In this article, we will take a close look at the AMD Wraith Prism, and see why we are all so excited about this swirling vortex of colour!
AMD Wraith Prism – A Swirling Vortex Of Colour!
James Prior (AMD Senior Product Manager) revealed at the Bangkok preview that the no. 1 piece of feedback they received was that Ryzen fans wanted a “swirling vortex of colour directly into their eyeballs“. LOL!
So AMD took their Wraith Max cooler, added a rainbow LED ring, and topped it up with LED-illuminated fan blades – all in RGB glory!
It’s not just a pretty version of the Wraith Max though. AMD made other improvements to the Wraith Prism :
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Direct Contact Heat Pipes – The four heat pipes are now part of the copper base, in direct contact with the CPU. This allows for far better thermal transfer from the CPU to the heat pipes.
Enhanced Compatibility – The heatsink profile was reshaped to ensure compatibility with smaller motherboards.
Dark Mode for RGB Heathens – If the swirling vortex of colour in your eyeball is blinding you, yes, you can turn it off! 🙂
Switchable Overclock Fan Profile – In the standard quiet operation mode, the fan has a 39 dBA noise level. But if you need more cooling, you can kick it up a notch!
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AMD first showed us the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X at an exclusive tech briefing in March. Now, we have the opportunity to test it out for ourselves. So how fast is the new AMD Ryzen 7 2700X? What exactly does it offer over its predecessors? Find out in our review of this new 2nd Gen Ryzen processor!
AMD Pinnacle Ridge
Codenamed Pinnacle Ridge, the 2nd Gen AMD Ryzen processors are based on an improved Zen microarchitecture, what AMD calls the AMD Zen+ microarchitecture. In addition, they’re fabricated on the 12 nm LP process technology.
AMD categorise them as part of the AMD Ryzen 2000 Series. This may be a little confusing since the AMD Raven Ridge APUs are also in the same series, even though they are based on the first-generation Ryzen processors, and fabricated on the original 14 nm process.
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Specifications Compared
Specifications
Ryzen 7 2700X
Ryzen 7 2700
Ryzen 5 2600X
Ryzen 5 2600
Ryzen 5 2400G
Ryzen 3 2200G
Code Name
Pinnacle Ridge
Pinnacle Ridge
Pinnacle Ridge
Pinnacle Ridge
Raven Ridge
Raven Ridge
Socket
AM4
AM4
AM4
AM4
AM4
AM4
Process Technology
12 nm FinFET
12 nm FinFET
12 nm FinFET
12 nm FinFET
14 nm FinFET
14 nm FinFET
Cores / Threads
8 / 16
8 / 16
6 / 12
6 / 12
4 / 8
4 / 4
Base Clock
3.7 GHz
3.2 GHz
3.6 GHz
3.4 GHz
3.60 GHz
3.50 GHz
Boost Clock
4.3 GHz
4.1 GHz
4.2 GHz
3.9 GHz
3.90 GHz
3.70 GHz
L2 Cache
4 MB
4 MB
3 MB
3 MB
2 MB
2 MB
L3 Cache
16 MB
16 MB
16 MB
16 MB
4 MB
4 MB
Integrated GPU
None
None
None
None
Radeon RX Vega 11
Radeon Vega 8
PCIe Lanes
16
16
16
16
8
8
Max. DDR4 Speed
DDR4-2933
DDR4-2933
DDR4-2933
DDR4-2933
DDR4-2933
DDR4-2933
TDP
105 W
65 W
95 W
65 W
65 W
65 W
Bundled Cooler
Wraith Prism
Wraith Spire (LED)
Wraith Spire
Wraith Stealth
Wraith Stealth
Wraith Stealth
Launch Price
US$ 329
US$ 299
US$ 229
US$ 199
US$ 169
US$ 99
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Unboxing The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) comes bundled with the new AMD Wraith Prism cooler, which features a rainbow LED ring and illuminated fan blades. Let’s unbox it, and see what we find inside!
Here is what you will find inside the box :
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X CPU and case badge
The AMD Wraith Prism cooler, with two cables
An AMD CPU installation guide, and certificate of authenticity (missing in our box)
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The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Processor
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) processor is the top-of-the-line Ryzen 7 model. It has eight Ryzen processor cores, with a 3.7 GHz base clock, and a 4.3 GHz boost clock. It supports SMT (simultaneous multi-threading), and can therefore handle 16 threads simultaneously.
The Ryzen 7 2700X is positioned just under theRyzen 7 1800X, which could mean a Ryzen 7 2800X is in the pipeline.
AMD Zen+ Microarchitecture
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) is based on the improved AMD Zen+ microarchitecture, which delivers slightly better performance, and lower cache and memory latencies :
3% more 1T IPC (instructions per second)
13% lower L1 cache latency
34% lower L2 cache latency
16% lower L3 cache latency
11% lower memory latency
Official support for JEDEC DDR4-2933
12 nm Process Technology
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) is fabricated using the 12 nm LP (Leading Performance) process technology from GlobalFoundries. While the die size and transistor count remain the same, the smaller transistors allow :
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top clock speed increased by 250 MHz
“all core” now overclock around 4.2 GHz
CPU voltage is reduced by about 50 mV at all clock speeds
up to 11% lower power consumption, compared to 14 nm
up to 16% better performance per watt, compared to 14 nm
Precision Boost 2
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check)supports the improved Precision Boost 2, whose more graceful and linear boost algorithm allows them to “boost more cores, more often, on more workloads“. It can change frequencies in very fine granularity of just 25 MHz.
This will allow the Pinnacle Ridge processors to perform better with apps and games that spawn many lightweight threads, as opposed to apps with persistent loads (e.g. video editing and 3D rendering).
Precision Boost Overdrive
AMD will introduce Precision Boost Overdrive in the future. The motherboard will be able to communicate its actual capabilities to the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check)processor, allowing for better boost profiles and a relaxed vcore limiter with better motherboards.
Extended Frequency Range 2 (XFR 2)
XFR 2 boosts the 2nd Gen Ryzen processor’s performance by 4-7%, depending on the performance of the installed CPU cooler.
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Soldered IHS
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check)processor features soldered heatspreaders, using premium indium alloy solder. This allows die temperatures to be reduced by 10°C.
AMD StoreMI
AMD StoreMI Technology is an OEM version of the Enmotus FuzeDrive Basic. It combines all of your storage drives into a single virtual storage drive. It can even add up to 2 GB of DDR4 memory as a very fast cache to the combined drive.
The software than automatically assigns frequently used data blocks to the fastest storage devices, optimising your storage devices to deliver the best performance possible.
AMD X470 Chipset
AMD introduced the new X470 chipset to offer better overclocking for the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors. Here is our Ryzen 7 2700X (Pr1ice Check) running on the X470 AORUS Gaming 7 WiFi (Price Check) motherboard.
However, this does not mean you will actually need to buy an AMD X470 motherboard. The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) processor will work with all existing AMD 300-series motherboards, with one caveat – the motherboard must be upgraded with the latest BIOS update to support the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors.
AMD Wraith Prism
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) comes with a new cooler – the AMD Wraith Prism. This is an upgraded version of the AMD Wraith Max cooler with heat pipes that are in direct contact with the CPU for better performance, and a rainbow LED ring.
It uses a 7-blade fan, with a maximum noise level of 39 dBA. The fan blades are LED-illuminated, but you can turn off the lights.
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AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Price + Availability
The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X is priced at US$ 329 / RM 1,559. Here are some purchase links for your convenience :
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Benchmarking The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
In this review, we will take a look at the work and gaming performance of the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, comparing it to 6 other processors :
Note : The motherboard BIOSes were all updated, and so was Windows 10, to ensure that all Spectre and Meltdown mitigations are in effect.
3D Rendering Speed – CINEBENCH R15
CINEBENCH R15 is a real-world 3D rendering benchmark based on the MAXON Cinema 4D animation software. This is a great way to accurately determine the actual performance of a processor in 3D content creation.
CINEBENCH R15 Single Core
This Single Core test is not reflective of real world performance, but it is useful to find out the performance of the individual core.
This is due to the internal improvements made to the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors, which almost doubled the boost clock advantage in this test. Otherwise, it would have scored only 163 cb.
CINEBENCH R15 Multi Core
The Multi-Core test shows the processor’s real-world 3D rendering performance.
With all 8 cores firing, the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) is 11.5% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check). This performance advantage can be attributed to the slightly higher clock speed, XFR 2 and the internal improvements in the Zen+ microarchitecture.
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Multi-Threading Boost
This is not a CINEBENCH benchmark result. The Multi-Threading Boost is our calculation of the performance boost that the processor’s Multi-Threading capability provides. It is based on the MP Ratio and the number of physical cores.
Surprisingly, the multi-threading capability of the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) is 10% lower than that of the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check).
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Video Transcoding Speed – HandBrake
HandBrake is a free, open-source video transcoding utility. Video transcoding basically converts a video file from one resolution / format to another. As you can imagine, it’s very compute-intensive. In our test, we converted a 4K video of 1.3 GB in size into a 1080p video (HQ1080p30).
The radial blur filter adds the perception of motion to a picture. This is a compute-intensive operation that benefits from multiple processing cores. This radial blur test was performed on a single 13.5 megapixel photo, with a filesize of 4,910,867 bytes.
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Ashes of the Singularity
In the RTS game, Ashes of the Singularity, the single core CPU performance has a significant effect on the actual frame rate. We tested the cards using the Normal setting preset.
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Things flipped at the higher resolution of 1440p. The Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check) was now very slightly faster than the Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check).
2160p Gaming Resolution
At the 2160p resolution, For Honor was graphics-limited. The CPU played only a minimal role in the frame rate. The fastest processor – the AMD Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check) only delivered a 5% higher frame rate than the slowest processor – AMD Ryzen 5 2400G.
Priced at just US$ 329 / RM 1,559, the Ryzen 7 2700X is $20 cheaper, and now comes with an AMD Wraith Prism cooler! This is going to significantly impact the appeal of the 8th Generation Intel Core processors, codenamed Coffee Lake.
But make no mistake – the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) is a refined, faster version of the AMD Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check). It is faster and more power-efficient, but not significantly so. The Ryzen Effect forced Intel to buck the hell up, but AMD is under no pressure to do the same.
What does this mean for you?
If you currently own a first-generation AMD Ryzen 7 processor, it would not make much sense to upgrade to the Ryzen 7 2700X.
If you currently own a first-generation AMD Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 3 processor, the Ryzen 7 2700X is a good upgrade option, offering a significant boost in performance.
If you are using an older / slower processor (pre-Ryzen, 6th Gen Intel Core or earlier), the Ryzen 7 2700X would make a great upgrade option, with great value for your money.
What AMD brought to the table with the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) is not shock and awe, but refinement and even more value for your money. By our books, that’s worthy of our Reviewer’s Choice Award!
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