AMD might give the Ryzen 9600X and 9700X a big post-launch TDP boost in the name of chasing higher performance

HardwareProcessorsAMD might give the Ryzen 9600X and 9700X a big post-launch TDP boost in the name of chasing higher performanceWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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A photo of the retail packaging box for an AMD Ryzen 5 9600X processor

Oof, the trials and tribulations the CPU market is facing right now… BetweenIntel CPU stability issuesand mass AMD CPU underwhelm, there might seem to be frighteningly little room for optimism. But the rumour mill keeps on churning, as always, and is now spitting out word of even more potential changes for AMD’s mid-range 9000-series chips.

According to tech leakerchi11eddog, the newly releasedAMD Ryzen 7 9700XandRyzen 5 9600Xwill have their TDPs boosted to 105 W. This change is rumoured to be pushed in an AGESA 1.2.0.1a Patch A BIOS update.

Both theseZen 5CPUs launched with a low 65 W TDP and plenty of reviews noted how power-efficient and thermally light they are. Unfortunately, performance increases over equivalent previous-gen Ryzen CPUs were slight and talk of “Zen 5%” abounded. Given their launch prices being far more expensive than the current pricing of the Ryzen 7000-series chips they’re replacing, it’s unsurprising theydon’t seem to be flying off the shelves.

It would make sense, then, if AMD has decided to up their TDPs. For one, we already heard rumour of aTDP increase for the 9700Xback in June. And yes, a change now would mean AMD’s probably rushed the chip launches before getting everything figured out. But we already kinda knew that, didn’t we?

AMD will increase Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 7 9700X TDP from 65W to 105W, with AGESA 1.2.0.1a Patch A. 🧐🧐🧐August 14, 2024

If the rumour’s true and the TDPs for both chips are getting bumped to 105 W, this might mitigate some of the performance underwhelm. It would mean better performance at stock, and presumably an optional 65 W eco mode for those who want the efficiency that reviews have already alluded to. That, or the 105 W mode could be pushed as an optional vendor “boost” option.

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Though Intel is a good example of what might happen when you start relying on bumping up the power flooding into your chips in the name of advancing CPU performance to keep the masses happy. I mean,things aren’t looking too pretty for Intelright now.

Or, of course, the rumour could just be false. If there were ever a time to lean into some hopeful but misplaced optimism, it would be now. I’m not entirely sure how a post-launch TDP change would play out and whether AMD would go for it. We’ll just have to wait and see.

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