AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D review: cache money

Our benchmark results are presented a little differently to what you might be used to elsewhere on the web. On mobile, you'll get a basic overview, with metadata from the video capture of each GPU being translated into simple bar charts with average frame-rate and lowest one per cent measurements for easy comparisons.

On a desktop-class browser, you'll get the full-fat experience with embedded YT videos of each test scene and live performance metrics. Play the video, and you'll see exactly how each card handled the scene as it progresses; you can even choose exactly what GPUs at what resolutions you're interested in and it'll update in real time. Below the real-time stuff is a bar chart, which you can mouse over to see different measurements and click to switch between actual frame-rates and percentage differences. As always, all the data here is derived from video captured directly from each GPU, ensuring an accurate replay of real performance.

We'll start with three recent additions to our CPU test suite designed to offer a stern test for even modern CPUs: Flight Simulator 2020 and Hitman 3.

Flight Simulator 2020

Flight Sim is our first contender, as we take an autopilot flight from London City to London Heathrow over some of the city's most well-known landmarks. This game is incredibly heavy on the CPU, even at 1440p and Ultra settings, and CPUs generally fit into different tiers based on their core count and speed. The 5800X3D is an immediate outlier here, offering performance that rivals the 12900K at a much lower price. That means the 5800X3D is 33 percent faster than the 5800X in most runs, just about hitting a 60fps average compared to under 44fps for the earlier eight-core CPU. And it's not until we reach 4K that we start to see GPU limitations, so you should benefit from a faster CPU in FS2020 even on a 1440p screen.

Hitman 3

Hitman 3's Dartmoor benchmark comes next. Of the two integrated benchmarks provided in the game's out-of-game option menu, Dartmoor offers the greater CPU load with a demonstration of the Glacier Engine's destruction physics. The 5800X3D again makes an immediate impact, setting a new record frame-rate even against the DDR5-equipped 12900K with 211fps against the 12900K's 205fps. That's a 34 percent advantage over the 5800X and even 25 percent faster than the pricy 5950X.

It's interesting stuff so far with some strong results for 5800X3D, but not all games will benefit from the increased cache size. Let's take a look at the next set of games, this time shooters.

AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D analysis

• Introduction, test rig and content creation benchmarks
• Gaming benchmarks: Flight Simulator 2020, Hitman 3
• Gaming benchmarks: Metro Exodus EE, Black Ops Cold War
• Gaming benchmarks: Cyberpunk 2077, Far Cry 6, Crysis 3 Remastered
• Gaming benchmarks: Memory bandwidth analysis
• AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D: the Digital Foundry verdict