AMD Ryzen 7 3800X Review: Core i7 Has a New Challenger

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Far Cry 5 and Final Fantasy XV

Far Cry 5

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The Ryzen 7 1800X reminds us how far AMD has come since its first-gen products, and even the overclocked second-gen model lags behind the stock Ryzen 3000's by a decent margin.

After tuning, the 3800X ranks as the fastest AMD processor, and there is little difference between the manual and auto-overclocked configurations. Less than ~1 FPS separates the overclocked Ryzen 7 3800X and 3700X, which has become a theme. Intel asserts itself with faster performance across the board.

Final Fantasy XV

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We run this test with the standard quality preset to sidestep the impact of a bug that causes the game engine to render off-screen objects. We see the slightest of gains for the manual overclock over the PBO configuration, but that's with expected variance for this benchmark, so consider this a tie.

Again, the Ryzen 7 3700X with PBO applied lands within striking distance of the overclocked 3800X. 


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Paul Alcorn
Paul Alcorn
Managing Editor: News and Emerging Tech

Paul Alcorn is the Managing Editor: News and Emerging Tech for Tom's Hardware US. He also writes news and reviews on CPUs, storage, and enterprise hardware.

31 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Math Geek
    pretty much what i expected from all the Ryzen 3000 series so far. i am not disappointed at all in what i am seeing.

    it does look like the 3700x is the better buy. use that $70 savings for better cooling and you got a winner on your hands it looks like. i personally don't care about a few fps at 1080p when both AMD and Intel hit some nice numbers. 140 fps vs 150 fps is pretty much the same thing to me.

    but those extra cores/threads from AMD will go a long way with VM's, production software and the other non-game stuff i do regularly. AMD FTW :geek:
    Reply
  • TJ Hooker
    In light of the 3700X, the 3800X doesn't seem to have much reason to exist to be honest. Not unless boost/OC behavior somehow changes significantly in the future.
    Reply
  • nitrium
    Given you can get just about the same performance by OCing a 3700X (and the 3800X doesn't OC really at all), I don't really see why AMD even released this chip - especially considering how much more they are asking for it. The value just isn't there.
    Reply
  • mattkiss
    What command rate are you running your memory kits at? Also, is the memory write speed nerfed like it is on the 3700X?
    Reply
  • JamesSneed
    Im curious why the 3700x with PBO is pulling considerably more wattage versus the 3800x with PBO. Is binning really making that large of a difference?
    Reply
  • JamesSneed
    nitrium said:
    Given you can get just about the same performance by OCing a 3700X (and the 3800X doesn't OC really at all), I don't really see why AMD even released this chip - especially considering how much more they are asking for it. The value just isn't there.

    If you are going to OC then I mostly agree however the binning looks like it impacts power draw a lot. However you are not guaranteed 3800x performance out of a 3700x. If you do not intend to OC then there are many valid reasons for the 3800x. The 3800x makes a good case for non overclockers especially because it pulls less power than the stock 3700x. However for me I would much rather they had one more tier like a 3850x that was say 4-4.1Ghz base and 4.8 to 4.9 Ghz boost. A higher binned version I would step up for over the 3700x.
    Reply
  • xcomp666
    I was waiting for a decent review.

    My conclusion:

    I am not planning to OC ( I am using an Asrock Fatal1ty B450 Gaming-ITX ) with 105W TDP, I don't think my motherboard's VRM can handle properly ;:coldsweat:
    Performance It is just about ~2% over 3700x that has TDP of 65W ;:mad:
    PBO is not hitting 4.4 GHz easily ( depends on silicon lottery);:ouimaitre:
    70 USD (92 CAD ) over 3700X;
    Single Core performance is not that great;So, I am going to buy a Rysen 7 3700X
    🤘
    Reply
  • Makaveli
    Does the 3800x have the same memory write limitation as the 3700x

    32b vs 16b ??
    Reply
  • TJ Hooker
    Makaveli said:
    Does the 3800x have the same memory write limitation as the 3700x

    32b vs 16b ??
    From what I can find that applies to all Ryzen 3K chips with a single compute die, in which case yes it'd be the same for the 3800X.
    Reply
  • jclaine
    I just did a 3700x Asrock x470 itx build. I imagine that I will need to use the wifi on it at some point in it's life, that's why I went with the x470 (Intel (1733) ) version over the b450 (Intel 3168 (433) ). I really didn't want a chipset fan because in 8 years I don't want to have to think about that failing in an old abused system, so I passed on x570.

    http://www.mustnotsleepgames.com/Comp/A1%2001.jpg
    Reply