For a few hours only, US-based Origin PC was offering the just-released Zen 3-based AMD Ryzen 9 5950X processor in a laptop not unlike the XMG Schenker Apex 15 mobile workstation that we reviewed in July.
That model has a 16-core AMD Ryzen 9 3950X at its heart and, despite a 105W TDP, managed to run relatively smoothly. So, it was expected that its follow-up, the 5950X, also sporting 16-cores and a 105W TDP, would be a painless upgrade.
Turns out that wasn’t the case, because the processor needs a firmware update for the B450 motherboard shipped with the Origin’s NS-15 mobile workstation. This, according to an industry insider contacted by TechRadar Pro, could take a couple of months – pushing us well into 2021.
Ryzen 5000
There’s also the possibility that a new motherboard will be released, before the firmware update, which natively supports Ryzen 5000 processors and could also add some new features.
When the dust finally settles, however, the 5950X will be by far the most powerful processor that can run inside a laptop.
Professional benchmarks run by workstation specialist Pugetsystems and Anandtech have shown that the 5950X will surpass its predecessor by an average of 20%, with the added bonus that an 8-core Ryzen 7 5800X is likely to be faster than a 3950X for most tasks.
That’s right, same TDP, same speed, half the cores, half the threads, $300 cheaper, and still faster. It’s almost a Christmas miracle.