AMD is the gaming leader with its Fire Range HX3D - Ryzen 9 9955HX3D vs. Intel Core Ultra 275HX review

Apart from the additional cache, its technical data is at first glance identical to the Ryzen 9 9955HX, as it features 16 Zen 5 cores (32 threads) with a maximum clock speed of 5.4 GHz. However, the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D is significantly more expensive. If you look at the configurator of the XMG Neo 16 A25, where the regular Ryzen 9 9955HX is installed as standard, the surcharge for the processor with 3D V-Cache is approximately $245 (and therefore around $160 more than the Neo 16 E25 with the Core Ultra 9 275HX). However, availability already seems to be significantly better than it was with the Ryzen 9 7945HX3D and there are currently several manufacturers offering models equipped with the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D.

We started with CPU performance in the synthetic CPU benchmarks, and we already know from the old Ryzen 9 7945HX3D that there isn't much difference between the two variants. The same can now be said for the new Ryzen 9 9955HX3D compared to the Ryzen 9 9955HX. The performance of the two AMD CPUs was identical during the single-core tests, but the HX3D did slightly better in the multi-core tests. This also brought it a little closer to the Core Ultra 9 275HX, which was still just ahead. Still, only the desktop processors from AMD/Intel and the M4 processors from Apple ranked above this.

During the system benchmarks, our test device with the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D performed better and narrowly outperformed its two rivals, the Ryzen 9 9955HX and Core Ultra 9 275HX, in both PCMark 10 and CrossMark. Only the two desktop CPUs in our comparison group achieved even higher values, and the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 also performed very well. The regular Ryzen 9 9955HX was beaten in the two physics sub-tests of the 3DMark Time Spy and Fire Strike benchmarks, but Intel's Core Ultra 9 275HX was ahead in this case.

When it came to gaming performance, we naturally only tested native performance without GPU-specific upscaling. All test devices use the 175-watt version of the new GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop with 24 GB VRAM. We have also included the results of the old Asus ROG Strix SCAR 17 with the predecessor model, the Ryzen 9 7945HX3D, and the 175-watt version of the GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop as a comparison.

Since the advantage of the 3D V-Cache became particularly noticeable at high frame rates, the new Ryzen 9 9955HX3D performed very well, especially during the 1080p tests. However, it must also be said that we didn't note advantages in every game; when running F1 24 and Alan Wake 2, for example, the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX was slightly faster. When playing our selection of games, on the other hand, the Ryzen 9955HX3D was on average 5% faster, while the normal Ryzen 9 9955HX was only 5% slower.

QHD resolution is of course much more important on current gaming laptops, as almost all models come delivered with corresponding panels. In this case, the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D was once again 5% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX on average, but only a measly 2% ahead of the regular Ryzen 9 9955HX.

In 4K resolution, the processor's influence became smaller. The new Ryzen 9 9955HX3D then no longer had an advantage over the regular 9955HX, but its lead over the Core Ultra 9 275HX remained fairly stable at around 4%.

If you want maximum gaming performance on your gaming laptop, then there is currently no way around the new AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D. In the all-important QHD resolution, the new processor with its larger cache outperformed the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX by an average of 5% in our tests, although we didn't note an advantage during every game. Even so, the regular Ryzen 9 9955HX was practically on the same level, especially in QHD resolution, which is why the surcharge doesn't really make much sense to us. The current XMG Neo 16 A25, for example, has a surcharge of around $245.  

We will carry out further efficiency comparisons as soon as possible and then update the article accordingly. Feel free to write us a comment if you have any special requests for further tests.