AMD Ryzen 9 7900X leak suggests an impressive 12-core CPU

AMD’s Ryzen 9 7900X processor has been sighted in a benchmark where it shows a clean pair of heels to the model it will soon succeed.

The 12-core CPU which will debut in just over a week replaces the 5900X and it has turned up in a Geekbench 5 result as flagged by @BenchLeaks on Twitter (via Tom’s Hardware).

The Ryzen 7900X recorded scores of 2,167 for single-thread and 18,446 for multi-thread, which in both cases is roughly 30% faster than the 5900X, going by typical Geekbench results for the latter (actually around 32% quicker for multi-core). As ever with any leak, be skeptical and remember there’s a possibility that it could be faked.

That said, the observed 30% generational increase is what was touted by AMD for the single-thread uplift from next-gen chips, although the prediction was higher for multi-threaded workloads at 45%.

Analysis: Caution first, and let’s not forget the real battle here

In these leak scenarios, we must not just keep caution at the forefront of our minds regarding authenticity, but also remember that even if it is genuine, this is just a single benchmark – so a pretty limited perspective of the (purported) performance of the Ryzen 7900X.

The fact that it lines up with AMD’s pre-release marketing figures for single-thread is reassuring, though, even if the multi-thread result isn’t quite as impressive a jump from the current-gen 5900X; albeit it’s still a substantial increase. We could well see better results for multi-core in other benchmarks, and it’s too early to start judging these next-gen processors before they’re even released.

The Ryzen 9 7900X will be the model under the flagship 7950X when Zen 4 processors debut on September 27, and it’ll be pitched at the same price point as the 5900X, namely $399 (around £345, AU$590).

Intel’s Raptor Lake is also inbound, of course, albeit rumored to be lagging behind Ryzen 7000 processors in terms of actually going on sale, with Intel’s 13th-gen CPUs not expected to be on shelves until mid-October or slightly thereafter.

The real battle, of course, won’t be Ryzen 7000 versus 5000, but Ryzen 7000 versus Raptor Lake – and from what we can glean from rumors, it’s going to be a close-run battle. Pricing will be a key factor, obviously enough, and hints dropped from the grapevine suggest that Intel is not likely to want to go easy on the price tags. Even so, we can’t imagine Team Blue pitching its next-gen chips to look a poor value proposition compared to AMD’s Zen 4 offerings.