricing. People switching from CPUs like the Ryzen 5 5600X will see a significant boost in performance when they upgrade to a 5700X3D or 5800X3D.

You can buy the Ryzen 7 9700X in the US for $284. It has 8 cores threads thanks to the Zen5 architecture, which also includes architectural advancements, including support for AI acceleration. Core Ultra 7 265K comes with a game, which makes it more valuable to purchasers.

Ryzen 7 9850X3D comes with a $70 game and costs $499. The effective CPU cost drops to about $429 when you factor in the game. Some consumers may find it easier to rationalize upgrading their platform if they can buy a retail bundle that includes an X870E motherboard, a CPU, and a 32GB RAM kit for about $749.

Benchmarks for Productivity

Photoshop workloads put significant stress on single-threaded performance. In this case, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is 44% quicker than the 5800X3D and 22% faster than the 7800X3D, even though both CPUs have the same number of cores. The results demonstrate that the revised design has better architecture. X3D chips used to run at lower clock speeds, which made it harder to get single-threaded results. In this iteration, the 3D cache processor also performs better on this workload than the 9700X.

The performance of both the CPU and the GPU is combined in the premiere workloads. 9850X3D is faster than the 7800X3D and around 22% faster than the 5800X3D. Core Ultra 7 265K is the fastest CPU for this workload, thanks to its hybrid design and more cores.

The Blender test checks how long it takes to render a frame using only the CPU. 9850X3D takes only 62% of the time that the 5800X3D does and around 85% of the time that the 7800X3D does.

Core Ultra 7 265K performs well on this test, thanks to its 20 cores: 8 performance cores and 12 efficiency cores. Because of this, it only takes 73% of the time that the 9850X3D needs to produce the frame.

Cinebench R26 has a comparable pattern. Core Ultra 7 265K is best at running multiple threads, but it is not as good at running a single thread. Ryzen 7 9850X3D is 62% faster than the 5800X3D in single-threaded tasks and 59% faster in multi-threaded tasks.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

AMD said that the Ryzen 9000 processors have improvements for AI applications. 9850X3D is 74% quicker than the 5800X3D and 63% faster than the 7800X3D in UL Procyon's computer vision benchmark. The changes to the architecture are so big that the 9700X is 50% quicker than the 7800X3D in these workloads.

7-Zip Compression

The 7-Zip compression test demonstrates fewer variations than other productivity workloads. 9850X3D is 29% quicker than the 5800X3D when decompressing and 46% faster while compressing. Part of the speed boost comes from DDR5 memory. 9700X is almost as fast as the 9800X3D and 9850X3D, but the Core Ultra 7 265K is faster because it has more cores.

Benchmarks for gaming

Assetto Corsa

9850X3D is 56% quicker than the 5800X3D and 25% faster than the 7800X3D at 1080p. 9700X is also roughly 30% better than the Core Ultra 7 265K.

At 1440p, mes the GPU's limits become clearer. The frame rate objective has a bigger effect on performance than the resolution. 5800X3D is good enough if the objective is approximately 140 fps. 7800X3D is better at about 160 fps. To get 200 fps, you need both a fast GPU and processors like the 9800X3D or 9850X3D.

The Witcher 3 runs at over 130 fps on all CPUs at 1080p. 9850X3D is 29% faster than the 5800X3D, but only 7% faster than the 7800X3D due to GPU issues. At 1440p, the workload is virtually entirely GPU-bound, and CPU changes are very small.

Counter-Strike 2

The Source2 engine in Counter-Strike 2 supports a wide range of hardware configurations, including the number of cores, clock frequency, cache size, and memory speed. 9850X3D is 37% quicker than the 5800X3D. 7800X3D also works well because it has a 3D cache and a DDR5 platform.

Some testing shows that performance is slightly better at 1440p than at 1080p, likely because the CPU and GPU are working together more effectively. 9700X is still better than the 5800X3D in this title, but the Core Ultra 7 265K is not as good.

Hogwarts Legacy

When you use high-end hardware with the game, it becomes GPU-limited even at 1080p. 9850X3D is 27% faster than the 5800X3D, but at 1440p, the difference is only roughly 4%. The upgraded processor still delivers 22% lower 1% lows, making the game run more smoothly.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024

The simulator puts a lot of strain on the CPU because it has to handle so many assets. The slowest CPU in the test gets roughly 100 fps. At 1440p, almost all CPUs hit GPU limits, and the variance in vaperformance is within the margin of error.

Banishers: The Ghosts of New Eden

Core Ultra 7 265K is slower than the 5800X3D at 1080p, while the 9700X is faster. 9850X3D is ahead by 45%. At 1440p, GPU limits get worse, but the 9850X3D still has a 47% edge in demanding situations.

Hitman 3

Hitman 3 is a good example of a game that runs at a high frame rate. Core Ultra 7 265K is still behind the 5800X3D, which is similar to the 9700X but has somewhat greater 1% lows. 7800X3D is around 9% faster than the 9850X3D at 1440p, and the 9850X3D is 29% faster.

Homeworld 3

In this RTS game, having many units puts more strain on the CPU. 5800X3D usually runs at roughly 120 fps, though in some situations it can drop to around 60. 9850X3D has roughly 37% better performance on average and maintains about 85 fps during the busiest times.

The Last of Us Part II

This game doesn't use as much CPU as the prior one. When there isn't enough GPU power, the results get strange. 9700X and Core Ultra 7 265K show higher figures, while some X3D chips perform slightly worse than predicted. Tests are done again and again, and they give the same results.

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 shows off the benefits of the Ryzen 9000 X3D architecture. 7800X3D is 14% quicker than the 5800X3D, and the 9850X3D is 32% faster. The gap stays roughly the same at 1440p, and performance increases from about 108 fps to 145 fps.

AM4, AM5, X3D, Intel Core Ultra, CPU Benchmark Comparison, NoobFeed

Spider-Man 2

Core Ultra 7 265K does quite well in this title, even better than the 9850X3D. The same thing happens at 1440p in multiple tests.

Ray Tracing Tasks

Core Ultra CPU is around 32% quicker than the 5800X3D and close to the 9800X3D and 9850X3D when ray tracing is turned on. Most CPUs work within the margin of error at 1440p.

A Tale of the Plague: Requiem

The game doesn't work as well with the latest Intel architecture. 5800X3D is around 13% faster than the Core Ultra 7 265K, and even at 1080p, it comes close to the GPU's limits. At 1440p, the GPU is the main problem, and the 5800X3D gets better results than a few DDR5 systems.

Need for Speed: Unbound

When aiming for high frame rates, the Frostbite engine pushes the CPU to its limits. Core Ultra 7 265K works well, but it needs about 180W to reach that level. The 7800X3D uses about 60W of power and still delivers higher 1% lows. 9850X3D is around 34% quicker than the 5800X3D. 5800X3D, on the other hand, still gets close to 200 fps at 1080p and 190 fps at 1440p.

Average Gaming Performance

Core Ultra 7 265K works a little worse than the 5800X3D with DDR4-3200 as the baseline, but it doesn't need to be tuned.

7800X3D is 17% better than the 5800X3D at 1080p. 9800X3D makes that difference about 29%, while the 9850X3D makes it around 32%.

At 1440p, the disparity narrows due to GPU limitations. 9850X3D has frame rates that are around 20% higher than the 5800X3D. But it still gives you roughly 25% greater 1% lows, which makes the frames more consistent.

How much power does it use?

We used Cinebench R26 to monitor power utilization while keeping an eye on the hardware information software. Core Ultra 7 265K consumes the most power when running many threads, drawing about 205W. It uses less power when it's not doing anything, but that difference doesn't matter as much in real-world tasks.

In most situations, the 9850X3D uses more power than the 5800X3D. 9800X3D uses less power than the 9850X3D but has the same performance. 7800X3D is faster than both the 5800X3D and the 9700X, and it also uses less power than the 5800X3D.

AM4, AM5, X3D, Intel Core Ultra, CPU Benchmark Comparison, NoobFeed

Final Thoughts

Ryzen 7 5800X3D is still good enough for most gaming tasks. It can run many recent games at more than 100 fps and, in many cases, works well even with high-end GPUs.

Some games that require a lot of CPU power may cause the processor to drop below 60 fps in some areas. In those cases, the 9850X3D can maintain performance closer to 85 fps or 90 fps, resulting in smoother gameplay.

The top gaming processor in the Ryzen 9000X3D series is almost 30% better than the best AM4 gaming CPU across all comparisons. For many people who already have a 5800X3D, that difference alone may not be enough to make them want to upgrade their whole system.

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