AMD Ryzen 7 9700X Review: Zen 5 Arrives

As we speak we’re taking our first have a look at AMD’s new Zen 5 processors, beginning with the Ryzen 7 9700X, their newest 8-core / 16-thread CPU designed to interchange the 7700X. Forward of the launch, AMD was claiming a 16% common IPC uplift for the brand new era – just like AMD’s earlier Zen structure upgrades – whereas different features of the design stay unchanged from Ryzen 7000, together with the variety of CPU cores (between 6 and 16 throughout the line-up) and peak frequencies that push as much as 5.7 GHz.

The Ryzen 7 9700X will promote for $360, which is 10% lower than the MSRP of the 7700X when it launched. Nevertheless, it is usually 24% costlier than the present retail worth, on condition that the 7700X can at present be purchased for simply $290.

That is an inexpensive premium for the brand new Zen 5 mannequin contemplating AMD’s claimed efficiency increase, although a lot of the good points should be IPC associated because the 9700X is clocked simply 2% greater than the 7700X. Meaning the 9700X clocks as excessive as 5.5 GHz and with a 65W TDP can clock as little as 3.8 GHz.

In complete, there’s 8MB of L2 Cache, 1MB per core, with a shared 32MB L3 Cache. As with the 7700X, the utmost protected working temperature, or TjMax, has been set at 95°C. The official most reminiscence pace is DDR5-5600, although overclocking to greater speeds is feasible.

AMD emphasizes that the TjMax is the utmost protected working temperature, not absolutely the most temperature. This implies these processors are designed to run at TjMax 24/7 with out threat of harm or deterioration. At 95 levels, it’s nonetheless working inside specs.

There was some dialogue that Zen 5 would assist greater reminiscence speeds, however AMD tells us that DDR5-6000 continues to be going to be the candy spot, with all CPUs able to an FCLK of two,000 MHz. AMD notes that going above 2,000 MHz could compromise stability or decouple the material clock from the reminiscence clock, leading to suboptimal efficiency, relying on how excessive the reminiscence frequency is.

AMD additionally clarified that for finest efficiency, the reminiscence and IMC ought to run at a 1:1 ratio. For this, DDR5-6000 is perfect. Reminiscence assist for Zen 5 is similar to Zen 4. high quality DDR5-6000 package is beneficial, and that is what we will likely be testing.

Benchmarks

Check Setup

Cinebench 2024

First let’s take a look at how the 9700X behaves below an all-core workload in Cinebench. We noticed a sustained 5.25 GHz working frequency with all cores below load, leading to a bundle energy of 140 Watts and a peak working temperature of 91°C. With only a single core energetic, the 9700X clocked as excessive as 5.5 GHz, which is the reported increase clock, in order that checks out.

Now, this is a have a look at the Cinebench multi-core efficiency. The 9700X is a mere 2% quicker than the 7700X on this take a look at, which isn’t a lot of a efficiency uplift. It additionally signifies that for these multi-core workloads, AMD continues to be properly behind Intel’s 14600K.

Regardless of the virtually similar multi-core efficiency to that of the 7700X, the 9700X is 10% quicker in single-core efficiency, which is an inexpensive enchancment. This might imply good issues for gaming, and we are going to get to that quickly.

Energy Consumption (Cinebench)

However earlier than we do, listed below are the overall system energy consumption numbers when working the Cinebench all-core workload. The 9700X averaged simply 221 Watts, which is a 27 Watt saving in comparison with the 7700X, figuring out to an 11% saving.

7-Zip File Supervisor

Shifting on to the 7-Zip File Supervisor testing, we begin with the compression outcomes. Right here, the 9700X was truly 3% slower than the 7700X, which is an especially disappointing outcome.

It was additionally barely slower for the decompression workload, trailing by a 1.5% margin. Whereas not a lot slower, the truth that it is not considerably quicker here’s a actual downside.

Blender Open Information

The Blender Open Information outcomes stay unchanged, with 129 samples per minute for each the 7700X and 9700X, making the brand new Zen 5 processor 11% slower than the 14600K.

Corona 10 Benchmark

Curiously, when working the Corona 10 Benchmark, we discover that the 9700X is 11% quicker than the 7700X, indicating an honest uplift, and we had been hoping to see extra of this.

Adobe Photoshop 2024

In Photoshop, we see that the 9700X is 3% quicker than the 7700X on this take a look at, making it the quickest CPU examined. Whereas it is a good outcome total, it’s nonetheless very disappointing when in comparison with the half it’s meant to interchange.

Adobe Premiere Professional 2024

The 9700X was additionally quicker in Premiere Professional, this time by a 6% margin. Whereas not superb, it’s higher than 3%. Nonetheless, when in comparison with the 14600K, it was 2% slower.

Gaming Benchmarks

Baldur’s Gate 3

Okay, time for the gaming benchmarks, and we’ll begin with Baldur’s Gate 3. Sadly, the 9700X is a mere 2% quicker than the 7700X, going from 113 to 115 fps, a modest 2 fps increase. Let’s hope that is simply an outlier as we transfer on…

The Final of Us Half 1

Sadly, the Baldur’s Gate 3 outcomes aren’t an outlier. Testing with The Final of Us Half 1, we see that the 9700X is definitely slower than the 7700X by a 3% margin. We re-ran this take a look at a number of occasions, tried a number of completely different motherboards and reminiscence kits, however one factor remained constant: the 9700X’s poor efficiency.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

Shifting on to Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, the 9700X is at the very least quicker than the 7700X right here by a number of frames, exhibiting a mere 2% enchancment. This can be a disappointing enchancment, however at the very least it is quicker on this instance.

Hogwarts Legacy

Efficiency in Hogwarts Legacy is far the identical utilizing both the 7700X or 9700X, so no enchancment right here. It is also disappointing to see that we’re solely taking a look at Core i7-12700K-like efficiency.

Assetto Corsa Competizione

The ACC outcomes are good, with the 9700X being considerably quicker than the 7700X, which is clearly what we need to see. On this instance, the typical body fee was improved by 18%, which is a big uplift, bringing the 9700X near the 14900K.

Spider-Man Remastered

The Spider-Man Remastered outcomes are much less spectacular, however at the very least we see a 5% increase right here, averaging 153 fps. Nevertheless, that is nonetheless 12700K-like efficiency, which isn’t superb for a next-gen product.

Homeworld 3

The 9700X additionally seems to be robust in Homeworld 3, regardless of being simply 3% quicker than the 7700X. It matched the typical body fee of the 14900K with a lot better 1% lows. For some purpose, the Intel CPUs tank the 1% lows on this take a look at.

A Plague Story: Requiem

The 9700X additionally seemed robust in A Plague Story: Requiem, however once more it was simply 3% quicker than the 7700X, so only some frames higher than the 14900K however a lot slower than the 7800X3D.

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2 supplies us with a uncommon instance the place the 9700X is double digits quicker than the 7700X, averaging 536 fps, which means it was slower than solely the 7800X3D.

Starfield

Now, I am positive you will see some critiques of the 9700X the place it is quicker than the 7700X in Starfield, however these critiques will most likely be testing with completely different high quality settings or a unique part of the sport. After many re-tests, the most effective we noticed from the 9700X was a 4% loss to the 7700X.

Horizon Forbidden West

Subsequent up, we now have Horizon Forbidden West, one other instance the place the 9700X and 7700X are very comparable when it comes to gaming efficiency, with the older 7700X providing a number of further frames. That is tremendous disappointing stuff from AMD, particularly after 2 years.

Hitman 3

The 9700X was a complete % quicker in Hitman 3, taking us from 238 fps to 241 fps, in order that’s fairly riveting stuff.

Watch Canine: Legion

Lastly, we now have Watch Canine: Legion, and with it, one other instance the place the 7700X is barely quicker than the 9700X. It is value noting that we primarily based our knowledge on a mean of six runs for this take a look at, as the primary few runs are closely inflated for some purpose. On the finish of the day, each CPUs delivered comparable efficiency on this take a look at.

13 Recreation Common

Throughout the 13 video games we examined, the 9700X was a grand complete of three% quicker than the 7700X. So, it principally caught as much as the Core i5-14600K. AMD claimed of their evaluate information that the 9700X is 9% quicker than the 14700K throughout the video games they examined, however we have discovered it to be 5% slower.

We mentioned our outcomes at size with AMD, they usually did not assume our knowledge was off for the pattern of video games we examined. Perhaps 1-2% decrease than what they had been seeing internally, although they had been unwilling to share that knowledge.

Nevertheless, the purpose is that we count on reviewers to report the 9700X to be 3-6% quicker than the 7700X, relying on the video games and high quality settings used for testing, which is a disappointing outcome.

Energy Consumption

This is a fast have a look at complete system energy consumption when gaming. Please word we did not have time so as to add all CPUs examined to this knowledge set, however we do have the essential ones, just like the 9700X and 7700X.

As you’ll be able to see, the 9700X solely decreased complete system utilization by 16 watts, a 3% discount. After all, that may be a 26% saving in comparison with the 14900K, which was restricted to 253 watts, however relative to Zen 4, the good points aren’t that spectacular.

We noticed a 23-watt discount in complete system utilization when testing with The Final of Us Half 1, because the 9700X dropped to 491 watts from 514 watts with the 7700X. On this instance, that is a 4% discount in energy utilization. It is not insignificant, but additionally not thrilling.

Price per Body

This is a have a look at the fee per body of simply the CPU. At this level, we should always point out that AMD’s asking $360 for the 9700X, making it 24% extra pricey than the 7700X, which is not nice given it was solely 3% quicker on common.

When factoring in the price of the CPU, the 9700X wound up costing 21% extra per body than the 7700X and 11% greater than the 7800X3D, so that you’d clearly simply purchase the X3D chip.

Price per Body (Total Construct)

Now, if we think about the price of an honest motherboard and a 32GB reminiscence package, the 9700X nonetheless finally ends up costing 11% extra per body than the 7700X. It is also 13% extra pricey than the 7800X3D, so once more, in the event you’re inquisitive about gaming, you’d nonetheless simply get the 7800X3D.

What We Realized: It is a Flop

Zen 5 seems to be a little bit of a flop in our opinion. The truth is, it is giving us Intel Eleventh-gen vibes. Positive, it is somewhat quicker whereas utilizing rather less energy, however total, after 2 years, it is a lot the identical. Making issues worse is the worth premium. If the 9700X was slotting in on the similar $290 asking worth because the 7700X, then I suppose positive, that is wonderful – a small improve, nothing to get enthusiastic about, nevertheless it’s not unhealthy. However at a 24% premium, AMD can preserve it; we now have little interest in the 9700X at this time limit.

AMD appears a bit misplaced with this launch. They made a giant deal out of Zen 5 in the course of the Computex launch, regardless of having little or no to indicate for it. We had hoped for extra, given the IPC claims. However when it got here to gaming, little or no was revealed, and now we all know why.

This previous week has been very irritating for us, attempting to find out if what we had been seeing from the 9700X was correct. Did we now have a faulty chip, or was there one thing improper with our take a look at system? AMD gave no steerage on how the 9700X ought to evaluate relative to the 7700X, and regardless of asking them immediately a number of occasions, we solely obtained obscure solutions. As finest as we are able to inform after talking with AMD, our outcomes relative to the 7700X are correct, possibly 1-2% down on what AMD was seeing, however thereabouts.

As we famous earlier, we’re positive you will come throughout critiques with bigger margins favoring the 9700X over the 7700X in comparison with what we have proven you, however once more, that can largely come right down to the video games used for testing and the way the video games are examined, reminiscent of take a look at location and high quality settings used. However primarily based on what AMD tells us, you should not see considerably bigger margins. The 9700X simply is not that a lot quicker than the 7700X, at the very least not throughout an excellent pattern of video games.

We’re a bit miffed by the 9700X’s total efficiency. It appears fairly pointless, and we won’t think about these X3D chips anticipated later within the 12 months are going to be a lot completely different given what we have seen right here. It was additionally surprising to search out the 9700X slower than the 7700X in some video games, and it is this inconsistent efficiency that makes the 9700X significantly unhealthy in our opinion. It is underwhelming at finest.

If you happen to had been holding off to your new construct, this half adjustments nothing. You would be higher off shopping for the 7700X or 7800X3D, as each elements supply much better worth, and within the case of the 7800X3D, it is considerably quicker whereas costing simply $20 extra. Tell us what you assume.