Ryzen 7 9700X vs Ryzen 7 7700X: Our Recommendation

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Shehryar Khan

Senior Editor and Content Writer:

• Lead the comparison and blog writing teams at Tech4Gamers.
• Oversee teams with a keen eye for detail and precision.
• Ensure hands-on writing, with benchmarks and testing as guiding principles.
• Guarantee the delivery of the best possible results in concise yet impactful tech tales.

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Pros And Cons 

Comparison Table

Architectural Differences

1. Core Count: Both the Ryzen 7 9700X and the Ryzen 7 7700X have 8 cores, for a total of 16 threads. AMD’s lineup lacks the efficiency cores the rest of the market has swerved to.
2. Clock Speed: The 7700X had a higher boase clock of 4.5GHz over the 9700X’s 3.8GHz base clock, while the 9700X has a higher boost clock of 5.5GHz compared to the 7700X’s 5.4GHz boost.
3. Process Node: The Ryzen 7 9700X has a 4nm manufacturing process, down from the 5nm process of the Ryzen 7 7700X. This boosts efficiency.
4. TDP: Very surprisingly, the PL2 TDP of the Ryzen 7 9700X is 88 watts, down from 142 watts of the 7700X, promising much better power management.
5. Platform: Both processors use the same AM5 platform, allowing for a drop-in upgrade to go from a 7700X to a 9700X.

Editor`s Note

The reason why we’ve seen smaller and smaller reductions in process nodes is that transistors can’t get much smaller than what they are already while having the ability to stop electrons from flowing through them in an off-state!

– Shehryar Khan

AMD recently released its much-anticipated Zen 5 processors, which offer a lot of power in an efficient manner. To see if this increase in performance is more gradual or monumental, we pinned the Ryzen 7 9700X vs Ryzen 7 7700X to see just how much AMD has improved!

Gaming Benchmarks – 1080p

To keep to the namesake of our website, we have to get to the gaming after talking about the tech, but first, a brief overview of the components we used to test these processors with:

Test Bench

• OS – Windows 11 
  
• CPU Cooler – Cooler Master MasterLiquid Lite ML240L RGB
• Graphics Card – GIGABYTE RTX 4090 Gaming OC 24G
• SSD – XPG Gammix S70 Blade 2TB NVMe
• Power Supply – ENERMAX REVOLUTION D.F. X 1050W
• GPU –GIGABYTE RTX 4090 Gaming OC 24G

God Of War

• Starting with GoW, the Zen 5, our processors managed an impressive 8% leap in performance with an average performance of 271 FPS, while the 7700X had an average framerate of around 251 FPS.
• The 1% lows were in stronger competition, with the newer processor being only 5% faster, with its lows of 168 FPS against the 7700X’s 160 FPS.

Forza Horizon 5

• We saw only one frame of difference in Forza, with the 9700X having an average of 285 FPS, while the 7700X got, you guessed it, 284 FPS.
• The lows showed a bit larger of a difference, with the 9700X hovering around 191 FPS, while the 7700X was around 1.6% behind with a framerate of 188 FPS.

Shadow Of The Tomb Raider

• SoTR also ran flawlessly on both chips, though the Ryzen 7 9700X had a framerate of around 266 FPS, 3.9% higher than the 256 FPS average of the 7700X.
• Coming to the minimum framerates, the 9700X hung around 150 FPS, while the 7700X was only 1.3% behind with a framerate of 148 FPS, according to our tests.

Rainbow Six Seige

• Rainbow Six Seige performed well on both these chips, with the 9700X achieving an average framerate of 645 FPS, around 15% higher than the 7700X’s 560 FPS.
• The Zen 5 processor had a 14% lead in its 1% lows in our tests, with minimums of around 371 FPS, whereas the 7700X had lows closer to 326 FPS.

Cyberpunk 2077

• Finally, Cyberpunk showed a small difference in framerate, with the 9700X hovering around 216 FPS on average, while the 7700X hung closer to around 214 FPS.
• The minimum framerates showed a difference of around 3.7%, with the 9700X hovering around 139 FPS, while the 7700X managed around 134 FPS in the tests.

Overall Gaming Performance

Average Framerate

The Ryzen 7 9700X vs Ryzen 7 7700X comparison was neck and neck at points between these two CPUs, but the Zen 5 processor came out victorious with a 7.5% lead in average framerates across the five games that we tested.

1% Lows

The dips in performance were a tad bit closer than the difference in the average framerates, with the 9700X being in the lead by around 6.6%. These chips could play all the games we threw at them flawlessly at 1080p, so the slightly lower lows were not very noticeable.

Though this difference is not groundbreaking, it is not insignificant either. AMD has made significant improvements to its processors to reach this point.

Power

We saw a 9% power reduction in the total system power, going from the Ryzen 7 7700X to the 9700X. This figure, coupled with the 7.5% higher performance on average, makes the 9700X around 13% more efficient than the 7700X.

Temperature

The 9700X pumped out 11.6% more heat in our testing, which is kind of weird considering its lower power consumption. Even though the temperatures on this chip were considerably higher, they were nowhere near concerning.

Price And Availability 

The 9700X launched at a lower price than its last-gen counterpart. Still, the 7700X’s price degradation makes it quite a bit cheaper than the 9700X. If you’re getting both new, the 9700X seems harder to sell.

What We Recommend

Ryzen 7 9700X: With the slightly lower power consumption coupled with the slightly higher performance of this chip, the 9000 series from Ryzen has shaped up to be a decent upgrade from last gen. 

Ryzen 7 7700X: The older chip held up great in our testing, with it being more or less neck and neck in terms of performance. That and its lower price tag make it a great deal for mid-range gaming.

Overall, the Ryzen 7 9700X is a good upgrade from its last generation counterpart, but the improvement in performance does not justify an immediate upgrade, at least not at the time of writing this article.

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Shehryar Khan

[Comparisons Expert]

Shehryar Khan, a seasoned PC hardware expert, brings over three years of extensive experience and a deep passion for the world of technology. With a love for building PCs and a genuine enthusiasm for exploring the latest advancements in components, his expertise shines through his work and dedication towards this field. Currently, Shehryar is rocking a custom loop setup for his built.

Get In Touch: shehryar@tech4gamers.com