AMD Ryzen 9 7900X CPU Review

[Brent_Justice]

Introduction We have a full review of the Ryzen 9 7900X CPU. In this review, we will look at several synthetic benchmarks, including multi-core and single-core performance, and no less than 8 games worth of performance at 4K, 1440p and 1080p. Our CPU comparisons today are very comprehensive, culminating in 10 total CPUs, 2 from […]

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[Denpepe]

I was interested in the 7000 series, but for gaming the performance difference with my 12700k is not there, power draw also is worse as are temps.

Will see what intel brings, so far it looks like I will skip upgrading my CPU for now.

 

[Brian_B]

Ugh.

I wasn't thrilled about Intel because of the higher power draw, and AMD goes and follows in their footsteps. It's not quite as bad as Intel, but it's a lot worse than Zen3 was.

But yeah, for gaming, the only real difference on the chart - aside from the 5800x3d - seems to be if you are running DDR4 or DDR5.

But the 5800X3D, using 100W less, on DDR4 and still punching in that weight class. ****. They should just keep making that chip for gaming. Zen4 looks nice for rendering and workstation-ish tasks though, but for general purpose or gaming I don't see any reason to do anything other than a 5800X3D if I were building a new system right now. That really was my take away from all of this.

 

[Space_Ranger]

As usual Brent, excellent review!

GN's review of the 7950X explains AMDs strategy for the high temps.

No need to dive into all of their benchmarks but they explain the high temp and power usage.

 

[Burticus]

Nice review guys.

I have 5700x so not ready jump in just yet. Will wait for things to mature and affordable motherboards.

Microcenter is running a promo right now though, buy a 7700x or higher and get a free 32gb DDR5 g.skill kit. It's ddr5-5600 though... maybe they are clearing out inventory of the slower speeds? Who knows maybe it can be overclocked to 6000.

In store only though. Of course.

 

[DrezKill]

Maybe next year when the X670 platform and DDR5 gets cheaper, I can use a 7900X to finally replace my 5930K. Assuming I can get the funds. Would also be really nice to see Zen 4 on Threadripper non-Pro.

 

[Space_Ranger]

I'm leaning towards going with Intel right now, as the Z690 platform looks decent enough and I can get Thunderbolt and 10G Ethernet on a Mobo for under $300

 

[LazyGamer]

I'm leaning towards going with Intel right now, as the Z690 platform looks decent enough and I can get Thunderbolt and 10G Ethernet on a Mobo for under $300

If this is the one you're thinking of: https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813145376?Item=N82E16813145376&quicklink=true

I had to return mine to Newegg - it killed three DDR5 kits from G.Skill (which I also had to return) inside of two months. Can't say if it's still a problem as it's not a very popular board and there is very little data available.

Other options I'm seeing go up quite a bit in price. In general, Thunderbolt doesn't seem to be that popular, and you're better off using a 10Gbit card if that's what you need.

 

[Brian_B]

Thunderbolt doesn't seem to be that popular

I have to admit, having both a Mac and PC, I honestly can't say what's Thunderbolt and what's USB-C anymore.

I used to have a bit of Thunderbolt stuff - it was first/second generation. Back when it used mini-DisplayPort plugs. Then it was distinct and you knew it wasn't just USB (although I have seen people plug them into their video cards and wonder why their backup drive doesn't work there). But now - I don't think I have anything that's Gen 3/4, but honestly wouldn't know how to tell.

The branding / marketing has been a mess on both sides.

 

[Grimlakin]

I have to agree the new am5 socket motherboards are surprisingly expensive. I have to wonder I'd that is an early adopter tax + a sign of the times or something new.

 

[Brian_B]

I have to agree the new am5 socket motherboards are surprisingly expensive. I have to wonder I'd that is an early adopter tax + a sign of the times or something new.

Seems like the x570 started out the same way

 

[LazyGamer]

I have to agree the new am5 socket motherboards are surprisingly expensive. I have to wonder I'd that is an early adopter tax + a sign of the times or something new.

Three main reasons:

• DDR5 - many manufacturers stumbled a lot with Z690, and most of them learned - that resulted in some increase in minimum specification
• PCIe5 - can't at all understand the push for this, to me, it's pure marketing - but PCIe5 is even harder to implement, and expensive to push around a board; most of the release X670E / X670 boards do some ridiculous routing with PCIe5 and the cost is reflected
• USB4 - many boards implement this, but even the higher-end USB3 connections impose higher costs, as do power delivery requirements

Seems like the x570 started out the same way

They did, but consider - MSIs 'enthusiast'-oriented line is the Carbon, ASUS' is the Strix-E - these are the lowest-end boards in their respective product stacks that feature a post code display, while having essentially equivalent power delivery and memory speed support of higher-end boards. Going further up the stack gets you into the territory of boards that have all that and better connectivity, as well as typically features that support sub-ambient cooling (chilled water, dry ice, LN2...) and extreme overclocking (meaning, benchmarkable but beyond reasonable for daily use).

The prices of these boards have gone up too. While X570 more or less caught AMD up to Intel in terms of feature parity on the boards, X670E seeks to match Intel right out of the gate and appears to have largely succeeded. Just at a cost!

But now - I don't think I have anything that's Gen 3/4, but honestly wouldn't know how to tell.

The branding / marketing has been a mess on both sides.

They're working on putting better markers on the ports themselves, and for USB4 on the release set of X670E boards, they're using Intel's TB4 controller. They can't call it TB4 apparently because the implementation isn't certified by Intel (I'm quoting Wendel at L1T here), but as TB4 is a full superset and then some of USB4, at least these boards shouldn't have compromises.

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What we all need to watch out for, though, is future USB4 'cut-down' implementations. USB4 allows for lower data rates and lower power delivery than TB4.

 

[Niner51]

Nice review. It looks like I'll stick with my 12900K.