AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Review with Gaming and Workstation – Ultra-fast gaming with half the fuel of a Core i9-13900K

1 - Introduction, preliminary remark and CPU data 2 - Chipset, motherboard and the more complex test setup 3 - Gaming Performance HD Ready (1280 x 720 Pixels) 4 - Gaming Performance Full HD (1920 x 1080 Pixels) 5 - Gaming Performance WQHD (2560 x 1440 Pixels) 6 - Gaming Performance Ultra-HD (3840 x 2160 Pixels) 7 - Autodesk AutoCAD 2021 8 - Autodesk Inventor 2021 Pro 9 - Rendering, Simulation, Financial, Programming 10 - Science and mathematics 11 - Power consumption and efficiency 12 - Summary and conclusion

Summary

AMD has managed to create an equivalent to the Ryzen 9 7950X3D that is well suited for pure gamers with the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. Half the CPU, more interesting price and yet almost as fast or sometimes even a bit faster. I wouldn’t narrow it down so much here, because it really always depends on the game and in the end, as always, it’s a question of selection how big the gap becomes. Yes, it was not enough for the crown from my point of view because of the slightly worse percentile, but at least almost. But there is one category where it almost doesn’t matter how good or less suitable such a game is for the huge cache: the absolutely low power consumption.

This is exactly the point where you simply do not need to discuss further. An Intel Core i9-13900K needs almost twice as much electrical energy for a similar gaming performance, which is meanwhile tantamount to total humiliation. Even the slightly better variances and percentiles do not help much anymore, that is just the way it is and cannot be changed. The Ryzen 7 7800X3D is simply the better choice for gamers, even though the price is currently in line with the high vegetable and fruit prices and Intel rather serves the fraction of those who like to take peppers and apples with slight bruises at the bargain price. That I will write this again, I would have dismissed a few years ago with nonsense.

The Ryzen 7 7800X3D is by no means a bargain with the announced $449 MSRP and it is exactly on the same level as the predecessor Ryzen 7 5800X3D was launched with. Especially since you can already get the current Ryzen 7 7700X for a street price of 345 Euros plus shipping. This all testifies to AMD’s new self-confidence, because at least compared to the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, the 8-core almost seems cheap for gamers. However, a board with a B650 chipset as well as fast DDR5 RAM are added, and then it gets quite expensive again.

But what is the Ryzen 7 7800X3D actually? An explicit gaming CPU with a luxury premium for the 8 cores wrapped up by the huge stack cache or maybe even a smart all-rounder that can do gaming excellently, but not only? When used outside of the gaming universe, partial dropouts did occur from time to time and the CPU repeatedly showed itself like a Janus head with two faces. The name, by the way, is derived from Janus, the Roman god with two faces, each looking in opposite directions. Usually, the term is used to describe things that have contradictory properties or perform different functions. Like here.

In workstation use, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D could only fully convince me in terms of efficiency. Performance, on the other hand, has always been a thing. Except for a few impressive exclamation points in special applications, it would clearly lag behind the Intel Core i7-13700K and even the Ryzen 7 7700X on average, which still offers the better (but unfortunately also much more power-hungry) package from all areas of use there.

Despite the drawbacks in use and the initially high price, I’ll still give it a buy tip this time, but only from a gamer’s point of view. Firstly, you simply have to appreciate such a piece of brute-fast gaming silicon and secondly, because the CPU has such likeable drinking habits. Readers will have to make up their own minds, though. And family peace is not really permanently secure at AMD either. The Ryzen 9 7950X3D should thus get a very dangerous opponent in gaming, which is also considerably cheaper.

I also want to say a word about the Ryzen 9 7900X3D, because it is certainly better than its reputation, but unfortunately still far too expensive. It is, in fact, significantly more versatile than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D in total, but also noticeably slower than the Ryzen 9 7950X. If the Ryzen 9 7900X were a tiny bit cheaper, it would no longer be a “neither fish nor fowl” CPU, but a tasty piece of silk tofu for the miso-udon soup in the canteen. It can also do gaming quite well. And work anyway.

The Ryzen 7000X and X3D were provided by AMD, with one exception. The Ryzen 9 7900X3D was a kind loan from MIFCOM.  The Ryzen 7 5800X3D and all Intel CPUs are from my private inventory and were purchased myself. The motherboard and memory come from retailers or MSI as well as Corsair and, like the CPUs, were only provided on the condition that the lock periods for these products were adhered to. There was no direct or indirect influence or compensation for expenses.