AMD Ryzen 7000 Launch Impresses by (Basically) Doing What Intel Does, But Better

Late last night, well, technically very early this morning, AMD officially announced the launch of its brand new Ryzen 7000 processors. – Given that the event happened at midnight UK time, however, I daresay that very few of you decided to actually stay up and watch it (and even less of you in Europe who live in the metaphorical future!).

I did because such things are part of my job, but all I can say is that based on what was revealed, it was very much worth it as AMD has massively impressed me by, basically, doing what Intel does, but better! – Controversial statement for sure, but let’s take a brief look at the details revealed to see how I’ve come to that opinion!

AMD Ryzen 7000

Before I start, I’ve embedded the video for you above and with it just a little over 30 minutes long, I openly welcome you to watch it and draw your own opinions. I make very little secret of the fact that I’ve been a huge supporter of AMD ever since the original launch of Ryzen back in 2017. – Don’t let that fool you into thinking I wear blinkers though. – For my next system purchase, until this Ryzen 7000 launch, I was 80% likely going down the Intel road.

In this regard though, Ryzen 7000 definitely seems to be representing a brand new dawn for Team Red.

Getting some of the key performance figures out of the way, AMD has suggested that when compared to the Ryzen 5000 series, Ryzen 7000 will typically see a 13% increase in IPC (think of this, somewhat crudely, as typical generic generation on-generation operational gains) and in terms of single-core/thread, AMD has said that consumers can expect a pretty whopping 29% gain!

Touching on the point I made earlier about Intel, however, a key focus on Ryzen 7000 undoubtedly seems to be on significantly higher clock speeds. With the 7950X boasting a boost speed of up to 5.7GHz, this really gets them back on par with Intel in an area that AMD had arguably been lacking in recent years.

Of course, a lot of focus has been placed on their flagship 7950X processor, and rightly so. While we’ll get onto specifications shortly, based on the comparative performance of the 7950X against the 5950X, the gains offered here are significantly greater than you might anticipate from a single generational leap.

With that being said though, Ryzen 7000 isn’t just a new series of processors. It’s a new AM5 LGA1718 socket based on its latest Zen4 architecture. There’s a lot of ‘new’ going on here, not to mention DDR5 memory, that AMD has clearly taken excellent use of!

Even the 7600X looks exceptionally impressive with AMD suggesting that it’ll, at the very least, hold par with the Intel i9-12900K. – And given that the X600X is usually the most popular among prior Ryzen generations, the 7600X certainly seems well placed to keep that tradition going!

Specifications and Prices!

With significantly greater performance, AMD has clearly had to plump for notably higher TDPs when compared to prior Ryzen releases. In fact, with the 7600X coming with a TDP of 105W, this is 40W higher than seen on the 5600X. And remember, AMD usually plays a little ‘looser’ to TDP figures than Intel meaning that under full load, the chances are that the actual number for those top-tier models will probably be closer to 200W at full 100% pelt!

Any way you look at this though, while AMD Ryzen 7000 will continue to support AM4 coolers, something more significant or beefy might be necessary should you be planning to reutilise your existing solution. – Put simply, I don’t expect entry-level cooling solutions to be entirely ideal here as, with more power, this will undoubtedly, if not certain, result in higher comparative operational temperatures.

In terms of prices, however, these are pretty much entirely in line with the leak we saw yesterday with the only (good) exception being that the 7950X has come in $100 cheaper at $699. – And let’s be honest, at $299, that 7600X, if it does indeed hold par with the Intel i9-12900K, is going to be an incredibly tempting proposition! – The only downside is that with the added cost of DDR5 memory and a new AM5 motherboard, the chances are that the processor itself will be the least of your financial problems should you choose to be an early adopter.

Getting back to the performance though, yes, we know, the figures here provided by AMD will, of course, be skewed in Team Red’s favour wherever possible. Overall though, as noted right at the start, Ryzen 7000 has undoubtedly had an impressive launch and in terms of the design, AMD seems to effectively be doing what Intel has done over their last few generations, but better. And thank the lord for that long-overdue transition to an LGA socket!

Overall, I’m impressed. Ryzen 7000 is looking even better than I had initially thought it would. It will, however, be interesting to see how Intel responds with Rocket Lake next month. – Oh, and yes, for those of you who did notice, AMD will be releasing Ryzen 7000 on the same day Intel launches Raptor Lake… oof!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!