This processor is a case in point.
It came out in 2020 and yet even today it is an excellent choice.

It is the most powerful processor AMD has ever released for the AM4 platform.
So many years after the 5000 series, one would think that by 2026, AMD would have released 4-5 more series after that.
In reality, only the 7000 came out in '22 and the 9000 in '24, which is where we are today.

As if that wasn't enough, the 7000 and 9000 series had a relatively small increase in processing power (~13-15%) compared to previous Ryzen generations, where the jump was about +20%.

The generational leap from Zen 2 to Zen 3 (5000 series) was one of the biggest jumps in processing power AMD has ever made.
That's why the 5000 series was considered a Game-Changer.

They say that after the 5000, they focused on energy efficiency and architectural improvements in the next generations, rather than increasing power.
I just call it milking, like Intel used to do to us with the 14+++++ every year.

So today we have the 9950X being ~30-40% more powerful than the 5950X.
Not bad for a CPU that came out 6 years ago and costs half as much as the 9950X.

As for today.
RAMAGGEDON
If someone wants to extend their AM4 system or literally wants to build a VFM/Bang for the Buck PC, it is truly an amazing choice.

At 250-270 euros, it is a unique opportunity for a top-tier processor that was €900+ when it first came out and still holds up just fine and will continue to do so for the next few years, instead of going to AM5 and giving a kidney these days.

I don't know for how much longer, because prices are starting to go up everywhere.

It was installed in an ASUS Rog Strix B350 F-Gaming from 2017(!) and with BIOS 6232 it recognized it immediately without any problem.
MX-6 paste and Arctic Freezer 36 Black cooler.
Undervolted in the BIOS, setting All Cores -10, you gain about 5% in speed compared to Stock and the CPU temperature drops by 5-10 degrees, from what I observed.
Not bad at all for a setting that takes less than 10 seconds to do in the BIOS (if you get a good CPU).
Passed Stress Test with CoreCycler and Y-CRUNCHER, no errors, nothing.

BIG WARNING to those with B350 motherboards.
They are not designed for the power draw of the 5950X and with the huge and sudden loads it demands in heavy tasks like Rendering, you'll be frying Frankfurt sausages on the VRMs.

Either the motherboard will throttle and drop the processor to 500Mhz to cool down (the good scenario), or the motherboard will literally burn and be trashed.

How is it solved?
2 options:
1. Set Eco Mode in the BIOS (draws Max 88W instead of 142W) and you gain about -20°C and ~-100W power, losing ~20% in Performance and you're done.
2. Put a 140mm fan (a strong one) blowing directly onto the center of the vertical aluminum VRM heatsink and run at normal Stock speed without any problem.
It's a mod, but it works.

While for 2 weeks I was on Eco Mode for convenience, I finally got a Silent Wings 4 Pro, set it to Ultra-High on the switch it has, and placed it 15-20cm from the VRM heatsink.
Secured with zip ties to the case.
Works wonders.

Unfortunately, the Asus B350 F-Gaming does not have a sensor on the VRMs and you have no idea what's going on temperature-wise.
This is solved by getting a sensor (thermistor) and placing it inside the vertical VRM heatsink or on the back of the motherboard and securing it with electrical tape.
I put it in the vertical VRM heatsink.
The sensor plugs into the motherboard's T_SENSOR slot and you set the Fan Curve of the Silent Wings 4 Pro in the BIOS, based on the sensor inside the VRM (choose Source T_SENSOR, Manual and PWM) as follows.

40°C — 60% PWM
55°C — 80% PWM
70°C — 100% PWM

To be sure the sensor is properly installed and basically that it works, in the BIOS the temperature on T_Sensor should read around 37°.
If it's not touching well and is in the air, it will show ~25°C.

I did stress tests for hours, the VRM never went above 60 degrees and the 5950X never throttled at all, the whole time.
Problems start at 100-105 degrees on the VRM, for comparison.
I was also very impressed by the Silent Wings 4 Pro, which even at 100% doesn't hurt your ears, nor does it make any weird annoying/high-pitched noise.
I didn't measure it but empirically it shouldn't go above 35db at 100%, which is quite a feat for the amount of air it moves.

For anyone interested, you can find the sensor on Aliexpress, it costs about one and a half euros.
It's called "TZW NTC Ultra-Thin Temperature sensor Thin film thermistor probe B3950-10k Surface temperature measuring head with XH2.54 plug 5"

Last tip:
The 5950X absolutely needs 3600Mhz RAM.
With 3600Mhz it operates at a 1:1 ratio on the bus, thanks to Infinity Fabric. If you use other memory speeds, you lose from 5% up to OVER 25% in performance.
I had 2666Mhz before and I know this firsthand.
In general, the difference is night and day, as it becomes smoother and snappier, as they say in my village.

I installed 2 kits of G.Skill Trident Z F4-3600C16D-32 GTZNC, total 64GB, 4 sticks, which surprisingly run at 3600Mhz just fine on the Asus B350 F-Gaming.
This motherboard's specs say MAX RAM Speed 3200Mhz.
Tested with MEMTEST86, all 4 sticks passed all Passes with 0 errors after 8 and a half hours.

Just to be safe, even though I had no problems, I gave a "boost" of voltage (+0.175V to the SoC) so the memory controller gets 1.15V and filters any "noise" from the old motherboard (B350) with 4 RAM sticks and such crazy speeds for it. Similarly, the memories were set to 1.44V.

For those who feel confident, the process in the BIOS is: In Ai Tweaker go to VDDCR SOC Voltage, which is at 0.975V and on Auto, select Offset mode, in the lower field VDDCR SOC Offset Mode Sign choose + and in VDDCR SOC Offset Voltage below, which is on Auto, set 0.175 and press Enter. It becomes 0.17500. So 0.975V and 0.17500 gives us 1.15V.

Be very careful here, it should NEVER go above 1.20V, do the math, if you have other values you'll cause damage. Even exactly 1.20V causes damage in the long run. 1.20V is the point where AMD warns that gradual, permanent wear of the memory controller inside the processor begins. We don't want to injure the 5950X or have the Negative Scaling phenomenon. 1.15V is the MAX safe limit.

I hope I helped someone, because usually you have to search in 100 places to get such information.

Absolutely stable and powerful processor! With the PBO settings I applied (142W/95A/140W), it shows excellent performance in gaming, rendering, and multitasking, without excessive temperature or noise. Very good for those who want reliability and high performance without unnecessary fuss. Worth every euro! To work properly without problems, I have three PBO settings depending on my mood:

Main Stable – for daily use, stable and without drama.
Cinebench ~28.5–29k, temperatures ~77–82°C PPT: 180W / TDC: 130A / EDC: 180A (this is what I use and I get pretty good temperatures)

Light / Safe – quiet and cool, when you don’t want your fans running at full speed. PPT: 142W / TDC: 95A / EDC: 140A
Cinebench ~26.5–27k, temperatures ~70–75°C

Aggressive / Max Performance – only if you want full power, e.g. for benches or heavy rendering. PPT: 200W / TDC: 140A / EDC: 200A
Cinebench ~29.5–30k, temperatures ~80–85°C ⚠️ Don’t leave it on permanently!

Overall, stable, powerful and flexible – you can adjust it according to your mood. Worth every euro! One more thing: whoever gets this beast should get a good cooler if they don’t want liquid cooling. I use the be quiet dark rock pro 5 with MX4 paste and I get from 45 to 78 degrees with PPT: 180W / TDC: 130A / EDC: 180A

In terms of performance for the AM4 socket, top notch. There's no need for me to analyze anything. I bought it for €217.

The only drawback is that it needs some tweaking before you can enjoy it.

Personally, because I don't want to burn too much power at idle, I set a -28 volt offset on the PBO curve, -250 freq offset on the PBO curve, and the processor stabilized. Also, TDC = 71A, PPT = 93w, and EDC = 107A. I modified the power plan so that 65% of the cores are parked when not in use and the min CPU performance is set to 0%.

I clearly lost some single and multithread performance, but not much. It still boosts (4.8GHz), and the important thing is that at idle it now consumes 35w instead of 60-70w. At all core it now consumes 95w (3.7GHz) instead of 140w. The cooler no longer sounds like an airplane but runs relatively quietly and under stress it reaches 63 degrees. Now I have single thread performance like a Ryzen 7 5700x and multithread like a Ryzen 9 3950x. I have an Arctic Freezer 34 Esport Duo. The most important thing is that my room doesn't become an oven for 10% more performance and I don't cook the VRMs on my motherboard.

Now, if someone really needs all the processor's performance, they can put a water cooler, do a PBO volt negative offset, and it's fine.

Here you can see the compatibility with ALL AM4 motherboards.
It runs on all of them, but on some it will fry the motherboard due to 16 cores.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1d9_E3h8bLp-TXr-0zTJFqqVxdCR9daIVNyMatydkpFA/htmlview?pli=1
(where you see 3950X, put 5950X, etc.)
(theoretically it runs on all stock, but out of the box it doesn't run at "stock speeds". Out of the box it can draw over 150 amperes with PBO on auto. Many B450s can't handle 150A and run out of spec) For it to be "stock," PBO must be completely disabled.)

I upgraded from 3600X after almost 5 years.
It's on an X470 Aorus Gaming 7 motherboard and runs flawlessly, boosting to 5050MHz on a custom loop.

The boost clock with good cooling is 5050MHz.
I don't know why it says 4.900, but with everything on auto and from what I've researched on Reddit, with liquid cooling it goes to 5050 on 2 cores and almost everyone can boost above 5000.

The differences in CPU intensive games are huge, like DotA2.
I have even double the FPS and more with significantly better 1% lows.
The differences in WRC, for example, are small on the other hand.

I preferred it over 5800X3D because I don't change PCs every 2-3 years. I intend to keep the system until at least 2030, and since you never know when you might need the computer for work, it's better to have the ability to do other things alongside very satisfactory gaming.

The differences with the 5800X3D in gaming are not very large, and in some fewer cases, they are the same. (There are some games where the differences are around 30%, but they are measured)

If you are sure you want it only for gaming, upgrading to this one doesn't make sense but rather to 5700X3D or 5800X3D.

Its biggest and ONLY negative is that it consumes a lot of power at low loads and generally requires liquid cooling.
Idle it draws 60-70 watts while Intel draws 5-10-20.
Beyond that, its efficiency is amazing at 100%. It is the most efficient processor IN HISTORY.

We are always talking about an upgrade; for a new system, unless the budget is extremely limited (which then I don't know why you are looking at this CPU), we go for DDR5.

Anyway, the fact that after 5 years with the same motherboard I can upgrade to such a good processor at this price justifies 100% the choice of AM4 back in 2019 and a very good motherboard.

General stuff
The best cores one can buy for DDR4 (from AMD's side but perhaps in general).
In case someone doesn't know how AMD processors are made, all cores from the smallest model to the largest have exactly the same design.
For the more expensive models, the fastest and best cores are selected, which is why the 5950X, 7950X, and 3950X had the highest frequency of all the others in their generation.
The 3D processors are made in 2 stages. The extra cache memory is added at a later stage, which is why "2nd class" chiplets are chosen to become 5800X3D, and that's why they have such small boost clocks since they can't have high clocks anyway because the extra cache memory heats up a lot.

November 2022
So, the 5950x finally came into my hands two years late from the launch of the Ryzen 5000 series. I am reviewing it with heavy workloads in mind, not gaming, as I believe it is aimed at professionals or general users who utilize this power. I also tested it in games, but the memory (64GB) I am running is not optimized for it. At 2400mhz, it holds it back (which is less important for the usage I have). To get it out of the way, with the 3060ti, I saw less stuttering and ~+20% fps in 1080p Hellblade and Witcher 3 on ultra high with RTX. I am one of those people who are satisfied with 60fps, so yes...

There are faster processors out there. The platform as a whole (referring to the cost of CPU+ motherboard+ DDR5+ cooling) may cost around 2 thousand, but the 13900k and 7950x offer ~+20-50% performance depending on the task. Someone might say 2 thousand, where? DDR5 for serious capacities that can handle the workloads intended for these processors (>32GB), the cost increases significantly compared to DDR4. Furthermore, newer processors tend to be power-hungry, drawing 200W right off the bat. I wouldn't buy a motherboard without reliable VRMs, costing at least 400. Add a triple liquid cooling system and the cost goes through the roof. Eventually, prices will drop and newer generations will offer better value.

However, the 5950x is a very worthy upgrade path for existing AM4 systems and workstations on a lower budget. Coming from the R5 3600, on an MSI B550 A-Pro motherboard with a Be Quiet Dark Rock 4, you can understand that the overall cost is much lower. I am running it stock and I declare myself very satisfied with the usage I have, which I will return to. The motherboard supports it exceptionally well, I haven't seen any temperature issues with the VRMs, while the processor itself hasn't gone above 75°C, at the maximum 130W it draws. Idle is at 30W, YouTube playback at 45W, you can't call it economical for browsing. Under all-core load, it operates at 3.7-4Ghz, and I noticed single-core boosts up to 5.05Ghz (again, I emphasize stock, I haven't played with undervolting or overclocking).

I use the processor for various 3D workloads such as sculpting, modeling, shading, but mainly for rendering and simulations (Houdini FX), tasks for which Threadrippers are intended. The impressive thing is that the 5950x approaches the capabilities of the 2990wx. Obviously, it is fast, offers many possibilities, and cuts down on the time needed in the middle (and more...). This is also my conclusion, it saves you hours. If the applications you use can support its 16 cores with significant benefits, then it will make your life a little* easier and a little* faster, in a good price/performance ratio.

*or maybe a lot if you're coming from Intel... just kidding, don't crucify me

I bought the CPU in early July 2022 to build my new machine.
Specifically, I am using the MSI X570S Tomahawk with the latest BIOS.

- a little background -
It runs 2 Virtual Machines with GPU Passthrough on KVM, as well as 2-3 other Headless VMs.
In my own VM, I use it for demanding tasks such as Premiere, Photoshop/Lightroom, DaVinci, Fusion360, and a lot of gaming.
The secondary VM (my wife's) is lighter, with occasional gaming with me.

- why 5950X? -
I chose the 5950X over the 12900K because I don't know how the architecture of the 12900 would perform in a virtualization environment with its P and E Cores. The more traditional approach of the 5950X was exactly what I was looking for. (According to the internet gurus.)

- is the "power" enough for you? -
In the end, it seems extremely powerful, as both my wife and I can run Triple-A titles on the same machine, with me at WQHD and her at 1080p144 without any issues, while the processor TECHNICALLY sleeps. (8 CPU Cores for my VM, 6 CPU Cores for my wife, and 1 Core for the VM Engine.) The last core is reserved for any other VMs I want to run simultaneously.

- power consumption? -
UNFORTUNATELY, I cannot provide numbers as I have not taken the corresponding measurements, but with a Corsair RM850x power supply, running CPU Stress Tests and Furmark on both VMs simultaneously on both graphics cards, I noticed that the power supply did not even reach the point of turning on its fan.

- temperatures? -
I use a Custom Loop liquid cooling system that I built in 2008. I have never changed it.
It generally stays below 60 degrees, although at the moment I am having a huge problem with my pump. It has started to say goodbye to us for the other world. The flow is greatly reduced, but despite that, the CPU manages to stay at very normal levels for my needs.

Summary:
Overall, it is a very powerful chip, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who intends to use its full capabilities.
If it is simply for a gaming machine, then I think it is an exaggeration, in my humble opinion.

Good luck with your purchases and your machines.

Because I don't only play games on my computer, but also create videos, photos, etc., this processor is a one-way street if you want something extremely fast that can do it all, but at a relatively normal price that fits "normal" peripherals, without digging too deep into your pocket.
At the moment, the only thing that surpasses it in performance is the latest generation of Threadripper and, of course, some Intel Xeon processors that, along with expensive motherboards, special memory, special cooling, expensive power supplies, etc., can cost several thousand dollars in total for the computer!
Fortunately, since I only upgraded from the Ryzen 7 1800x, I only needed to change the processor and nothing else, thanks to AMD for keeping the AM4 socket the same and compatible with a huge variety of hardware (unlike Intel, which you never know what new socket they will come up with).
The motherboard I installed is one generation behind, the Asus Prime X-470 Pro, and I just needed to update the BIOS to the latest version for it to "see" the new generation of AMD processors before changing the CPU.
Of course, because the motherboard chipset is one generation behind, the processor may "lose" in performance (e.g. I can't take advantage of PCI Express 4.0, etc.), although in various benchmarks that I conducted, which focus exclusively on the processor and not the entire system, it is very close or has the same "official" performance as the new motherboards.
I haven't touched the memory yet (3200Ghz) and haven't dealt with overclocking or undervolting.
For the cooler, I got the Deepcool Assassin III, so there is room for a small overclocking in the future, as the temperatures are excellent. For example, during video encoding with Adobe Media Encoder, which lasted 11 hours in a room with a temperature of 20 degrees, the maximum temperature reached was 74 degrees, which is the highest I have ever seen!
For informational purposes, AMD claims that the 5800x, 5900x, and 5950x processors are designed (typical and by design) to reach temperatures of 90 degrees! (https://www.hardwaretimes.com/amd-temps-up-to-90c-are-typical-and-by-design-for-full-load-conditions/), while the 5600x reaches 95!
I don't know how much they missed in the design or if we have the case of the FX processors that fried eggs and cooked motherboards, but I'm not very willing to let it reach that point.
For this reason, I wouldn't use a cheap/mediocre cooler for such a processor. It's better to choose the best air cooling that fits your budget (and fits in the case) rather than having a mediocre cooler that struggles to keep it cool at 100% constantly (and fails), just to save 20-30 euros for a good air cooler. Also, with a mediocre cooler (or liquid cooling), because the processor (all processors, not just this one) will operate at higher temperatures, there will be thermal throttling, where the processor intentionally operates slower to keep the temperature low. So, if you compromise on cooling, forget about performance!
Anyway, in normal use, it never drops below 40-45 degrees, it generally has a very strange behavior. It can go from 45 to 70 and then drop suddenly. It probably has to do with the boost on each core and the fact that for normal applications (browser, movies, etc.) it only uses 1-2 cores that overclock for a few seconds and then return to normal speed. But it's really strange to see the temperature suddenly jump to 70-72 degrees during simple use, and with AIDA64 stressing the processor at 100% for almost 10 minutes, it never goes above 71!

In games, even though I'm not particularly into gaming, it is currently the fastest option as it surpasses even the top Intel processors. I even discovered that even the smallest model, the Ryzen 5900x with its 12 cores, surpasses all Intel processors! In fact, with the same humble and "ancient" graphics card GTX1050Ti, just by changing the processor, the FPS in games improved significantly. For example, the "Rise of the Tomb Raider" benchmark played with a minimum of 17 FPS with the 1800x, but with the 5950x, the minimum FPS "skyrocketed" to 28!

However, I do not recommend it as a processor for someone who exclusively plays games (unless they plan to build a system worth over 3000 euros). I think someone can comfortably play games (even with slightly fewer FPS) with a Ryzen 3700x or an Intel 10900 at half the price, and they can invest the rest in a much better graphics card, which will provide a much better price-to-FPS ratio.

Update: For some reason, with a slight overclocking and without adjusting any voltages, the idle temperature dropped (!!) to 37-42 degrees and remains permanently there. The maximum temperature under synthetic load remains at 70-71 degrees, while the performance in Cinebench r20 increased by about 5%. Maybe the BIOS still needs a few more updates regarding the boost of the cores, as I suspect that they constantly go up and down on their own, and it doesn't have the best thermal behavior. Since it's working better this way, I will leave it and see if any future BIOS updates will change anything. Not that I mind the extra 5% in performance and the lower temperature!

Update 2: I downloaded a BIOS update from March 2021, and the thermal behavior without overclocking returned to normal. The temperature now even drops to 32 degrees, and the crazy jumps from 45 to 70 degrees no longer occur. The performance has also slightly improved. Obviously, the BIOS of this specific motherboard needed some work, and it wasn't the fault of the processor itself.