AMD could give the Ryzen 9600X or 9700X a significant TDP boost after launch in the name of higher performance

The CPU market is going through some serious trials and tribulations right now. There may seem to be little room for hope between Intel CPU stability problems and AMD CPUs that are not performing well. The rumour mill continues to churn, as usual, and now is spitting out news of even more possible changes for AMD's 9000-series mid-range chips.

According to tech leaker Chi11eddog the newly released AMD Ryzen 9700X and Ryzen 9600X will see their TDPs increased to 105 W. The change is rumoured that it will be pushed through an AGESA Patch A BIOS 1.2.0.1a update.

Both Zen 5 CPUs were launched with a low TDP of 65 W, and many reviews noted their power efficiency and thermal lightness. The performance increase over previous-gen Ryzen processors was minimal and there were many references to "Zen 5%". It's not surprising that they aren't selling well, given their launch prices are much higher than the current pricing for the Ryzen 7000 series chips they're replacing.

As they are, the 9600X and 9700X don't appear to be chips that offer high-performance improvements. They appear to be chips that offer efficiency improvements. We at PC Gamer Hardware Den are not the only ones who feel they were shipped in eco mode, when they could instead have been set up to guzzle power and churn more frames.

It would be logical if AMD decided to increase their TDPs. In June, we heard rumours of a TDP boost for the 9700X. A change now would mean AMD has probably rushed chip launches without getting everything figured. We already knew that, didn’t we?

Nick's experience of testing these chips was somewhat marred due to last-minute AMD BIOS swap requests. It's been a bumpy road to launch to say the least.

If the rumour is true, and the TDPs of both chips are bumped up to 105 W this could mitigate some of the underwhelming performance. It would mean improved performance at stock and presumably a 65 W eco mode that is optional for those who desire the efficiency that has been alluded to in reviews. This or the 105W mode could be promoted as an optional "boost option" by vendors.

Intel is a great example of what can happen when you rely on increasing the power flowing into your chips to keep the masses happy. Intel's current situation is not good.

If we were cynical we could say that this late patch gives AMD the best of both: initial "great efficiency reviews" followed by some "decent performance improvements" after BIOS update. To think that this was intentional would be a bit much, I think. The evidence points to a launch that took place while the best default settings were still being determined for these chips.

Or, the rumour may be simply false. It is now the time to be optimistic but not in the right place. I'm not sure how a TDP change post-launch would play out, and whether AMD would even consider it. We'll have to wait and watch.