Ryzen 7 vs Ryzen 9: Comparing AMD's Processors
Your processor is one of the most essential elements in any PC build, so you don’t want to cut corners. Fortunately, the tech sector's top companies have your back.
AMD is one of the best companies for PC parts, period. They are especially well-known for the AMD Ryzen line of processors.
The Ryzen 3 and Ryzen 5 form both budget and mid-range options for gamers wanting to upgrade their PCs. For peak performance, there’s the Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 9. These two chipsets mark the premium options for any interested gamer.
Right now, AMD is an essential company to watch, as their expertise just continues to grow. Their forthcoming 7000 series of chips are set to use the new Zen 4 architecture. Depending on how it turns out, AMD may have a new stranglehold on the market. Until Zen 4 arrives, however, we have the 3000 and 5000-series chips to focus on.
Below, we’re going to compare these sets in both price and specs. Once the comparison has been made, we’ll unveil which offerings from the chipsets earn our greatest admiration.
We will be mainly comparing the models from the 5000 series, as they are the newest PC GPUs from AMD.
Why Should I Choose AMD?
AMD is a consistently high-performing tech brand, especially known for producing computer parts. It’s a long-lived company, having just celebrated its fifty-year anniversary. It’s best known for its line Ryzen of processors and its Radeon line of graphics cards.
AMD’s primary rivals are Nvidia’s Geforce and Intel’s integrated graphics that make processors effective out of the box. Because of limited motherboard slots, new PC builders often have to make a decision on which brand to choose.
Many articles will compare the primary brands’ offerings, arguing which is better. Here, we are pitting AMD vs AMD.
Before we do that, we should first highlight the purpose that each line serves. AMD firmly denotes the purpose behind each line in every chipset.
The Ryzen 5 chips are for mainstream use. They won’t run the best games at the highest quality, but they will get the job done. They are for casual users who may also enjoy playing indie games.
Ryzen 7 chips are labeled “performance” and are made for gamers. They are designed to handle anything modern games require. For all but the most demanding scenarios, these will work perfectly.
Ryzen 9 chips are designed for true enthusiasts. These chips are for players who don’t simply want their build to be good or effective. They make your PC the absolute strongest it can be.
Beyond this level, there are also processors made for workstation PCs. These are best for editing and rendering computers, where performing complex tasks is a necessity.
As the underdog in this scenario, we are going to begin covering the Ryzen 7 chips.
With this information under our belts, the battle of the chipsets can finally begin.
Ryzen 7
The Ryzen 7 is a powerful option for serious gamers. They don’t have the power of the 9, but their specs generally prepare them for anything they may encounter. They are comparable to the Intel Core i7 chips.
Of the 3000 series, the AMD Ryzen 7 3700x is a standout offering. At launch, it had a price point of $329. This has dipped to around $300, in part due to its modern competitiveness and a general shortage of GPUs.
To begin, this graphics card contains 8 cores for a total of 16 threads. It also features an impressive 32MB L3 cache. It starts at a base clock speed of 3.6 GHz. It then caps out at a boost clock speed of over 4GHz. The power usage is significantly less than other GPUs of its generation with a TDP of 65W.
On paper, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800x has some similar specs with a higher retail price of $449. A similar number of cores and base and boost clock speed makes this the successor to the 3700x.
What makes this newer generation of chips special is that it runs on Zen 3 architecture. This results in faster and more effective, well, everything.
Like the 3000 series, the 5000 series runs on DDR4. It is anticipated that the forthcoming Zen 4 chips will finally integrate ddr5 for even faster RAM.
The Ryzen 7 5800x also has 24 PCIe 4.0 lanes. These in tandem with Zen 3 architecture lead to massively improved benchmarks across the board. In single, dual, quad, and octa-core speed, the Ryzen 7 5800x is the clear winner.
We’re not saying this card is the clear victor overall. Even the best of the Ryzen 7 graphics cards still have to compete with what Ryzen 9 has to offer.
Ryzen 9
In the spirit of fairness, we’re going to highlight the Ryzen 9 in the same way we highlighted the Ryzen 7.
First, we’ll showcase a Ryzen 9 3000 graphics card, then follow it with a Ryzen 9 5000 card. Once this happens, we’ll be able to judge the true victor of the AMD graphics cards.
We’ll begin with the Ryzen 9 3900x. This card features 12 cores for a total of 24 threads. It has similar L1 and L2 cache sizes but is highlighted by a massive 64MB L3 cache. It features the older Zen 2 architecture, however, and has a higher TDP at 105W.
Even at that point, it avoids the overheating issues that plague the core i9-12900k processors when running lots of apps at once.
If buying it new, the Ryzen 9 3900x’s price point widely vacillates, with the average price being in the upper 300 dollars. This is a problem, given its benchmarks. It soundly beat its comparable Ryzen 7 3000 competitor but fails to meet its Ryzen 7 5000 model. The two are close enough in price that you might as well buy the newer card.
Thankfully, the Ryzen 9 5950x — the follow-up to the Ryzen 9 5900x — presents an absolutely incomparable CPU. It features 16 cores, enabling it to handle the most complex workloads of AMD’s non-workstation processors. It features the same 64MB L3 cache, as well as a boost clock reaching 4.9 GHz.
It is the undisputed best of the Ryzen 9 5000 series, possibly even outperforming the Intel Core i9. For a high-end processor with superior multi-core performance, this is the choice. But is this excellence enough to justify a higher price point?
Below, we offer our final verdict.
How Do These Cards Stack Up?
For the sake of comparison, we are going to examine the Ryzen 7 5800x and the Ryzen 9 5950x. These two are interesting due to three characteristics: Retail price, core count, and clock speed.
The Ryzen 7 actually has a higher base clock than the Ryzen 9. Boosted, there is no comparison between the two because of the Ryzen 9’s gaming performance. The increased core count would allow you to perform more complex tasks than most gaming PCs, especially when boosted. However, this does come at the cost of power consumption.
Cost is also the elephant in the room when it comes to comparing these two. When the Ryzen 9 5950x debuted, it retailed at $799.
Looking online, most now sell for around $550 new, but that still creates a significant hike. Compare it to the Ryzen 7 5800, which can be found online for around $300.
Unless money is no object, the benefits of the Ryzen 9 5950x don’t outweigh the $ 250-dollar premium price. It likely won’t make a life-changing alteration to your frame rates or performance.
If you are building your own PC and want ultra FPS, max bandwidth, and supreme overclocking power — which we provide guides for — every dollar matters. That $250 can be money saved, or better used to improve your RAM or processor.
In hindsight, the biggest difference between the four processors we’ve examined today is not in Ryzen 7 vs Ryzen 9. The greatest change in quality and power comes with new generations of chips. When the Ryzen 7000 chipset releases, it’ll be time to once again re-examine whether it’s time for an upgrade.
Until then, for a pure balance of budget and power, we declare the Ryzen 7 5800x to be the best. AMD consistently brings their best to their designs, and this one is no exception.
Making the Most of Your Build
The CPU in your build is one of the most important pieces to choose. Taken together with the GPU and RAM, it drastically impacts everything you do, from surfing the web to playing games. Part of finding the best processor is finding both specs — and justifying the cost.
The “best” processors in terms of performance are not the most cost-efficient. Otherwise, there’s no way a Ryzen 7 would be our crowning champion. Because they are still a high-quality performance chip, they remain impressive regardless.
At WTFast, we know the importance of efficiency. Every component in your build and your connection matters. That’s why we bring essential comparison guides and route optimizers to gamers everywhere — consider us your gaming secret weapon.
Sources:
AMD Ryzen 7000 Series Release Date, Pricing and Spec Rumors | Tech Advisor
