AMD Ryzen 9 3900 VS Apple M2 — differences in specs

Comparing AMD Ryzen 9 3900 vs Apple M2

Comparison of video cards AMD Ryzen 9 3900 vs Apple M2 in benchmarks and specifications.

Differences Specifications Benchmarks

Differences

Top features of AMD Ryzen 9 3900

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More number of cores

12 8

2 times more threads

Top features of Apple M2

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Higher clock speed

3.50 GHz 3.10 GHz

Around 11% better clock speed
Performance per watt

15 W 65 W

About 0.23 times less performance per watt

Specifications

Complete list of technical specifications

AMD Ryzen 9 3900 Apple M2

CPU generation and family

Let's find out which one of AMD Ryzen 9 3900 and Apple M2 is of a more recent generation, and what segment it belongs to.

Specification	Value
Name	AMD Ryzen 9 3900 Apple M2
Segment	Desktop / Server Mobile
Family	AMD Ryzen Apple M series
Generation	3 2
CPU group	AMD Ryzen 3000 Apple M2
Successor	AMD Ryzen 9 5900 --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

In this block we are going to compare AMD Ryzen 9 3900 vs Apple M2 by main technical specifications: number of cores and threads, base and maximum frequencies, process technology and cache size. The higher these specifications are, the more powerful your CPU will be.

Specification	Value
Frequency	3.10 GHz 3.50 GHz
CPU Cores	12 8
Turbo (1 Core)	4.30 GHz No turbo
CPU Threads	24 8
Hyperthreading	Yes No
Overclocking	Yes No
Core architecture	normal hybrid (big.LITTLE)
A core	-- 4x Avalanche
B core	-- 4x Blizzard

Internal Graphics

Common specifications for integrated graphics cards in AMD Ryzen 9 3900 and Apple M2 along with supported interfaces and connection options. This block has no effect on the final efficiency of the CPU.

Specification	Value
GPU name	no iGPU Apple M2 (8 Core)
GPU frequency	3.50 GHz
GPU (Turbo)	No turbo No turbo
Execution units	128
Max. GPU Memory	-- 16 GB
Max. displays	3
Generation	2
Technology	5 nm
Release date	Q1/2022

Hardware codec support

Let's compare the support of video codecs between AMD Ryzen 9 3900 and Apple M2. Hardware support of video decoding by embedded graphics cards directly affects the speed and quality of rendering videos.

Specification	Value
h265 / HEVC (8 bit)	No Decode / Encode
h265 / HEVC (10 bit)	No Decode / Encode
h264	No Decode / Encode
VP9	No Decode / Encode
VP8	No Decode
AV1	No Decode
AVC	No Decode
VC-1	No Decode
JPEG	No Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

To choose the best model between AMD Ryzen 9 3900 and Apple M2 you need to pay special attention to memory type, clock frequency, multi-channel features, and PCIe version. The higher these numbers are, the better your CPU will be. Keep in mind that the maximum memory and frequency may also depend on the model of the motherboard.

Specification	Value
Memory type	DDR4-3200 LPDDR5-5500
Max. Memory	128 GB 16 GB
ECC	No No
Memory channels	2 2
PCIe version	4.0 4.0
PCIe lanes	20

Encryption

AES-NI encryption support for CPUs AMD Ryzen 9 3900 and Apple M2.

Specification	Value
AES-NI	Yes Yes

Thermal Management

Let's find out what TDP value would be better for AMD Ryzen 9 3900 or Apple M2? The Thermal Design Power (TDP) indicates the maximum amount of heat that should be dissipated by the chip cooling system. However, the value of TDP gives only a rough indication of the real power consumption of the CPU.

Specification	Value
TDP (PL1)	65 W 15 W
TDP up	-- 20 W
TDP down	-- 10 W
Tjunction max.	95 °C --

Technical details

Here you can find a comparison of 2nd and 3rd level cache sizes for AMD Ryzen 9 3900 and Apple M2 CPUs along with a list of ISA extensions.

Specification	Value
Instruction set (ISA)	x86-64 (64 bit) ARMv8-A64 (64 bit)
Virtualization	AMD-V, SVM None
ISA extensions	SSE4a, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, FMA3 Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
L2-Cache	-- 16.00 MB
L3-Cache	64.00 MB --
Architecture	Matisse (Zen 2) M2
Technology	7 nm 5 nm
Socket	AM4 N/A
Release date	Q3/2019 Q1/2022