AMD unveiled the 3rd Gen Ryzen processors back in June, but we now have the opportunity to put one of them to the test – the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-core processor.

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor with a 3.6 GHz base clock speed, a 4.4 GHz boost clock speed, and a whopping 32 MB L3 cache!

Find out in our in-depth review of the Ryzen 7 3700X why we gave it our Editor’s Choice Award!

 

3rd Gen AMD Ryzen Models + Specifications

AMD is launching six processor (non-APU) models, with these key specifications :

Specifications	Ryzen 9 3950X	Ryzen 9 3900X	Ryzen 7 3800X	Ryzen 7 3700X	Ryzen 5 3600X	Ryzen 5 3600
Fab Process	7 nm + 12 nm	7 nm + 12 nm	7 nm + 12 nm	7 nm + 12 nm	7 nm + 12 nm	7 nm + 12 nm
Cores / Threads	16 / 32	12 / 24	8 / 16	8 / 16	6 / 12	6 / 12
Base Clock	3.5 GHz	3.8 GHz	3.9 GHz	3.6 GHz	3.8 GHz	3.6 GHz
Boost Clock	4.7 GHz	4.6 GHz	4.5 GHz	4.4 GHz	4.4 GHz	4.2 GHz
L2 Cache	8 MB	6 MB	4 MB	4 MB	3 MB	3 MB
L3 Cache	64 MB	64 MB	32 MB	32 MB	32 MB	32 MB
PCIe Support	24x PCIe Gen 4	24x PCIe Gen 4	24x PCIe Gen 4	24x PCIe Gen 4	24x PCIe Gen 4	24x PCIe Gen 4
TDP	105 W	105 W	105 W	105 W	95 W	65 W
Bundled Cooler	NA	Wraith Prism RGB	Wraith Prism RGB	Wraith Prism RGB	Wraith Stealth	Wraith Spire
Launch Price	$749	$499	$399	$329	$249	$199

 

3rd Gen AMD Ryzen Price + Availability

Here is the official price list for the six processor models and their availability :

• AMD Ryzen 9 3950X : $749 / ~£589 / ~€662 / ~RM3,116 (September 2019)
• AMD Ryzen 9 3900X : $499 / ~£393 / ~€441 / RM2,199 (7 July 2019)
• AMD Ryzen 7 3800X : $399 / ~£314 / ~€353 / RM1,799 (7 July 2019)
• AMD Ryzen 7 3700X : $329 / ~£259 / ~€291 / RM1,399 (7 July 2019)
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600X : $249 / ~£196 / ~€220 / RM1,069 (7 July 2019)
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600 : $199 / ~£157 / ~€176 / RM859 (7 July 2019)

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Unboxing The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 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!

Next Page > AMD Ryzen 7 3700X : Hands On + Key Features

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The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Up Close!

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X has eight Ryzen processor cores, with a 3.6 GHz base clock, and a 4.4 GHz boost clock.

It supports SMT (simultaneous multi-threading), and can therefore handle 16 threads simultaneously.

Like the previous generations, it has 512 KB L2 cache per core, with a total L2 cache size of 4 MB. But thanks to a larger transistor budget, it has a very large 32 MB L3 cache – twice that of the last-generation 2nd Gen Ryzen processors!

Despite the changes in the design philosophy, the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X still uses the AMD AM4 socket. In fact, it is backward compatibility with existing AM4 motherboards!

As long as your AM4 motherboard has an updated BIOS, you can just replace your old Ryzen processor with a brand-new Ryzen 7 3700X processor!

 

New Zen 2 Microarchitecture

Codenamed Matisse, the 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen processors are based on the new AMD Zen 2 microarchitecture, which delivers 15% better instructions per clock through these improvements :

• 256-bit single-op floating point (AVX-256) for notably stronger performance in creative workloads.
• Doubled Micro-Op cache size (now 4K) to increase throughput by preventing re-decode of operations.
• New TAGE branch predictor, with larger L1 and L2 BTBs, to increase throughput by reducing stalls from mispredicts.
• A third address generation unit (AGU), which keeps the execution engine more reliably fed with data in DRAM.

• Improved load/store bandwidth throughout the device, which increases throughput by keeping more data on-chip.
• A doubled L3 cache size to 32MB per CCD, which reduces effective memory latency by up to 33ns — excellent for games.
• Improved fetch and pre-fetch capabilities, arming the execution engines more readily with needed data.
• Improved SMT fairness for ALU and AGU schedulers, reducing thread contention and throughput.
• A larger 180-entry register file, providing the CPU more immediate access to more working data.
• New hardware mitigation against speculative store bypass (Spectre V4), expanding the strong security profile of “Zen(+).”

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New Chiplet Design

Unlike the previous Zen and Zen+ microarchitectures, Zen 2 uses a chiplet design that combines separate CPU chiplets with an I/O chiplet, using Infinity Fabric to connect them.

This chiplet design allows the performance-critical CPU chiplet to be fabricated on the 7 nm TSMC process, while the I/O functions are fabricated on the less expensive 12 nm GlobalFoundries process.

The new I/O chiplet adds PCIe 4.0 support, offering 24 lanes that can be increased to 40 lanes, when paired with the new AMD X570 motherboard.

For more details on what’s new in these 3rd generation Ryzen processors, we recommend reading The AMD 3rd Gen Ryzen Deep Dive Tech Briefing!

Don’t forget to watch the full video briefing by AMD’s Robert Hallock!

Recommended : The AMD 3rd Gen Ryzen Deep Dive Tech Briefing!

Next Page > AMD X570 Chipset, AMD Wraith Prism Cooler, Benchmarking Notes 

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AMD X570 Chipset

To complement the 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen processors, AMD introduced a new X570 chipset.

The AMD X570 chipset basically adds support for PCI Express 4.0, M.2 Gen 4 and USB 3.2 Gen2.

On the other hand, it drops support for the first generation AMD Ryzen processors, like the Ryzen 7 1800X, and the Ryzen 5 1600X.

This does not mean you will actually need to buy an AMD X570 motherboard. The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X processor will work with all existing AMD 400-series (and some AMD 300-series) motherboards, with one caveat – the motherboard must be upgraded with the latest BIOS update to support the 3rd Gen Ryzen processors.

 

AMD Wraith Prism

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X continues to use the excellent AMD Wraith Prism cooler, designed and manufactured by Cooler Master.

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 3700X Benchmarking Notes

In this review, we will take a look at the work and gaming performance of the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, comparing it to 5 other processors :

• Intel Core i7-8700K (Price Check)
• AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check)
• AMD Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check)
• AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check)
• AMD Ryzen 5 1600X (Price Check)

Here is a quick comparison of their key specifications :

	Cores / Threads	Base Clock	Boost Clock	L2 Cache	L3 Cache	Memory
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X	8 / 16	3.6 GHz	4.4 GHz	4 MB	32 MB	DDR4-2933
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X	8 / 16	3.7 GHz	4.3 GHz	4 MB	16 MB	DDR4-2933
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X	8 / 16	3.6 GHz	4.0 GHz	4 MB	16 MB	DDR4-2666
Intel Core i7-8700K	6 / 12	3.7 GHz	4.7 GHz	1.5 MB	12 MB	DDR4-2666
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X	6 / 12	3.6 GHz	4.2 GHz	3 MB	16 MB	DDR4-2933
AMD Ryzen 5 1600X	6 / 12	3.6 GHz	4.0 GHz	3 MB	16 MB	DDR4-2666

Here are the specifications of the Intel and AMD testbeds we used.

	Intel Testbed	AMD Testbeds
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix Z370-F-Gaming	ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Hero
Memory Speed	G.SKILL Sniper X DDR4-3400 (8 GB x 2) Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3200 (8 GB x 2)	G.SKILL Sniper X DDR4-3400 (8 GB x 2) Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3200 (8 GB x 2)
Graphics Card	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (GeForce 430.86)	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (GeForce 430.86)
Storage	Western Digital Black²	Western Digital Black²
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)	Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)

Next Page > AMD Ryzen 7 3700X : Content Creation Performance 

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3D Rendering Speed – CINEBENCH R20

CINEBENCH R20 is a real-world 3D rendering benchmark based on the MAXON Cinema 4D animation software.

It is a great way to accurately determine the actual performance of a processor in 3D content creation.

This new version uses a much larger and more complex test scene than CINEBENCH R15, requiring about 8X more computational power and 4X more memory to render.

 

CINEBENCH R20 Single Core Performance

This Single Core test is not reflective of real world performance, but it is useful to find out the performance of the individual core.

On paper, the Ryzen 7 3700X is almost similar to the Ryzen 7 2700X, but we can see that it has 17.3% better single-core performance!

In fact, it was 8.3% faster than the Intel Core i7-8700K, which has higher base and boost clock speed!

 

CINEBENCH R20 Multi Core Performance

The Multi Core test shows the processor’s real-world 3D rendering performance.

The Ryzen 7 3700X was 21.8% faster than the Ryzen 7 2700X, and a whopping 34.5% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X, even though they are all 8-core, 16-thread processors.

This clearly demonstrates the improvement in microarchitecture throughout the generations.

 

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.

Due to their long experience with SMT (Simultaneous Multi-Threading) technology, Intel still has the edge, with the Core i7-8700K delivering a 25% boost.

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X did well though, improving on the Ryzen 7 1800X by 6%, and the Ryzen 7 2700X by 31%.

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Video Transcoding Speed – HandBrake

HandBrake is a free, open-source video transcoding utility, which converts a video file from one resolution / format to another.

As you can imagine, it’s very compute-intensive, which makes it a great benchmark for multi-core processors.

In our test, we converted a 4K video of 1.3 GB in size into a 1080p video (HQ1080p30).

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X was excellent in this test, transcoding the video 35 seconds (18%) faster than the next best processor – the Ryzen 7 2700X.

It was also almost 50% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X – a first generation 8-core Ryzen processor!

 

Radial Blur Speed – Photoshop CC 14

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.

Yet another great example of how much faster the Zen 2 microarchitecture is, compared to the Zen+ and Zen microarchitectures.

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is 11% faster than the Ryzen 7 2700X, and a whopping 29% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X.

It is also just over 50% faster than the Core i7-8700K, which we must note is a 6-core, 12-thread processor.

Next Page > AMD Ryzen 7 3700X : 3DMark + F1 2019 Performance 

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Synthetic Game Test – 3DMark

We used 3DMark’s Time Spy and Time Spy Extreme synthetic benchmarks, which supports DirectX 12, and the latest features like asynchronous compute, and multi-threading support.

Time Spy – 2560 x 1440

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X had a 10% higher CPU score than the Ryzen 7 2700X, and a 26% higher CPU score than the Core i7-8700K.

Of course, the CPU only has a slight influence on a game’s performance, so its effect on the overall gaming score is less significant.

In the end, the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X was 2% faster than the Ryzen 7 2700X, and 4% faster than the Core i7-8700K.

Time Spy Extreme – 3840 x 2160

At the higher 4K resolution, the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X had a 22% higher CPU score than the Ryzen 7 2700X, and a 25% higher CPU score than the Core i7-8700K.

Now check out the processors’ effect on the overall gaming score…

At 4K, the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X was 3% faster than the Ryzen 7 2700X, and 3.6% faster than the Core i7-8700K.

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F1 2019

F1 2019 is a really new racing game by Codemasters, released on 28 June 2019.

We tested it on three resolutions at the Ultra High settings :

• 1080p : 1920 x 1080
• 1440p : 2560 x 1440
• 2160p : 3840 x 2160

1080p Gaming Resolution

Even though it promised a 15% improvement in instructions per clock (IPC), the Ryzen 7 3700X performed virtually the same as the last-generation Ryzen 7 2700X.

Micro-architectural changes matter though. They were both 25% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X.

And even though it only has 6 cores, the Intel Core i7-8700K was slightly (3%) faster…

1440p Gaming Resolution

At the higher 1440p resolution, the importance of CPU performance was greatly reduced. It didn’t matter which processor you used – they all delivered almost the same frame rates.

2160p Gaming Resolution

Increasing the resolution to 4K virtually eliminated the influence of CPU performance. They all had the same frame rates.

Next Page > AMD Ryzen 7 3700X : World War Z + AOTS Performance 

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World War Z

Based on the 2013 movie, World War Z is a relatively new third-person shooter game, released in April 2019.

We tested it on three resolutions using the Vulkan API at the High settings :

• 1080p : 1920 x 1080
• 1440p : 2560 x 1440
• 2160p : 3840 x 2160

1080p Gaming Resolution

At 1080p, the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and the Intel Core i7-8700K were far head of the pack, leading the Ryzen 7 2700X by about 20%.

They were both also about 27% faster than the Ryzen 5 2600X and the Ryzen 7 1800X.

1440p Gaming Resolution

When we increased the resolution to 1440p, the Ryzen 7 3700X actually delivered 8% higher frame rates than the Core i7-8700K, and 23% higher frame rates than the last-generation Ryzen 7 2700X.

2160p Gaming Resolution

Unbelievable! The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X continued to hold up the frame rate at 4K much better than the other processors.

At this resolution, it delivered 52% higher frame rates than the Core i7-8700K, and 60% higher frame rates than the other processors in this comparison.

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Ashes of the Singularity

Ashes of the Singularity is a 2016 game that supports multi-core processing and asynchronous compute.

In this game, the single core CPU performance has a significant effect on the actual frame rate.

We tested it on three resolutions using the DirectX 12 API at the High settings :

• 1080p : 1920 x 1080
• 1440p : 2560 x 1440
• 2160p : 3840 x 2160

1080p Gaming Resolution

We can see here that the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X has significantly improved single-core performance. It was almost as fast as the Core i7-8700K, even though the Intel processor has higher clock speeds.

They both delivered frame rates that were about 36% faster than the Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 2600X processors.

1440p Gaming Resolution

At the higher 1440p resolution, the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X was just 3% slower than the Core i7-8700K, but 33% faster than the Ryzen 7 2700X, and 37% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X.

2160p Gaming Resolution

When we hit 4K, the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X was now 3.5% slower than the Core i7-8700K, but the gap closed with the other processors.

It was now 28% faster than the Ryzen 7 2700X, and 30% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X..

Next Page > AMD Ryzen 7 3700X : Our Verdict + Award, Price + Availability

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AMD Ryzen 7 3700X – Our Verdict + Award!

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is not just an improved version of the last-generation Ryzen 7 2700X processor.

Built around the new Zen 2 microarchitecture, it uses a new chiplet design which combines 7 nm and 12 nm fabrication technologies to deliver a more powerful, and power-efficient processor at a great price point.

The end result? Significantly better single-core and multi-core performance, which can deliver really surprising boosts in gaming performance.

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X debuts at the same price point as the Ryzen 7 2700X – US$329, and is bundled with the same Wraith Prism cooler.

This makes it a very compelling option for those who want the best of both worlds – gaming and content creation performance – at an affordable price point.

What if you currently own an older AMD Ryzen system?

• If it uses a first-generation AMD Ryzen 7 processor like the Ryzen 7 1800X, upgrading to the Ryzen 7 3700X will give you a big 30-50% boost in gaming and content creation performance.
• If it uses a second-generation AMD Ryzen 7 processor like the Ryzen 7 2700X, upgrading to the Ryzen 7 3700X will give you a 10-20% boost in gaming and content creation performance.

And here is a BIG ADVANTAGE for existing Ryzen users – the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is compatible with all existing AMD 400-series (and some 300-series) motherboards with a BIOS update. This makes it a very affordable upgrade option.

For all these reasons, we gladly give the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X processor our Editor’s Choice Award. Great job, AMD!

 

3rd Gen AMD Ryzen Price + Availability

Here is the official price list for the six processor models and their availability :

• AMD Ryzen 9 3950X : $749 / ~£589 / ~€662 / ~RM3,116 (September 2019)
• AMD Ryzen 9 3900X : $499 / ~£393 / ~€441 / RM2,199 (7 July 2019)
• AMD Ryzen 7 3800X : $399 / ~£314 / ~€353 / RM1,799 (7 July 2019)
• AMD Ryzen 7 3700X : $329 / ~£259 / ~€291 / RM1,399 (7 July 2019)
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600X : $249 / ~£196 / ~€220 / RM1,069 (7 July 2019)
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600 : $199 / ~£157 / ~€176 / RM859 (7 July 2019)

 

Recommended Reading

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• AMD Radeon RX 5700 Graphics Card In-Depth Review!
• Thank NVIDIA For The AMD Radeon RX 5700 Price Cut!
• The NVIDIA RTX Super vs AMD RX 5700 Comparison!
• The AMD 3rd Gen Ryzen Deep Dive Tech Briefing!
• AMD Ryzen 3000 Series Price, Availability + Specifications!
• Samsung To Use AMD Radeon Graphics In Mobile Devices!
• Frontier Supercomputer From AMD + Cray Is World’s Fastest!
• A Sneak Peek At The Sony PlayStation 5 Console!
• Here Is The Ryzen R1000 APU That Powers The Atari VCS!
• The Official AMD Radeon VII Tech Briefing + Q&A Session

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