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AMD Ryzen 7 9700X
Rated: 8.8/10
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
Rated: 9/10
Pros And Cons
CPU
Pros
Cons
Ryzen 7 9800X3D
✅ Newer - released 5 months later
✅ Has 64 MB larger L3 cache size
❌ Much more expensive
Ryzen 7 9700X
✅ Unlocked multiplier
✅ 6% higher Turbo Boost frequency
❌Worse in terms of performance
Key Takeaways
We saw a 31% difference in gaming performance, with the 9800X3D being in the lead, while the productivity tests showed a difference of around 13%.
Temperatures and power consumption were only 3-4% different between the two chips, with the 9800X3D being hotter and drawing a bit more power.
The 9700X is considerably cheaper than the 9800X3D as of late November 2024, with there being a 50% price difference between the two chips.
Overall, the 9800X3D works for people who want the best performance and have the budget for it, while the 9700X is a cheaper processor that performs adequately.
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Core Count: Both the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and its vanilla rival have 8 cores and 16 threads, with no lower powered P-cores or the such.
Clock Speed: The Ryzen 7 9700X has a base clock of 3.8GHz, with a boost clock of up to 5.5GHz. The 9800X3D, however, has a base clock of 4.7GHz and a boost of up to 5.2GHz.
L3 Cache: While the 9800X3D has a headlining and an impressive 96 megabytes of L3 cache, the 9700X has a third of the amount at 32 megabytes.
TDP: Though the advertised TDP of the 9700X is 65 watts, AMD warrants a mode with a TDP of 105 watts, which is still a few watts lower than the 9800X3D’s 120-watt TDP.
Process Node: Both the 9700X and the 9800X3D use 4nm processing nodes, which is to be expected as they share the same architecture.
As has become apparent, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D has proven to be one of the best gaming chips, even compared to processors a few price tiers above it. One might wonder how it compares against one of its closest neighbours, and that’s exactly what we intend to test with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D vs Ryzen 7 9700X comparison!
Gaming Benchmarks – 1080p
Now that we’ve gone over the specs of both these processors, let us take a look at how they perform in games. To do this, we have constructed a test bench, the specifications of which you can read below.
The Ryzen 7 9800X3D averaged an impressive 235 FPS, which was 45.34% higher than the 161 FPS of the Ryzen 7 9700X we saw in our test of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
For 1% lows, the 9800X3D fell down to around 206 FPS, outperforming the 9700X’s lows of 140 FPS by around 47.14%.
The Last of Us Part 1
The Ryzen 7 9800X3D delivered an average of 208 FPS when we tested this Playstation port, which was a less impressive 15.56% improvement over the 9700X’s 180 FPS compared to the previous game.
The 1% lows of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D were recorded at 155 FPS, 31.36% higher than the 118 FPS we saw with the 9700X.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
The average framerate of the 9800X3D hovered around 219 FPS in our testing, which was around 35.19% higher than the 162 FPS we measured with the 9700X3D in Cyberpunk 2077.
The difference in the 1% lows fell to around 21%, with the 9800X3D hovering closer to 148 FPS, which was noticeably higher than the 9700X’s 122 FPS.
Hogwarts Legacy
Flying through Hogwarts Legacy, the 9800X3D consistently got around 170 FPS, which was a 36% improvement over the 125 FPS we experienced using the 9700X.
The minimum framerates were around 111 FPS on the 980X3D, completely curb stomping on the 74 FPS that the 9700X managed, leading to a difference of around 50%.
Remnant II
The 9800X3D recorded an average framerate of 158 FPS in Remnant II, 25.40% smoother than the 126 FPS we got testing the 9700X.
1% lows were 122 FPS for our Ryzen 7 9800X3D, a 17.31% advantage over the 9700X’s 104 FPS.
Homeworld 3
In Homeworld 3, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D averaged a framerate of around 136 FPS, a 46.24% increase compared to the 9700X’s disappointingly low average of around 93 FPS.
In terms of 1% lows, the X3D processor dipped to around 63 FPS, 34.04% higher than the 9700X’s sub-sixty 47 FPS.
A Plague Tale: Requiem
The 9800X3D averaged 195 FPS when we tested A Plague Tale: Requiem, which came out to be a 20.37% improvement over the Ryzen 7 9700X’s adequate 162 FPS framerate.
1% lows stood at 132 FPS on the 9800X3D, which were exactly 10% higher than the 120 FPS we saw when testing the 9700X under the same conditions.
Starfield
Finally, the last game of our testing ran around 37.25% better on the newer processor with an average of about 140 FPS, while the 9700X hovered closer to an average of 102 FPS.
The minimum framerates of the 9700X were around 76 FPS, which were completely overshadowed by the 51.32% higher 115 FPS lows of the 9800X3D.
Productivity Benchmarks
To be honest, it was apparent to us from the start how the Ryzen 7 9800X3D vs Ryzen 7 9700X would go in terms of gaming tests, but we were curious to see how productivity affected both processors. To answer this question, we used the same test bench mentioned above to run a few productivity tests on these chips.
Cinebench R24
The 9800X3D had a multicore score of 1388 points in Cinebench R24, which was about 15.57% higher than the 1201 points that the 9700X accumulated.
The single-core scores were about the same between the two processors, with the 9800X3D getting 135 points, while the 9700X got 136 points.
7-Zip
The 9800X3D performed around 11% better in the 7-Zip compression test, with a score of 138 points, while the 9700X had a score of around 124 points.
The decompression test had an even smaller delta of around 6%, with the 9800X3D getting a score of around 146 points, while the 9700X stuck closer to around 138 points.
Blender
The Blender Open Data test ran better on the 9800X3D, perhaps because of the extra graphics performance this chip frees up compared to the 9700X.
The Ryzen 7 9800X3D had a score of 152 samples per minute, which was around 18% higher than the 129 samples per minute that the Ryzen 7 9700X had to offer.
Overall Performance
Processor
Ryzen 7 9800X3D
Ryzen 7 9700X
Average FPS
📈182.5
📈139
1% Lows
📉131.5
📉100
Productivity (Rating)
✏️7/10
✏️6.17/10
Winner: Ryzen 7 9800X3D
Average Framerate
In our testing, the 9800X3D stood around 31% ahead of the 9700X on average in the eight games we tested. The range of the difference in average framerates was anywhere from 46% to 15%, meaning the competition between these two was not even close.
1% Lows
The minimum framerate difference between the eight games we tested was also 31%, with the 9800X3D in the lead. This difference ranged from 51% to around 10%, which, once again, means there were no games with insignificant differences between these two chips.
Productivity
The productivity performance was about what we expected from the Ryzen 7 9800X3D vs Ryzen 7 9700X, with the 9800X3D being just a few steps ahead of its little brother. Our testing proves that the 9800X3D is an adequate productivity chip if you don’t compare it to the best of the best.
Temperatures
Game
Ryzen 7 9800X3D
Ryzen 7 9700X
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
62
58
The Last Of Us Part 1
65
64
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
66
59
Hogwarts Legacy
61
65
Remnant II
68
60
Homeworld 3
64
63
A Plague Tale Requiem
70
61
Starfield
66
64
Average Temperatures
65.25🌡️
61.75🌡️
Winner: Ryzen 7 9700X
Temperatures were functionally the same on both processors, with only a 6% difference between the two. Both processors were adequately cooled with our test bench, and there were no issues related to overheating or thermal management.
Power Consumption
Game
Ryzen 7 9800X3D
Ryzen 7 9700X
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
94
91
The Last Of Us Part 1
99
93
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
92
92
Hogwarts Legacy
89
89
Remnant II
98
87
Homeworld 3
99
91
A Plague Tale Requiem
92
97
Starfield
91
90
Average Power Draw
94.25⚡
91.25⚡
Winner: Ryzen 7 9700X
The power consumption was also very similar between the two chips, with the 9800X3D drawing about 3% more power. Though the TDPs of these two processors differ (without the 9700X’s 105-watt mode), there was little difference in real-world performance.
Price And Availability
CPU
Ryzen 7 9800X3D
Ryzen 7 9700X
Price Difference
Launch MSRP
💲479
💲359
33.43%
Current Price
💲479
💲319
50.16%
The 9700X is quite a bit cheaper than the 9800X3D, with the current price of the 9800X being around $150 or around 50% higher than that of the 9700X. The performance uplifts with the new chip are not linear to the increase in price, meaning the 9700X has a better price-to-performance ratio.
What We Recommend
Ryzen 7 9800X3D: After testing this chip against its vanilla counterpart, it is exceptional when it comes to performance and about the same in all other aspects compared to the Zen 5 chips. The extra productivity performance is also a great improvement over the 9700X.
Ryzen 7 9700X: Though this chip did not perform as well as the 9800X3D, it did have a better value proposition. The 9700X matched the 9800X3D in all other aspects but performance while being significantly cheaper than its sibling.
It is apparent from the Ryzen 7 9800X3D vs Ryzen 7 9700X comparison that the former chip is great for people with a large budget looking for as much performance as possible, whereas the latter performs worse but has a much lower price tag.
FAQs
What is the age difference between the 9800X3D and 9700X?
The 9800X3D was released on the 7th of November, 2024, whereas the 9700X was released on the 8th of August.
What platform does the 9700X use?
The Ryzen 7 9700X uses the AM5 platform that the Ryzen 7000 also shares.
Are the 9700X and the 9800X3D overclockable?
Yes, the 9700X and the 9800X3D are both overclockable.
Is the 9800X3D an ARM processor?
No, the 9800X3D and its rival for this comparison both use the x86 platform.
Does the 9800X3D support multithreading?
Yes, both the 9800X3D and the 9700X have multithreading.
I’m a passionate computer hardware expert specializing in CPUs and GPUs. With a lifelong curiosity for hardware and extensive hands-on experience, I provide valuable insights, practical advice, and in-depth analysis on these components. Engaging with the hardware community, I exchange knowledge and stay at the forefront of technological advancements.