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

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

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.