Ryzen 7 7700X Slips Past Ryzen 9 7950X3D in Linux Gaming

Ryzen 7000 CPU
(Image credit: AMD)

The Ryzen 9 7950X3D is undeniably one of the best CPUs for gamers. However, without the proper optimizations, even AMD's flagship 3D V-Cache processors will struggle against the vanilla Ryzen 7000 SKUs, such as the Ryzen 7 7700X.

Although AMD's Ryzen 7000X3D processors are formidable gaming monsters, the chipmaker has outlined the guidelines to maximize gaming performance on the 3D V-Cache chips. Unfortunately, gaming on Linux is an entirely different ball game. Leading Linux publication Phoronix pointed out that Linux presently lacks optimizations for the latest Ryzen 7000X3D processors. That's a big caveat since the Linux team hasn't updated the scheduler specifically for the new processors. 

Linux typically lags behind Windows in updates, and there aren't a ton of gaming optimizations for Linux in the first place. For example, Linux doesn't have Microsoft's Xbox Game Bar, which is a key ingredient to help workload allocation. Remember that only one of the two CCDs (Core Compute Dies) has a 3D V-Cache, and that's the one you want to handle gaming workloads. Linux will likely receive its share of optimizations for Ryzen 7000X3D in the upcoming weeks.

Phoronix tested the gaming performance of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D and Ryzen 9 7900X3D across eight games. The news outlet used native Linux and Windows titles via Valve's Steam Play technology. The test system consisted of  32GB (2x16GB) of G.Slill-branded DDR5-6000 memory and AMD's Radeon RX 7900 XTX, currently one of the best graphics cards.

Ryzen 9 7950X3D, Ryzen 9 7900X3D Linux Gaming Benchmarks

Swipe to scroll horizontally
ProcessorsGeometric Mean
Ryzen 7 7700X486.09
Ryzen 9 7950X3D485.04
Ryzen 9 7900X3D481.79
Ryzen 9 7900X481.25
Core i9-13900K477.39
Ryzen 7 5800X3D434.32
Ryzen 9 7950X416.16
Ryzen 9 5950X409.07

Phoronix's geometric mean of gaming benchmarks results revealed that Ryzen 7 7700X, Ryzen 9 7900X, Ryzen 9 7950X3D, and Ryzen 9 7900X3D performed similarly. The lack of optimizations for Linux clearly played a massive role in hobbling Ryzen 7000X3D's gaming performance.

Our review of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D shows that the 16-core chip was up to 31% faster than the Ryzen 7 7700X in 1080p gaming. The Ryzen 9 7950X3D offered 17% higher performance than the regular Ryzen 9 7950X. However, we found it to be 26% on Windows. Meanwhile, Phoronix recorded a 2% higher performance on the Ryzen 9 7950X3D over the Core i9-13900K. Our results showed a 13% difference. The disparity is apparent.

Gaming-wise, it'll be interesting to see how Ryzen 7000X3D performs in Linux with a proper AMD scheduler update. Ryzen 7000X3D isn't plug-and-play on Windows, as AMD's guide demonstrated. Instead, there are a bunch of steps to ensure optimal gaming performance. Unfortunately, Linux gamers represent a small minority on the Steam platform. The latest survey shows only 1.27% of Steam userbase play games on the Linux operating system. However, it shouldn't be long before Linux properly taps into the Ryzen 7000X3D's gaming potential.

Zhiye Liu
News Editor and Memory Reviewer

Zhiye Liu is a news editor and memory reviewer at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

  • aberkae
    Microcenter has some crazy deals for $1050 you can get
    AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, MSI B650-P Pro WiFi, G.Skill Flare X5 Series 32GB DDR5-6000 Kit, Computer Build Combo$689.96 SAVE $689.96 SAVE $189.97

    $499.99

    and
    AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT Triple Fan 16GB GDDR6 PCIe 4.0 Graphics Card$809.99 SAVE $110.00

    $699.99

    $649 with the purchase of ANY CPU.


    Also anyone using dlss set to 4k quality or performance the 1440p and 1080p data does affect 4090 owners as well.
    Reply
  • ingwe13
    How common is linux gaming? Honestly asking, I have no idea so data would be interesting.
    Reply
  • Eximo
    Linux is about 1.27% according to the Steam survey.
    Windows at 96.37%
    And the rest Mac OS.

    Not sure how the Steamdeck fits into that.
    Reply
  • pointa2b
    It seems likely Linux will have some kind of update to better support these CPU sooner than later, just as they did with Alder Lake and better utilizing its E-cores.
    Reply
  • Atom Symbol
    Use something like "numactl -C 0-15 steam" depending on which CCD the game runs faster in Linux on 7950X3D.
    Reply
  • lxtbell2
    The real mystery here is the bad gaming performance of 7950x: gaming isn't power limited, so the likely reason it lags behind 7700x is bad scheduling spreading stuff across CCDs with high latency. But then why 7900x works fine?
    Reply
  • Endymio
    "Phoronix's geometric mean of gaming benchmarks results ..."
    Why would the author choose a geometric mean for this calculation? If the base values are total frames, the arithmetic mean is more appropriate; if the values are frame rates, a harmonic mean is the proper choice. A geometric mean is appropriate when you're comparing normalized values or ratios, which doesn't seem to be the case here.
    Reply
  • Awev
    This story also fails to mention that the story they are referring to reports that the 7##0X3D chips use less power while delivering similar results as their non-3D counterparts. Tom's Hardware could of done a better job of sumerizing the article, not just pulling one interesting tibit of information. The performance per watt is an interesting measurement, and makes reading the actual article worth it.
    Reply
  • PlaneInTheSky
    ingwe13 said:
    How common is linux gaming? Honestly asking, I have no idea so data would be interesting.
    Very common thanks to Proton.
    Reply
  • systemBuilder_49
    aberkae said:
    Microcenter has some crazy deals for $1050 you can get
    AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, MSI B650-P Pro WiFi, G.Skill Flare X5 Series 32GB DDR5-6000 Kit, Computer Build Combo$689.96 SAVE $689.96 SAVE $189.97

    $499.99

    and
    AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT Triple Fan 16GB GDDR6 PCIe 4.0 Graphics Card$809.99 SAVE $110.00

    $699.99

    $649 with the purchase of ANY CPU.


    Also anyone using dlss set to 4k quality or performance the 1440p and 1080p data does affect 4090 owners as well.
    Math error, $1150 (= $500 + $650), not $1050.

    Also, NEVER trust the steam survey, if you trusted it you would FOOLISHLY thing that AMD has 15% market share and NVidia 70%. Actually, AMD rules the console world and has a much higher market share v.s. NVidia but the steam survey always distorts this. Also on Linux I think many people are more security and privacy-focused and might shun steam in favor of just running games atop wine ...
    Reply