Ryzen 7 7800X3D: 5 things you need to know about AMD’s gaming titan

Microsoft
By Microsoft 13 Min Read
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THE AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3DThe launch of at the end of February made one thing clear: the first of the 7000 series from Team Red 3D V-Cache processors they were game monsters. Their extra layer of spicy L3 cache supercharged their performance.

But the chip everyone was waiting for, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, was still a question mark. Held until its April 6 launch, the $450 CPU is the “affordable” option compared to the $699 7950X3D and $599 Ryzen 9 7900X3D, and one that many gamers have been eyeing with ready anticipation. We knew the technical details of the 7800X3D (which you can learn more about at our coverage on YouTube), but how it charted was a mystery.

Ryzen77800X3D

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Price at time of review: $449.99 Best Prices Today:

$449.99 on AMD

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$449.99 at B&H Photo

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$449.99 at Newegg

Now with this chip on the shelves, we finally know: Like its siblings, this processor is also a beast. In fact it’s the best CPU you can buy for gaming, if that’s all you’re into.

Of course, there’s more to this latest addition to the Ryzen 7000 lineup, as benchmarks from around the web show, and information can greatly influence whether the 7800X3D is right for you. Here’s what you need to know.

In games, it is found with top chips from Intel and AMD

origin 1The Ryzen 7 7800X3D can match the 7950X3D’s top-level performance in games, while still costing $250 less.

Adam Patrick Murray / IDG

Site after site, benchmarks show a similar result: The Ryzen 7 7800X3D far outperforms its weight class in gaming. Whether it is Tom’s hardware OR Tech Spot, this processor’s average performance in games puts it on par with its much more expensive sibling, the 7950X3D. And that’s a CPU that outperforms Intel’s top chips, like the Core i9-13900K.

Indeed, looking at the aggregate scores, the 7800X3D sometimes displaces the 7950X3D from first place. And for reviews where it’s not, you’ll usually find it in second place. Meanwhile, Intel’s $418 Core i7-13700K, its closest rival in terms of price, lags behind. Depending on the benchmarking suite (since reviewers don’t have full overlap in the games they test), the 7800X3D can average 6 to 13 percent more performance.

A similarly priced rival to the 7800X3D

Intel Core i7-13700K processor

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Price at time of review: $415 Best Prices Today:

$417.91 on Amazon

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$418 at Newegg

That said, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D doesn’t always top the charts in every single game. In titles better optimized for Intel processors, or those more affected by clock speed than cache size, the 7800X3D falls in the middle or even towards the bottom of the high-power processor package. If you start the same game every night (eg. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive) and expect the best frame rates from your system, you should review relevant test results to ensure this processor is a good match.

But it’s not so great at other tasks

origin 1The 7800X3D can handle multithreaded workloads, but not as well as powerful as the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X or Intel Core i9-13900K.

RockedBuzz via PC World

Throw games at the Ryzen 7 7800X3D and it will handle most games with aplomb. Even when it falls significantly behind the top performers, it records high frame rates. You’ll notice the differences even less at higher resolutions and/or graphics settings that shift more work to your graphics card– which can make its relatively cheaper price point even more enticing than other Ryzen 9 and 7 parts, as well as Intel Core i9 and i7 CPUs.

A graphics card worthy of being paired with the 7800x3d

GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition

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Read our review

Price at time of review: $1,599 Best Prices Today:

$1599.99 at Best Buy

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Not available on Amazon

However, with non-gaming tasks, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D’s results can’t be put into the same context. Either a chip is faster at encoding and rendering, or it isn’t. And for anything that depends heavily on CPU speed or core count, the 7800X3D lags behind. You can see that for yourself in the Cinebench R23 multicore results: Compared to the 13700K, AMD’s latest is 37% slower in TechSpot review. Other outlets have had similar results.

This behavior tracks what we saw in the first generation 3D V-Cache CPU, the equally fantastic Ryzen 7 5800X3D (the 7800X3D’s predecessor!), as was the 7950X3D when it was launched. None of these chips could work even with their X variant siblings (5800X, 7950X) in content creation tasks.

origin 1The 7950X3D and 7900X3D use two chiplets in their die, while the 7800X3D has only one chiplet. In dual-chiplet chips, one is geared towards higher clock speeds and the other is layered with extra L3 cache, a design that helps promote better performance across different workloads.

Adam Patrick Murray / IDG

But AMD’s two high-end Ryzen 7000 3D V-Cache processors can still push through heavy production workloads: they’re not incapable, just a little slower than the best CPUs in this regard. They’re suitable for gamers who also want high performance in all-core workloads, but not as much as someone whose top priority is work first, then play.

Meanwhile, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is first and foremost a gaming CPU. If you need a processor with smoother, more balanced performance across the board, a rival like Intel’s Core i7-13700K will be a more ideal choice. But if you care about gaming performance and can wait longer for the encoding to finish, this is your chip.

It is the most energy efficient gaming chip

origin 1The 7800X3D reduces power consumption while posting impressive benchmark results.

Jim Martin / Foundry

Graph after graph measuring power consumption, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D draws electricity much more modestly than similarly priced processors, and well below standard flagship CPUs from AMD and Intel.

The exception, of course, are other 3D V-Cache CPUs. These parts consume less power due to the lower voltages, which in turn reduce the amount of heat produced, a design choice necessary to mitigate the thermal consequences of having multiple stacked L3 caches.

With great power comes great bills

Core i9-13900K

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Price at time of review: $659.99 Best Prices Today:

$659.99 from Antonline

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$659.99 at B&H Photo

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$659.99 at Newegg

So sometimes you can see a benchmark result where the 7950X3D outperforms the more modest Ryzen 7 7800X3D. But overall, the 7800X3D pays a bill much softer than the 7950X and 13900K, which take no prisoners and make no apologies for gobbling up the watts. Its weaker production performance can be directly traced to the amount of energy it uses. Just take a look TechSpot review of electricity used while running a Blender render test. The 13700K is 44 percent faster, but it also consumes power 89 percent more power.

In gaming, the gap isn’t as large, but still noticeable: You’ll see 20 to 28 percent differences in power consumption versus chips like the 13700K and 13900K, often while the Ryzen 7 7800X3D outperforms them. And as you can imagine, using less energy not only translates into more savings on your bill, but also less heat to dissipate. TechSpot never saw the rise of the 7800X3D above 84 degrees Celsius during all-core workloads in Cinebench R23, or 66 degrees during the program’s single-core test.

You shouldn’t buy this instead of a more powerful GPU

origin 1Despite its lower price (compared to flagship CPUs), the 7800X3D pairs well with top-of-the-line gaming GPUs due to its outstanding performance.

Brad Chacos/IDG

The Ryzen 7 7800X3D is a ferocious chip, but you won’t benefit from it if it’s the most powerful component in your build. Unlike a processor that can also interrupt production work, its primary purpose is to keep your gaming rig running on all cylinders.

And in a gaming rig, you’ll be better served by skewing your budget more toward your GPU, rather than your CPU. Of course you don’t want your processor to bottleneck your graphics card, but if your CPU is more powerful than the GPU, you’re not getting the most out of your build.

Another high powered GPU to go with the 7800X3D

Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 7900 XT

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Read our review

Price at time of review: $899.99 Best Prices Today:

$869.99 at Newegg

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$895.00 on Amazon

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$899.99 at Micro Center

Given how much legs the Ryzen 7 7800X3D can stretch, it can confidently pair with the best video cards on the market, such as the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 or AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT. It’s the best gaming CPU for the high-end yet still price-conscious buyer, when you want the absolute best for the wide variety of games you play, without breaking the bank on performance for heavily threaded or performance-sensitive workloads. clock speeds you’ll never run.

So if you are deciding between a RTX 3060 it’s a RTX 3070 (OR Radeon RX 6800XT), the best graphics card, and a cheaper CPU (say $300) will give you better value for money. That doesn’t make the 7800X3D a bad choice—in fact, it’s better suited for higher-end gaming rigs where the CPU could be a potential bottleneck.

Intel still holds the lead on value

origin 1The $125+ DDR4 motherboard options for 13th Gen Intel parts versus the equivalent assortment of DDR5 mobo options. Right-click and choose “Open in new tab” to see each image full size.

Would-be Ryzen 7000 CPU buyers received welcome news this week: the launch of an affordable A620 chipset for AM5 motherboards. But even if you had to scrape that low to save a few bucks (perhaps to afford the 7800X3D, ill-advised as it is), the reality is you still can’t beat the savings you can get with an Intel chip. Not if you’re willing to switch to slower (and cheaper) memory.

AM5 motherboards – the only one motherboards compatible with Ryzen 7000—Supports DDR5 memory only. Prices have dropped for this faster RAM, but have yet to bottom out to match DDR4 memory prices. Meanwhile, DDR4 motherboards exist for Intel chips and are cheaper than DDR5 motherboards. So you’ll save on both mobo and memory with Intel.

Ryzen77800X3D

origin 1

Price at time of review: $449.99 Best Prices Today:

$449.99 on AMD

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$449.99 at B&H Photo

|

$449.99 at Newegg

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