The wait is finally over. After nearly a week, we finally got our hands on the Ryzen 7 9700X. AMD officially launched both the 9600X and 9700X last week. While stock was abundant in the US, availability in the UK was much more limited. Nevertheless, there’s a lot to dive into, so let’s not focus too much on Zen 5’s delayed arrival.

The 9700X is the successor to the Ryzen 7 7700X, which we’ve reviewed before. This segment of the market is highly competitive. The 9700X isn’t at the low end, but it’s not among the top performers either. In this range, price-to-performance becomes critical. So, can Zen 5 deliver significant improvements over Zen 4? What exactly has changed? Let’s find out.

The CPU configuration is largely unchanged; the 9700X still features 8 cores and 32 MB of L3 cache, just like the 7700X. However, what sets it apart is the improved Zen 5 cores, which are significantly more efficient, with AMD claiming a 16% increase in IPC compared to the previous generation.

 

First and foremost, let’s talk about power efficiency. The Ryzen 9700X (spoiler alert) significantly outperforms the 7700X while using considerably less power. Impressive, right? This improvement is largely due to the enhanced Zen 5 CPU cores, which pack more transistors than ever before, delivering better performance while drawing less power.

Due to this improved power efficiency, you might notice that the base clock speeds are significantly lower compared to the 7700X—quite a bit lower, actually. However, the boost speeds do get a slight increase (pun intended) over the 7700X.

Structurally, the 9000 series remains similar to the 7700X, with two CCDs and the same IHS. It seems AMD is sticking with the same IHS across all AM5 CPUs to maintain cooler compatibility, a feature carried over from Zen 3.

AMD touted a 16% IPC uplift in their Zen 5 promotional materials, which is even more substantial than the 14% jump from Zen 3 to Zen 4—a difference that felt like night and day. Once again, we’ll have to see if AMD’s claims hold up.

Performance

Before diving into the performance of the Ryzen 9000 CPU, it’s important to outline the system components used during testing. This context will help us better assess and understand the CPU’s performance within the broader setup.

Component	Name
GPU	RTX 4070 Ti Super
Memory	Corsair Vengeance DDR5 @ 6400MHz
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Crosshair Extreme X670
CPU cooler	Corsair Elite LCD Capellix 360MM
Power supply	ASUS ROG Thor 1000W

 

AMD Test Bench Components

As you can see, we spared no expense in assembling a system to benchmark AMD’s new Zen 5 CPUs. For frame rendering, we even opted for an RTX 4070 Ti. However, our synthetic benchmarks focus primarily on CPU performance, so the GPU plays a minimal role in these tests. It’s during the gameplay portion that the GPU becomes relevant.

We run a range of popular synthetic benchmarks to provide comparable results for our CPUs. This allows you to easily compare the performance of a CPU you might already own or one you’re considering purchasing. Our synthetic tests cover everything from photo editing to file compression. So, how did the 9700X perform in our benchmarks?

Benchmark	Score
CPU Z Single	856 points
CPU Z Multi	8,199 points
Cinebench R23 Single	2,207 points
Cinebench R23 Multi	20,184 points
Geekbench Single	3,376 points
Geekbench Multi	17,290 points
Puget Systems photoshop	N/A
Blender render	Monster 128.15 SPM Junkshop 93.95 SPM Classroom 64.54 SPM
7 Zip Compression: 32MB (10 passes)	44.547s
Handbrake TOS 4K Fast 1080P encode	Average Speed: 86.2 FPS Encode Time: 3:26

 

Looking at the results, the 9700X performed reasonably well on its own. The general takeaway is that it shows a noticeable improvement in single-core tasks and a slight edge in multi-core workloads. Now, let’s compare the 9700X directly with the 7700X to see how they stack up side-by-side.

Benchmark	9700X Score	7700X Score
CPU Z Single	856 points	772 points
CPU Z Multi	8,199 points	7,983 points
Cinebench R23 Single	2,207 points	1,995 points
Cinebench R23 Multi	20,184 points	19,650 points
Geekbench Single	3,376 points	3,043 points
Geekbench Multi	17,290 points	15,989 points
Puget Systems photoshop	N/A	9,033 points
Blender render	Monster 128.15 SPM Junkshop 93.95 SPM Classroom 64.54 SPM	Monster 126.01 SPM Junkshop: 87.84 SPM Classroom 65.30 SPM
7 Zip Compression: 32MB (10 passes)	44.54s	44.657s
Handbrake TOS 4K Fast 1080P encode	Average Speed: 86.2 FPS Encode Time: 3:26	Average Speed: 87.37 FPS Encode Time: 3:26

9700X vs 7700X Pc Guide testing

The results are different enough in the 9700X’s favor when you take a glance, however, you’ll notice that the CPUs are similar when you take a closer look. Some results back up AMD’s claims of higher IPC, which will be a pretty decent increase in performance during single-core workloads. However, the multi-core workloads do not reflect the level of increase we thought they would.

Take all the single-core benchmarks from the 9000 series; for example, we have CPU-Z at 856 points, CB R32 at 2,207 points, and Geekbench at 3,376 points. If you then compare those with the results of the 7700X, you get 772 points, 1,995 points, and 3,043 points. The performance increase is apparent but isn’t as present in multi-core workloads. The 7700X managed to beat the 9700X by a hair in a couple of benchmarks; those will be the Blender Classroom and the Handbrake Test.

If we take into account the fact that the Zen 5 CPU consumes 40W less power than its predecessor, it all starts to make a little more sense. Power efficiency seems to be a high priority at AMD HQ, and it’s another way to keep its chips relevant over Intel’s performance prowess. Intel may have snatched the multi-core performance crown over the last few generations, but it’s at the cost of some serious power.

 

 

Alternatives to the 9700X

Here we have some alternative options to the 9700X, in case it doesn’t quite tickle your fancy. The 7800X3D is a great way to go if you want fantastic gaming performance for the same price. You could always opt to save money and go for the 7700X too, if you want to stay on Team Red and the same platform.