Wasted Opportunity: AMD Ryzen 7 9700X CPU Review & Benchmarks vs. 7800X3D, 7700X, & More

AMD's Zen 5 Ryzen 7 9700X has now launched. This benchmark and review compares the AMD R7 9700X vs. the R7 7800X3D, R7 7700X, Intel i9-14900K, 14700K, 5800X3D, and more. The benchmarks include gaming benchmarks, production workloads, power, efficiency, thermals, and more. This review looks at some of the best CPUs right now, but also keeps a heavy focus on the highest value CPUs in the comparison.



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We are currently holding any Intel recommendations until the company releases its new microcode and we have some renewed confidence in the parts.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - AMD R7 9700X CPU Review
02:28 - Price Comparison & Update
03:31 - Stability Problems
06:01 - Methodology & Software
08:04 - CPU Power Consumption on 9700X
09:05 - Efficiency Benchmark
10:05 - Frequency: All-Core Boost
11:13 - Frequency: Single-Core Boost
11:39 - Thermal Sensor Change Comparison
13:48 - Starfield Gaming CPU Benchmarks
15:05 - FFXIV: Dawntrail CPU Benchmarks (1080p & 1440p)
16:48 - Baldur's Gate 3 Best CPUs
17:57 - Dragon's Dogma 2 CPU Comparison
19:01 - F1 24 9700X vs. 7800X3D
20:22 - Stellaris Simulation Time
21:49 - Blender Best CPUs for Rendering
23:21 - Compression & Decompression
24:14 - Photoshop CPU Benchmarks
24:57 - Premiere CPU Tests
25:37 - Code Compile (Chromium)
26:07 - SpecWS Rodinia CFD
26:26 - SpecWS LAMMPS Biomedical Test
27:03 - Conclusion

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Steve Burke: Host, Writing, Test Lead
Patrick Lathan: Testing
Mike Gaglione: Testing
Jeremy Clayton: QC
Video Editing: Vitalii Makhnovets
Camera: Andrew Coleman

[GamersNexus]

Reminder: The 7800X3D remains more efficient than the 9700X in gaming by a long shot. Higher performance, same power. Also, we got the new 9600X in. It is working where the other one failed, but still has compatibility issues (as the 9700X did) that the 7000 series did not. Messy launch.

[AscalonFI]

2024 really is becoming the year of "It's not [Awful brand]".

[auritro]

It honestly feels like X3D is like AMD's 1080Ti. After almost 3 years, still fast, still powerful, still efficient, and still dominating.

[UnforgivingEnd]

Man… that 5800x3d hanging out with the big bois 3 years later is still just mind numbing.

It will be a while before we see such a legend CPU again.

[sabinamather]

I like efficiency. Saves you money on the power supply, cooler, can get a smaller case, the room doesn't heat up like a there's a radiator. I say it's great.

[VSilvaAlex]

It's clear that for x3d owners, the only upgrades are newer x3d chip

[hokatichenci]

7800X3D is still such a great investment. At this point I'm only ever going to wait for the X3D processors.

[Beerpowered]

Steve is savage. "2nd most positive thing is even though I looked everywhere, I can't find the word intel anywhere on the box."

[bavarianblessed]

"May include blue screens" feel the burn, son

[aidanharris]

Steve's RTS APM coming in clutch with sniping these bots. Thanks Steve

[dynamiszmx]

The funny thing is, running at the same speed while saving 30% power can sometimes be equal to running 15% faster with the same power consumption. But the first option sounds much more appealing😂

[UltraSquirrel]

As someone who uses a small form factor case, the lower TDP is what makes me interested. The 9700X seems like great performance at 65W as opposed to 105W for the previous 7700X.

[frank.bullitt]

17:17
The entire Intel lineup right now is a giant cluster...
Gold

[Olivyay]

They should have called this one a 9700 and release a 9700X at ~85 TDP
It being as good as the 7700X most of the time, sometimes better, while consuming 40% less is pretty amazing, it's just the targeted power segment is incomprehensible.

[ChristopherYeeMon]

derBauer used PBO to boost the Wattage and got dramatically better benchmarks. It was like a different chip. It's just held back on power. Feels like it would be good for ITX builds where you have to use a tiny air cooler

[kfvzfzl]

Every time there is a new CPU review, I am in awe of what an amazing processer the 5800X3D is, mainly its ability to breathe new life into old PC's. The fact that my 7-year-old PC with a 5800X3D can hang with some of the newest and greatest intel chips, all while using an old motherboard, inexpensive DDR4 memory, under 100watts of power AND running cool enough to only need a small inexpensive cooler never fails to put a smile on my face.

[SootyliciousArt]

The blue bars on the sides showing how long the graphic will be shown is extremely helpful, such a great idea to add those!

[OdiumDei]

Watching this video for the third time i find myself thinking: What exactly were reviewers expecting who are now disappointed? It was extremely clear that a non-x3D CPU would NEVER be able to match the 7800x3D for gaming. It was also clear that going down by 40 watts TDP (which is ~48% of the total TDP of Zen4) would leave almost no room for performance improvement. I mean....were they really expecting AMD to come up with noticeable performance improvement AND 48% TDP reduction in just 2 years...? Honestly?

You can always say that you would have preffered more performance at the old 105 TDP value. That's fine, if that's what you want....but the 65 watts TDP were known for MONTHS. So where did reviewers expect a noticeable performance increment to come from? God? Honest question here.

Personally, i am really happy with companies going for small/none performance increment and cutting power usage by almost 50% instead. That's pretty much exactly what i want from hardware. So i am really looking forward to what Zen5x3D will be able to do.

Edit:
I am also slightly confused by the Thermals-Test. GN downvolted the 7700X to 86 watts and then compared but where is that "if the 2 CPUs used the same power"-comparison in the performance charts? I can't see it. What was the point of that test, then? Either do all benchmarks at full/regular power or include the "if the 7700X was a 86 watts CPU"-data for all performance graphs as well. It's kinda cheap of GN, imho, to say "we will include a line for older gen if it used as little power and COMPLETELY ignore performance!" for thermals but not go that extra-mile for any of the performance comparison.
My point is: The 9700X is exactly as fast as the 7700X in blender while running at 50°C instead of the 92°C of the 7700X. That's the relevant information. The mere 10°C reduction compared to "eco mode" 7700X would only be relevant if you had also included that performance chart for blender as well - which you conveniently did not.
I think a 42°C reduction while getting the same performance is pretty damn amazing and anybody not having air conditioning for their computer room will most certainly feel that difference.

[MtnNerd]

The power efficiency gains seem exciting enough to justify the product line, especially for people in hot climates. But it's really alarming that a bad unit made it into the review sample pool.

[labmasterx]

WE DID IT!!! WE HAVE OVER 9000 AMD CPUs!!!

Now wait for next gen to be called Ryzen Prime 1000 AIX series because AMD marketing