It didn't take long for AMD's Ryzen 7 7800X3D to claim a spot on the list of best CPUs. According to new user benchmarks, the octa-core chip performs similarly on X670 and A620 motherboards for gaming. However, multi-threaded applications such as Cinebench 23 seem to have a slight performance difference.
AMD recently launched the A620 chipset to provide consumers with an entry-level option to upgrade to Zen 4 and the corresponding AM5 platform. However, A620 motherboards, which start at $85, are ideal for Ryzen 7000 non-X processors with a 65W TDP and an 88W PPT. In addition, higher-end SKUs may boot on A620 motherboards if the firmware allows it. Still, the onboard power delivery subsystem will limit the processor's multi-threaded performance since it won't have the power headroom.
One crucial aspect to take into account is that, while the 88W PPT is the base specification for the A620 chipset, motherboard manufacturers can equip their A620 boards with higher power delivery subsystems. This will make things interesting since not all A620 motherboards on the market are built the same. However, a more robust power delivery subsystem conveys a higher cost, so the more premium A620 motherboards may sell very close to the price of B650 motherboards.
The Korean YouTuber compared the Ryzen 7 7800X3D's performance on MSI's Pro X670-P WiFi motherboard and Gigabyte's A620M Gaming X. The former's power delivery system flaunts a 14+2+1 design and retails for $259. At the same time, the Gigabyte motherboard has an 8+2+1 layout; however, the pricing remains a mystery since it isn't available at any U.S. retailers yet.
The X670 test system used the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 420, whereas the A620 test system was chilled by a DeepCool AG400. It's unknown why the reviewer didn't use the same cooling for both systems. The systems also had a GeForce RTX 4080 for the gaming workload at 1080p (1920x1080) resolution and 32GB (2x16GB) of DDR5-6000 CL38 memory.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Avg FPS) | Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1% Low) | Forza Horizon 5 (Avg FPS) | Forza Horizon 5 (1% Low) | Cyberpunk 2077 (Avg FPS) | Cyberpunk 2077 (1% Low) | Total War: Three Kingdoms (Avg FPS) | Total War: Three Kingdoms (1% Low) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X670 | 336 | 171 | 195 | 148 | 203 | 109 | 224 | 171 |
| A620 | 327 | 174 | 193 | 141 | 203 | 111 | 233 | 176 |
The Gigabyte A620M Gaming X has a better power delivery subsystem than a typical A620 motherboard with a 6+2+1 design. However, the difference between it and the Pro X670-P WiFi was evident. The Ryzen 7 7800X3D was running at 4.7 to 4.8 GHz on the MSI motherboard. However, the same chip was limited to clock speeds between 4.4 GHz and 4.6 GHz on the Gigabyte motherboard.
Gamers will be happy to know that variance in clock speeds didn't substantially impact gaming performance. The delta was around 3%, so the difference isn't visible unless you run software to record the frame rates. In other workloads, however, the difference is slightly bigger but still within reasonable limits.
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The MSI Pro X670-P WiFi kept the Ryzen 7 7800X3D running at 4.8 GHz across all eight cores during the Cinebench R23 run. With the Gigabyte A620M Gaming X, the all-core boost clock speed fluctuated between 4.5 GHz and 4.7 GHz. It resulted in a 5% higher Cinebench R23 score on the MSI Pro X670-P WiFi.
The reviewer didn't share the motherboard firmware or AGESA versions for the motherboards that he used. Furthermore, each motherboard vendor tunes memory in its own way, so memory overclocking is better on certain brands. This is one of the first tests comparing A620 and X670 motherboards with a Ryzen 7000X3D processor. We'll need additional tests to corroborate the early findings. Furthermore, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is a 120W chip. It'll be intriguing to see the performance hit on higher-TDP parts, such as the Ryzen 9 7950X or Ryzen 9 7900X, each of which has a 170W TDP.
In the meantime, gamers who particularly want a Ryzen 7 7800X3D for a gaming rig will be fine with an A620 motherboard. If the budget allows it, jumping to a B650 motherboard could potentially maximize the chip's performance.
Zhiye Liu is a news editor, memory reviewer, and SSD tester at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.
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hotaru.hino ReplyFor the meantime, gamers who particularly want a Ryzen 7 7800X3D for a gaming rig will be fine with a A620 motherboard
I feel like this advice should be taken with an asterisk. Namely, you're going to work that VRM pretty hard if the boards were only designed to handle 88W PPT processors all day.
I'd say if someone really went this route, they should at least get some heat sinks with thermal tape to put on the VRM components. -
thisisaname Funny CPU cooler cost twice the price of the motherboards, I would also assume the B650 is more likely to be able to handle the next generation of CPU.Reply
Edit a more cost appropriate cooler may have shown a greater loss of performance? -
hotaru251 you don't want a highend gaming cpu on an extreme budget MB..Reply
you are betetr off gettign a betetr mb, worse cpu & upgrading in future when prices drop. -
BillyBuerger Newegg has three different ASRock motherboards that all look extremely similar (same design) but with different things cut down to meet different price points.Reply
ASRock A620M-HDV/M.2 supports 65W CPUs with an obvious cut on the VRMs and only one M.2 SSD slot for $85.
ASRock A620M-HDV/M.2+ supports 120W CPUs with more VRMs and two M.2 SSD slots for $100.
ASRock B650M-HDV/M.2 looks to be your normal B650 style motherboard that I assume can handle any AM5 CPUs for $120.
I'm sure there's other details that are slightly different but it's nice to see some pricing options for a more budget system. You can pick something that fits in your budget and has the specs you need instead of having to pay for more crap than you'll ever use. Personally I would go for the middle one for the second SSD slot and pair it with a 7600 (non-X) if I were building system that fits in with what I do with my PCs. No overclocking an I would never expect to upgrade to a higher powered CPU. Possibly a newer AM5 CPU in the future but still in the 65W range. But I usually only upgrade when I feel the need for a whole new system, not just one component. -
TechieTwo Asrock produced the A620M-HDV/M.2+ mobo specifically to handle 120w CPUs, i.e. so gamers could have a low cost mobo that runs X3D CPUs. It has a higher capacity VRM design.Reply -
PlaneInTheSky What a misleading title. You don't write "similar performance" when there is a 3%-5% drop in performance.Reply
The idea of combining a $500 CPU with a $100 board with a PCIe3.0 chip lane is idiotic to begin with. The A620 has half the bandwidth of B boards, and you can't even measure that in those tests.
Who spends $500 on a gaming CPU, only to buy an A620 chipset that is targeted at prebuilds you find at Wallmart. -
hotaru.hino Reply
Most people aren't going to really notice a difference in practice.PlaneInTheSky said:You don't write "similar performance" when there is a 3%-5% drop in performance. -
Elusive Ruse That's actually impressive, goes to show the depth of options you get with AM5 now. The whole A620 motherboards aren't good for anything argument is also laid to rest.Reply
All things considered I'd say the sweet spot for MOBOs are the B650 range. -
Elusive Ruse Reply
3% gaming and 5% synthetic. The X670 was also had an Arctic 420 AIO to cool the CPU while the A620 had a budget air cooler.hotaru.hino said:Most people aren't going to really notice a difference in practice.
But you are right 3% is a draw when it cokes to gaming. -
hannibal This says a lot how efficient AMDs best gaming CPU is!Reply
Ofcourse most people will go to good b650 just to get features, but there is that budget rout also.