Ryzen 7 3700X

The 3700X is a $320 USD 8-core, 16-thread mid-range Ryzen 3000 series CPU. Out of the box, the 3700X, 3600X and 3600 achieve similar quad core speeds but the 16 threaded 3700X is 30% faster at multi-core computations than the 12 threaded 3600X. Comparing the 3700X to Intel’s i7-9700K shows that, when overclocked, the 3700X is 26% faster at 64-core computations but 13% slower for gaming and desktop (sub eight core performance). Unlike lower end Ryzen 3000 SKUs, the 3700X comes with a half decent cooler but AMD should not have bothered since a $20 aftermarket cooler is still quieter, easier to change, and better at cooling. With a Gammaxx 400 cooler we were able to maintain a 43.25x OC during our EFps tests. We had to use a fixed clock OC (rather than Offset/PBO) to avoid significant frame drops in Fortnite. With strong single-core scores, the 3700X should offer very strong gaming performance but in reality it is let down by its memory controller, which, although significantly improved over previous Ryzen iterations, still has limited bandwidth and high latency. The heavily hyped 3700X, paired with a 2060S, offers real world gaming performance comparable to the $80 USD entry level 4-core, 4-thread Intel Core i3-9100F. At $320 USD, the 3700X offers reasonable value to full time media encoders but general desktop users, gamers and even streamers should look elsewhere. Streaming with dedicated hardware such as NVENC or a separate stream PC will nearly always result in fewer dropped frames. The 3700X severely bottlenecks a 2070S: gamers should investigate the 9600K, which is both cheaper and faster. ^{[Jul '19 CPUPro]}