The Ryzen 7 3700X is one of the most exciting processors that AMD has released this summer. It is an eight-core processor with sixteen threads that run at a high base clock of 3.6 GHz and a high boost clock of 4.4 GHz. It is built using a 7 nm process and uses a new architecture that helps it deliver a lot more performance than the previous generations of Ryzen processors. The 3700X is also the CPU you may want if you are a gamer, as its single-core performance is top-notch. Considering the price that AMD set for it, this is also one of the main competitors to Intel's lineup, and one that could change the market:

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X: Who is it good for?

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is the right choice if you:

• Want one of the best desktop processors available
• Are a gamer and want a processor that can handle any game, regardless of how demanding it is
• You want top-notch performance for any situation, and prefer to pay for a processor with an excellent price per core performance ratio

Pros and cons

There are a lot of positives about the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X:

• It is fast and its single-core performance beats many of Intel's similar processors
• It is an excellent choice for gaming, and also for productivity
• It has 8 cores and 16 threads, making it a powerhouse when it comes to multi-threading computing power
• It is built on a 7-nanometer manufacturing process and uses the latest architecture from AMD
• Its 3.6 GHz base clock and 4.6 GHz turbo frequency are high
• It is unlocked so that you can easily overclock it
• It supports PCI Express 4 and high-speed DDR4 memory
• It has low power consumption and stays cool at all times, using nothing more than the stock Wraith Prism with RGB LED cooler
• It has a better price than its competition from Intel

We did not find any negatives about the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, which is great.

Verdict

We fell in love with the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X. It had excellent results in all the games and the benchmarks that we ran, and the overall performance it offers is hard to match by similar products from Intel. Its price per core speed is exactly on the sweet spot, better than that of any other competing processors. If you are a gamer and want one of the best processors for gaming, stop hesitating and buy the Ryzen 7 3700X. If you are not a gamer, but you still want a top-notch processor that runs all kinds of productivity tasks well, you too should buy the Ryzen 7 3700X. We highly recommend it to all our readers.

Unboxing the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X

AMD's Ryzen 7 3700X processor arrives in a large box made of regular cardboard. The package is fairly large and it also bundles a Wraith Prism cooler. On the outside, the box uses a lot of gray and orange colors and features some information about the processor inside.

Opening the box reveals its contents: the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X processor, the Wraith Prism with RGB LED cooler and its cables, the warranty card, and the installation instructions, and a Ryzen 7 sticker.

The unboxing experience is neat. The best thing in the box, besides the processor :), is the Wraith Prism cooler with RGB LED, which many users will use and enjoy.

Hardware specifications

Just like its big brother, the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X, the Ryzen 7 3700X is also part of the third generation of Ryzen processors. The 3000 Ryzen CPUs, codenamed Matisse, are built on a 7-nanometer manufacturing process and a new architecture, which makes them faster and less power consuming than previous Ryzen generations.

AMD's Ryzen 7 3700X is sold at about 330 USD and offers 8 physical cores and 16 threads. Its standard frequency is 3600 MHz, and its turbo speed is 4.4 GHz. Also, it has an L2 cache of 4MB and an L3 cache of 32MB. Because of its high base and turbo clocks, the Ryzen 7 3700X should be a great choice for gamers, who need a considerable amount of single-core performance.

Another great thing about the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is the low power consumption. According to AMD, it's rated at a TDP of only 65 watts, which is quite amazing considering the 8 cores and their speed. That also means that the stock Wraith Prism cooler should be more than enough to keep the processor cool in all situations. Take a look at the picture below to glimpse at what the Wraith Prism cooler looks like. For a stock cooler it is quite beautiful, wouldn't you say?

The Ryzen 7 3700X works only with DDR4 memory. It supports dual-channel configurations and standard speeds of 3200 MHz. To achieve the best price to performance ratio, AMD recommends using DDR4-3600 CL16 memory for the Ryzen 7 3700X, as well as for the Ryzen 3600, 3800X, and 3900X.

Finally, we would also like to mention that the 3700X, as well as all the other Ryzen 3000 processors, work on Socket AM4, and are designed to be used on X570 chipset motherboards. That's because X570 supports PCI Express 4.0, and so do the Ryzen 3000s processors. However, all of them should also work on older motherboards that use 300 or 400 chipsets, if you first update the BIOS.

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is one of the fastest desktop processors on the market right now. It features high standard and turbo clock speeds, and comes with 8 cores / 16 threads, which is the sweet spot for gamers. Let's see if that is true.

Performance in benchmarks and games

We tested the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X processor on a test computer with the following hardware and software:

• Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 AORUS MASTER
• Memory: G.Skill Trident Z Royal Memory (2 x 8GB, 3600MHz, PC4-28800)
• Graphics Card: ASUS ROG STRIX GTX 1660 Ti GAMING OC
• Storage: AORUS NVMe Gen4 2TB Solid State Drive
• Monitor: ASUS ROG Strix XG32VQ Curved Gaming Monitor (32-inch WQHD 2560 x 1440, 144Hz)
• Power Supply Unit: ASUS ROG Thor 850W Platinum
• Operating System: Windows 10 Pro x64 with May 2019 Update

To get a better idea of what the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X has to offer, we chose to compare it with the even more powerful Ryzen 9 3900X, and with the older AMD Ryzen 7 2700 processor.

We started with Cinebench R20, which benchmarks the processor and shows the performance of the CPU when it has to render a specific scene. Using the multi-thread test, the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X was 45% faster than the older Ryzen 7 2700, and 45% slower than the 3900X. However, we have to take into consideration that this is a multi-threading benchmark and the 3700X has 8 cores and 16 threads, while the 3900X has 12 cores and 24 threads. The number of additional cores shows its power here.

In the Single Thread benchmark from CPU-Z, we saw an almost identical score between the 3700X and the 3900X, which shows that the single-core performance between the two is similar. That is great news for gamers. We also witnessed an almost 40% increase compared to the Ryzen 7 2700. Furthermore, the Intel i9-9900K processor is just 8.5% faster than the 3900X.

In CPU-Z's Multi-Thread test, the 3700X was 35% better than the 2700 and 31% slower than the 3900X. Compared to the Intel i9-9900K, it is 27% faster, which is amazing!

Blender Benchmark uses the processor to render two scenes, bmw27, and classroom and outputs the time required to finalize them. The quicker, the better. AMD Ryzen 7 3700X did it in 16.8 minutes, which is 23% less than the Ryzen 7 2700.

In PCMark 10, which puts a score on the performance in usual activities such as web browsing, video conferencing, apps start-up times, productivity, and digital content creation, the Ryzen 7 3700X got a score of 6608. It is almost the same as the Ryzen 9 3900X, and much better than what we got from the Ryzen 7 2700 (about 21 percent).

7-Zip is a popular file compression software. It also happens to offer a benchmark that gives us a fairly accurate image of the processor's performance. On our test computer, the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X had a compressing speed of 57 MB/s. It is much higher than the speed of the Ryzen 7 2700, but also visibly slower than the Ryzen 9 3900X, which has 4 more cores and 8 more threads.

7-Zip also measured a decompressing speed of 1038 MB/s with the Ryzen 7 3700X. It is a 36% increase from the Ryzen 7 2700, which is a lot!

JetStream 2 uses JavaScript and WebAssembly to measure the performance of your computer when browsing the web. The Ryzen 7 3700X obtained a slightly better score even than the 3900X, although that's probably only by chance. There is, however, an improvement of over 30% compared to the previous generation Ryzen 7 2700.

Then, we moved on to see what the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X offers to gamers. We wanted to avoid any possible video bottlenecks, so we set all the games to use a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and the lowest graphics quality possible.

Among other things, the benchmarking tool from Shadow of the Tomb Raider also measures the frames per second rendered by the processor. They were similar to that of the Ryzen 3900X, and an increase of more than 32% from the FPS that we measured with the AMD Ryzen 7 2700.

In Metro Exodus, we got one frame more with the Ryzen 7 3700X compared to the Ryzen 9 3900X, confirming that this is a great processor for gaming. 🙂

In World War Z, we got 244 frames per second, one frame per second less that we did with the Ryzen 9 3900X. The Ryzen 7 2700 is 47 frames behind, a significant margin that shows a great improvement between the second and the third generation of Ryzen processors.

As for the temperatures reached by the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, we checked them with HWiNFO while running Prime95 to stress the processor. Obviously, we used the stock Wraith Prism with RGB LED cooler that AMD bundles with the CPU. The Ryzen 7 3700X reached a maximum temperature of 68.3 degrees Celsius (155 degrees Fahrenheit). It is an excellent result!

HWiNFO also told us that the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X never needed more than 67 Watts. Neither the Ryzen 7 2700 from the previous generation nor the higher-end Ryzen 9 3900X can brag about such a small power consumption. Intel's similar processors can't brag about that.

At the end of our tests and benchmarks, our conclusion is that the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is one of the best desktop processors for gamers and PC enthusiasts. Unless Intel drops its prices significantly, the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is going to win and dominate the mainstream market, and the gaming niche especially.

What is your opinion about the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X?

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is an excellent choice for anyone who wants top-notch performance at the right price, and it is one of the best processors for those of us who are also gamers. Before you close this review, tell us what you think about Ryzen 7 3700X and whether you are considering buying it. Comment below and let's discuss.