Ryzen 7 9700X vs Ryzen 7 5800X: Which is best for gaming in 2024?
The Ryzen 7 9700X has been officially launched and brings faster performance in both productivity and gaming over its predecessor, the Ryzen 7 7700X. It is also more efficient and consumes less power. But those who already own a Zen 4 CPU have little reason to upgrade, and owners of an older Ryzen 7 5800X do,
However, will the new processor bring enough performance uplift to justify the premium price tag? That's what we'll find out through an in-depth comparison of the Ryzen 7 9700X and 5800X.
Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and solely reflect the writer's opinions.
AMD Ryzen 7 9700X vs Ryzen 7 5800X
The Ryzen 7 9700X is based on the Zen 5 architecture, which brings an average of 16% IPC improvements over its predecessor, Zen 4. On the other hand, the Ryzen 7 5800X is designed on the older Zen 3 architecture. Here's a look at the specs of the two CPUs to get a basic idea of what's under their hood.
Specs comparison
Here are the specs of Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 7 5800X:
The major differences between the two CPUs lie in the clock speed, RAM type, PCI Gen support, and power consumption. Since the Ryzen 7 9700X is much newer, it has higher clock speeds, supports newer DDR5 RAM, PCIe Gen 5 support, and much lower power consumption.
Synthetic performance difference
It's time we put the specs aside and look at the actual performance differences between the two processors. Here's how the Ryzen 7 9700X and 5800X perform in popular benchmarks like Cinebench, Geekbench, and Passmark:
On average, the Ryzen 7 9700X is around 25% faster in single-core benchmarks than the 5800X. In multi-core benchmarks, the former is a whopping 85.9% faster.
The higher multi-core score of the new Ryzen 7 9700X means it will be almost twice as fast as the Ryzen 7 5800X in productivity applications. Similarly, the former should be faster in gaming since it has a better single-core score.
However, synthetic benchmark gains don't always lead to actual gaming performance. Since the Ryzen 7 9700X launched recently, direct gaming benchmark data is currently unavailable.
Pricing comparison
The Ryzen 7 9700X will cost you $359, which is over twice the current price of the Ryzen 7 5800X ($174). The latter processor was originally launched
Final verdict of Ryzen 7 9700X vs Ryzen 7 5800X
The Ryzen 7 9700X is the best CPU out of the two, according to benchmarks. It is almost 86% faster than the 5800X but also costs more than twice as much.
Third-party reviews show mixed results of the new 9700X. Some paint a positive picture, while others regressive performance data. On top of that, we don't have direct gaming benchmarks between the two processors. Hence, we recommend waiting for more benchmarks before deciding which CPU to buy.