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Intel Core i7-10700K vs AMD Ryzen 7 3700X: Eight-Core CPUs Fight for Prime Day Supremacy
You know things are tough in the CPU world when the best Intel and AMD chips deals for Amazon's Prime Day are for previous-gen chips, but that's the situation this year. We spotted dueling deals for previous-gen eight-core Intel and AMD chips, all of which have vied for spots on our Best CPUs list in the past. That sets up a Prime Day battle between the $259 Core i7-10700K ($239 for the graphics-less 10700KF) and the $279 Ryzen 7 3700X.
We typically don't recommend buying previous-gen chips, but all three of these chips are available at (or near) all-time low pricing while we're in the unforgiving grip of a silicon shortage. That makes them solid alternatives if you're looking to upgrade a current system, or even build out a new platform with previous-gen gear.
For comparison, both the current-gen eight-core AMD Ryzen 7 5800X and the eight-core Intel Core i7-11700K weigh in at $399 when you can find them in stock near MSRP, meaning that the three chips in today's Amazon Prime Day deal are ~$150 cheaper for the same number of cores. That means you'll pay roughly $34 per core for the previous-gen chips while the more modern chips weigh in at $50 per core.
Naturally, the previous-gen eight-core chips aren't as fast as the newer models, but you can reference our CPU Benchmark hierarchy for a crystal-clear view of the performance deltas between the newer and older chips. Here's a snippet of how that breaks down for each chip, with the scores in each category being relative to the fastest chip on the market in each category (higher is better):
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Header Cell - Column 0
Price
Gaming 1080p / 1440p
Multi-Threaded Performance
Single-Threaded Performance
Intel Core i7-10700K/F
$259 / $239
86% / 90%
28%
82%
Ryzen 7 3700X
$279
77% / 81%
27%
76%
Core i7-11700K/F
$399 / $389
92% / 95%
34%
94%
Ryzen 7 5800X
$399
97% / 97%
33%
93%
Intel Core i7-10700K: was $320, now $260 at Amazon The Core i7-10700K's $260 price tag marks a new low for the eight-core 16-thread processor that operates with a 5.1 GHz boost and 3.8 GHz base clock. This chip makes a cost-effective upgrade if you already have a 10th-gen processor, but be sure to check pricing on newer alternatives before pulling the trigger.
Intel Core i7-10700KF: was $301, now $240 at Amazon The Core i7-10700KF's $240 price tag marks a new low for the eight-core 16-thread processor that operates with a 5.1 GHz boost and 3.8 GHz base clock. This model comes without integrated graphics and makes a cost-effective upgrade if you already have a 10th-gen processor, but be sure to check pricing on newer alternatives before pulling the trigger.
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X: was $307, now $279 at Amazon AMD's eight-core 16-thread Ryzen 7 3700X is at near all-time low pricing for Prime Day, marking the only AMD chip we can find with a substantial discount. This chip ticks at 3.8 GHz under heavy load and boosts to 4.6 GHz. It also comes with full support for PCIe 4.0.
Overall, the Core i7-10700K looks to be the better pick based purely on performance alone. However, remember, this chip doesn't come with a bundled cooler, whereas the Ryzen 7 3700X does. Additionally, the Ryzen 7 3700X supports PCIe 4.0 while the 10700K uses the slower PCIe 3.0 spec.
