AMD's Ryzen 5900 Zen 3 CPU Trades The 'X' And A Bit Of Performance For A Low 65W TDP

AMD Ryzen
A new Ryzen 5000 processor is waiting in the wings for customers, and we're not talking about the incoming Zen 3-based Cezanne APU family. Instead, AMD is ready to release the Ryzen 9 5900, the "non-X" counterpart to the potent Ryzen 9 5900X.

Like the Ryzen 9 5900X, the new Ryzen 9 5900 is a 12-core/24-thread processor with all the architectural benefits of Zen 3 (including native PCIe 4.0 support and increased IPC built on the 7nm process node) but comes with a lower 65-watt TDP versus 105 watts. The lower thermal ceiling means that Ryzen 9 5900 will fall behind its overachieving sibling in overall performance.

The Ryzen 9 5900 has a base clock of just 3GHz, 700MHz less than the Ryzen 9 5900X, while the boost clock gets a relatively small 100MHz reduction to 4.7GHz. We don't have any idea what the real-world performance differences will be between the two processors, but the vast difference in TDP could make the chip popular for customers looking for a powerful and efficient processor.

The only problem is that the Ryzen 9 5900 will be an OEM-only SKU, meaning that it is primarily reserved for prebuilt systems from AMD's vast partner network. However, some of these OEM processors will likely filter down to enthusiasts through various channels looking to score a genuine performance bargain.

We expect pricing for the processor to land somewhere between the Ryzen 9 5900X and the Ryzen 7 5800X, priced at $549 and $449, respectively.