Re: Ryzen vs Intel Input Lag/Latency
Posted: 15 Feb 2025, 16:51
Wanted to share my thoughts and experiences on this topic and bring it up to date for 2025.
A couple of weeks ago, I bought a 9800X3D system, only to return it after a week of testing and countless headaches—literally. On paper, it's the best gaming CPU available right now, and benchmarks from Gamers Nexus, Hardware Unboxed, and others clearly support that claim.
At first, I was fine with that idea—I was upgrading from a 13600K system, hoping for a real improvement. However, my experience ended up mirroring what many others have already reported:
1. Stutter Fest on the AMD System
On Intel, I occasionally had minor stutters, but with AMD, the stuttering was consistent yet unpredictable. It wasn’t a simple "every X seconds" kind of issue; it just happened randomly but more frequently than on Intel.
2. High Latency & Input Lag
This is what frustrated me the most. I know I’m not crazy because others have described the same "mouse latency feeling." Even with optimizations in Windows 11, playing at 300+ FPS in Apex Legends still felt like some sort of subtle frame generation effect—just off.
Now, keep in mind, this is happening in 2025, on the 9800X3D, which theoretically should have better latency than previous X3D chips. And yet, here we are. Chiplet design issue? Still unclear.
3. The Memory Sensitivity Problem
As many have pointed out, Ryzen still performs best with 6000MHz CL30 RAM or higher. Sure, you can tweak it further, but the performance gains aren't worth the weeks of fine-tuning, especially considering how sensitive these CPUs are to voltage changes.
I upgraded from my 13600K mainly because six P-cores were no longer enough for me. I wanted a fresh build, I wanted to give AMD a chance, and with all the hype around the 9800X3D, I thought, "How bad could it be?"
Turns out, very bad—at least in certain cases, which almost no one talks about.
Apex Legends? ""Unplayable"".
Despite seeing a constant 240 FPS, the game felt slow, almost like I was playing with a slight V-Sync effect. My fights felt sluggish and choppy. I kept telling myself, "Maybe it's just me? Maybe it's the game?" But then I noticed even ShivFPS, who built a 9800X3D system, was dealing with the same random microstutters—subtle (even if he don't care lol), but still there.
The Breaking Point
The real issue? The feeling of buying a new CPU, seeing great frametimes on paper, yet experiencing something that felt inherently wrong. I even made a Reddit post, and despite the expected trolls and fanbots (fanboy & bots lol), I found several people reporting the exact same issues.
My Solution? Back to Intel.
I’m not an overclocker, and I have no interest in spending hours tweaking settings. I want a plug-and-play experience. Since AMD clearly wasn’t delivering that, I started looking into alternatives.
I considered the 265K, but CUDIMMs are ridiculously expensive. Instead, I went for a high-end Z790 board on sale (but brand new), a Kingston Renegade Fury 6400MHz CL32 kit brand new, and a brand new 12900K. More P-cores than my 13600K, better editing performance, and—hopefully—zero headaches.
Final Thoughts
AMD’s X3D CPUs look amazing on paper, but real-world experience tells a different story. If you're someone who notices latency, frametime inconsistencies, and microstutters, then Ryzen still isn't the answer in 2025, what's funny is that the vast majority play single player games and I played God of War Ragnarok Vallhala (the DLC) and I had ZERO stutters, so having a processor that does 240fps in single player games and which is not capable of handling fast mouse acceleration on FPS games and massive multiplayer games, then it"s useless.
A couple of weeks ago, I bought a 9800X3D system, only to return it after a week of testing and countless headaches—literally. On paper, it's the best gaming CPU available right now, and benchmarks from Gamers Nexus, Hardware Unboxed, and others clearly support that claim.
At first, I was fine with that idea—I was upgrading from a 13600K system, hoping for a real improvement. However, my experience ended up mirroring what many others have already reported:
1. Stutter Fest on the AMD System
On Intel, I occasionally had minor stutters, but with AMD, the stuttering was consistent yet unpredictable. It wasn’t a simple "every X seconds" kind of issue; it just happened randomly but more frequently than on Intel.
2. High Latency & Input Lag
This is what frustrated me the most. I know I’m not crazy because others have described the same "mouse latency feeling." Even with optimizations in Windows 11, playing at 300+ FPS in Apex Legends still felt like some sort of subtle frame generation effect—just off.
Now, keep in mind, this is happening in 2025, on the 9800X3D, which theoretically should have better latency than previous X3D chips. And yet, here we are. Chiplet design issue? Still unclear.
3. The Memory Sensitivity Problem
As many have pointed out, Ryzen still performs best with 6000MHz CL30 RAM or higher. Sure, you can tweak it further, but the performance gains aren't worth the weeks of fine-tuning, especially considering how sensitive these CPUs are to voltage changes.
I upgraded from my 13600K mainly because six P-cores were no longer enough for me. I wanted a fresh build, I wanted to give AMD a chance, and with all the hype around the 9800X3D, I thought, "How bad could it be?"
Turns out, very bad—at least in certain cases, which almost no one talks about.
Apex Legends? ""Unplayable"".
Despite seeing a constant 240 FPS, the game felt slow, almost like I was playing with a slight V-Sync effect. My fights felt sluggish and choppy. I kept telling myself, "Maybe it's just me? Maybe it's the game?" But then I noticed even ShivFPS, who built a 9800X3D system, was dealing with the same random microstutters—subtle (even if he don't care lol), but still there.
The Breaking Point
The real issue? The feeling of buying a new CPU, seeing great frametimes on paper, yet experiencing something that felt inherently wrong. I even made a Reddit post, and despite the expected trolls and fanbots (fanboy & bots lol), I found several people reporting the exact same issues.
My Solution? Back to Intel.
I’m not an overclocker, and I have no interest in spending hours tweaking settings. I want a plug-and-play experience. Since AMD clearly wasn’t delivering that, I started looking into alternatives.
I considered the 265K, but CUDIMMs are ridiculously expensive. Instead, I went for a high-end Z790 board on sale (but brand new), a Kingston Renegade Fury 6400MHz CL32 kit brand new, and a brand new 12900K. More P-cores than my 13600K, better editing performance, and—hopefully—zero headaches.
Final Thoughts
AMD’s X3D CPUs look amazing on paper, but real-world experience tells a different story. If you're someone who notices latency, frametime inconsistencies, and microstutters, then Ryzen still isn't the answer in 2025, what's funny is that the vast majority play single player games and I played God of War Ragnarok Vallhala (the DLC) and I had ZERO stutters, so having a processor that does 240fps in single player games and which is not capable of handling fast mouse acceleration on FPS games and massive multiplayer games, then it"s useless.
