Athlon 550 vs Ryzen 9 9950X
Primary details
Comparing Ryzen 9 9950X and Athlon 550 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.
| Place in the ranking | 59 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 61.80 | no data |
| Market segment | Desktop processor | Desktop processor |
| Power efficiency | 23.26 | no data |
| Architecture codename | Granite Ridge (2024) | Argon (1999) |
| Release date | 15 August 2024 (less than a year ago) | 23 June 1999 (25 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $649 | $449 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance per price, higher is better.
Detailed specifications
Ryzen 9 9950X and Athlon 550 basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.
| Physical cores | 16 (Hexadeca-Core) | 1 (Single-Core) |
| Threads | 32 | 1 |
| Base clock speed | 4.3 GHz | no data |
| Boost clock speed | 5.7 GHz | 0.55 GHz |
| L1 cache | 80 KB (per core) | 128 KB |
| L2 cache | 1 MB (per core) | 512 KB |
| L3 cache | 64 MB (shared) | no data |
| Chip lithography | 4 nm | 180 nm |
| Die size | 2x 70.6 mm2 | 184 mm2 |
| Maximum core temperature | 95 °C | no data |
| Maximum case temperature (TCase) | no data | 70 °C |
| Number of transistors | 16,630 million | 22 million |
| 64 bit support | + | - |
| Unlocked multiplier | + | - |
Compatibility
Information on Ryzen 9 9950X and Athlon 550 compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.
| Number of CPUs in a configuration | 1 | 1 |
| Socket | AM5 | AMD Slot A |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 170 Watt | 41 Watt |
Technologies and extensions
Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Ryzen 9 9950X and Athlon 550. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.
| Instruction set extensions | SMT, AES, AVX, AVX2, AVX512, FMA3, MMX (+), SHA, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4A | no data |
| AES-NI | + | - |
| AVX | + | - |
| Precision Boost 2 | + | no data |
Virtualization technologies
Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Ryzen 9 9950X and Athlon 550 are enumerated here.
| AMD-V | + | - |
Memory specs
Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Ryzen 9 9950X and Athlon 550. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.
| Supported memory types | DDR5 | no data |
Graphics specifications
General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.
| Integrated graphics card | AMD Radeon Graphics | N/A |
Peripherals
Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Ryzen 9 9950X and Athlon 550.
| PCIe version | 5.0 | no data |
| PCI Express lanes | 24 | no data |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 15 August 2024 | 23 June 1999 |
| Physical cores | 16 | 1 |
| Threads | 32 | 1 |
| Chip lithography | 4 nm | 180 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 170 Watt | 41 Watt |
Ryzen 9 9950X has an age advantage of 25 years, 1500% more physical cores and 3100% more threads, and a 4400% more advanced lithography process.
Athlon 550, on the other hand, has 314.6% lower power consumption.
We couldn't decide between Ryzen 9 9950X and Athlon 550. We've got no test results to judge.
Should you still have questions on choice between Ryzen 9 9950X and Athlon 550, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
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