AMD is making waves with its latest 3000-series Ryzen CPUs, which includes the 12-core, 24-thread Ryzen 9 3900X and eight-core, 16-thread Ryzen 7 3700X. Using AMD's much anticipated Zen 2 microarchitecture, these 7-nanometer chips are already proving to be worthy alternatives to Intel CPUs, which have dominated the desktop space in the last decade.
Our sister site Tom's Hardware did extensive testing on these two processors, running them through multiple benchmarks to determine how well they play modern games compared to the competition. If you want to learn more about the Ryzen 9 3900X and Ryzen 7 3700X, be sure to read the full report at Tom's Hardware for additional synthetic benchmarks and comparisons.
With a higher transistor density, these 3000-series chips have faster performance, better efficiency and more cores than Intel's stagnant offerings. They're also reasonably priced, at $499 for the Ryzen 9 3900X and $329 for the Ryzen 7 3700X, when you consider what they offer. But how do the Ryzen 9 3900X and Ryzen 7 3700X match up to Intel's best in real-world scenarios? Read on to find out.
Civilization VI
On the Civilization VI benchmark, the Ryzen 9 3900X averaged 142 frames per second, which falls short of only the overclocked Core i9-9900K (at 5GHz) and Core i7-9700K (at 5.1 GHz) CPUs. The Ryzen 7 3700X maintained 136 fps, which puts it just below the Core i9-9900K (141.9 fps) and Core i7-9700K (140.8 fps) CPUs but above the Core i9-7920X (122 fps).
Far Cry 5
The Ryzen chips didn't do quite as well on the Far Cry 5 benchmark but still crushed all but the top Intel CPUs. The 12-core Ryzen 9 3900X ran this action-adventure game at 115 frames per second at 1080p, Ultra graphics settings. The Intel Core i9-9900K (134.5 fps) and Core i7-9700K (130 fps) did notably better while the Ryzen 7 3700X (114 fps) dropped just a frame below its bigger, beastlier brother. The new 3000-series chips crushed the older Ryzen 7 2700X (96 fps) and Ryzen Threadripper 2920X (97.4 fps).
Grand Theft Auto V
The new Ryzen chips were, once again, hot on Intel's heels in the GTA V (1080p at Ultra settings) benchmark. The Ryzen 9 3900X played the popular open-world title at a smooth 160 fps, which narrowly fails to match the Core i7-9700K (161 fps) and Core i9-9900K CPUs (165 fps). The Ryzen 7 3700X (156 fps) easily topped its predecessor, the Ryzen 7 2700X (130 fps), and even edged out the Core i9-9720X (143 fps).
Microsoft Office
Shifting from gaming to productivity, the new Ryzen chips scored some huge wins in several benchmarks Tom's Hardware ran. That includes PCMark 10's new Microsoft Office test, which cycles through different Office applications.
As you can see, the Ryzen 9 3900X (18,803) topped the charts on the Excel test while the Ryzen 7 3700X (16,616) landed firmly ahead of the Core i7-9700K (15,497). AMD did similarly well on the Microsoft Word benchmark, with the Ryzen 9 3900X (11,211) nearly matching the Core i9-9900K (11,288) and trouncing the Core i7-9700K (10,831). The Ryzen 7 3700X (10,949) slotted in just below its 12-core sibling with a more-than-respectable score.
Web Browsing
In the Kraken web browser test, which measures JavaScript performance, the Ryzen 9 3900X (688.6 milliseconds) topped the Core i9-9900K (726.4ms) and Core i7-9700K (727.3ms). Interestingly, the Ryzen 7 3700X (685.6ms) did even better on this test, and even put up a fight against Intel's overlocked CPUs. This shows just how far AMD has come since the Ryzen 7 2700X (773.5ms) and the Ryzen Threadripper 2920X (795ms).
Bottom Line
The Ryzen 9 3900X and Ryzen 7 3700X represent a massive leap forward for AMD, not just in terms of their underlying technology, but also the raw power they offer. While they still fall short of comparable Intel chips in most gaming benchmarks, the new Ryzen 9 and Ryzen 7 outperform the Core i7 and Core i9 in many productivity tests and offer much better performance than their predecessors.
If you need to run demanding programs, then 12-core, 24-thread Ryzen 9 3900X is a good option, although the eight-core, 16-thread Ryzen 7 3700X will get you nearly the same performance at a much lower price.
