AMD Ryzen 7 3700X & Ryzen 9 3900X Processor Review

Peter Donnell / 5 years ago

How Much Does it Cost?

We don’t have retail links at the time of writing, but will update them shortly after the review goes live. However, in the UK we are told to expect an MSRP of just £319.99 for the Ryzen 7 3700X and £479.99 for the Ryzen 9 3900X. For reference, the MSRP on the i9-9900K is still £499.99, albeit there are some nicely timed sales putting that at £478.60 right now.

Overview

Ryzen 1st Gen was an impressive step up for AMD. I myself rock the 1700X in my work/gaming PC to this day, and I’m very happy with it. Ryzen 2nd Gen was a nice step up, boosting the clock speeds and closed the gap with many similarly priced Intel parts. However, with 3rd Gen, AMD hasn’t just closed the gap for gaming performance, they’ve also managed to pull ahead of Intel in many key areas.

Performance

Both of these CPUs have their own strengths, but it’s important to mention that they share many of them too. The efficiency is incredible, not just in the sense “it’s good for AMD” but it’s good in the face of their rivals too. The temperatures are significantly improved as a result also, and now the rather hot running i9-9900K doesn’t seem so appealing in that regard. However, when it comes to gaming, both delivered very favourable results. Furthermore, when it comes to streaming, rendering video, editing, and daily PC usage, the Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 9 were smashing out numbers typically seen on the XE class Intel CPUs and Threadrippers. AMD really has created a gamer CPU and workhorse in one (or two) neat packages here.

Should I Buy One

I’m torn on which CPU is the best deal here. The Ryzen 7 3700X is the best all round for gaming I would think. It doesn’t run as hot, and it uses less power. However, 8 cores is more than enough for 99% of the PC gamers out there, and the performance and price are spot on. If you’re looking for an alternative to the i9-9900K or even a Threadripper class CPU, the Ryzen 9 has an impressive core count that gives you what you need for enthusiast level gaming with Intel beating performance when it comes to content creation, with lower power consumption, heat, and a very similar price.