The AMD 3rd Gen Ryzen Deep Dive Review: 3700X and 3900X Raising The Bar
by Andrei Frumusanu & Gavin Bonshor on July 7, 2019 9:00 AM ESTTest Bed and Setup
As per our processor testing policy, we take a premium category motherboard suitable for the socket, and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the manufacturer's maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible.
It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.
| Test Setup | |||||
| AMD 3000*1 | R9 3900X R7 3700X |
MSI MEG X570 Ace |
7C35v12 7C35v11*2 |
Wraith Prism | G.Skill TridentZ 4x8 GB DDR4-3200 CL16 16-16-16-36 |
| AMD 2000 | R7 2700X R5 2600X R5 2500X |
ASRock X370 Gaming K4 |
P4.80 | Wraith Max* | G.Skill SniperX 2x8 GB DDR4-2933 |
| AMD 1000 | R7 1800X | ASRock X370 Gaming K4 |
P4.80 | Wraith Max* | G.Skill SniperX 2x8 GB DDR4-2666 |
| AMD TR4 | TR 1920X | ASUS ROG X399 Zenith |
0078 | Enermax Liqtech TR4 |
G.Skill FlareX 4x8GB DDR4-2666 |
| Intel 9th Gen | i9-9900K i7-9700K i5-9600K |
ASRock Z370 Gaming i7** |
P1.70 | TRUE Copper |
Crucial Ballistix 4x8GB DDR4-2666 |
| Intel 8th Gen | i7-8086K i7-8700K i5-8600K |
ASRock Z370 Gaming i7 |
P1.70 | TRUE Copper |
Crucial Ballistix 4x8GB DDR4-2666 |
| Intel 7th Gen | i7-7700K i5-7600K |
GIGABYTE X170 ECC Extreme |
F21e | Silverstone AR10-115XS |
G.Skill RipjawsV 2x16GB DDR4-2400 |
| Intel 6th Gen | i7-6700K i5-6600K |
GIGABYTE X170 ECC Extreme |
F21e | Silverstone AR10-115XS |
G.Skill RipjawsV 2x16GB DDR4-2133 |
| Intel HEDT | i9-7900X i7-7820X i7-7800X |
ASRock X299 OC Formula |
P1.40 | TRUE Copper |
Crucial Ballistix 4x8GB DDR4-2666 |
| GPU | Sapphire RX 460 2GB (CPU Tests) MSI GTX 1080 Gaming 8G (Gaming Tests) |
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| PSU | Corsair AX860i Corsair AX1200i |
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| SSD | Crucial MX200 1TB **Crucial MX300 1TB |
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| OS | Windows 10 x64 RS3 1709 Spectre and Meltdown Patched **Windows 10 x64 1903 Spectre and Meltdown Patched |
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| *1 Ryzen 3000 series has been tested in a different environment. *2 Initial Review BIOS - Graphs results are marked with ** |
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We must thank the following companies for kindly providing hardware for our multiple test beds. Some of this hardware is not in this test bed specifically, but is used in other testing.
| Hardware Providers | |||
| Sapphire RX 460 Nitro | MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X OC | Crucial MX200 + MX500 SSDs |
Corsair AX860i + AX1200i PSUs |
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| G.Skill RipjawsV, SniperX, FlareX |
Crucial Ballistix DDR4 |
Silverstone Coolers |
Silverstone Fans |
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Security Mitigrations
The systems have applied the latest Spectre and Meltdown mitigation patches where applicable. Meanwhile we should note that while the ZombieLoad exploit was announced earlier this year as well, the patches for that have not been released yet. We'll be looking at those later on once they hit.
Article Testing Methodology Update (July 8th):
We ran our original review numbers with the latest available firmware for the MSI MEG X570 ACE motherboard last week (Version 7C35v11). On Saturday the 6th MSI had shared with us a notice about a new version coming out, which became available to download to us on Sunday the 7th, the launch day and date of publication of the review.
We’ve had more time to investigate the new firmware, and have discovered extremely large changes in the behaviour of the frequency boosting algorithm. The new firmware (Version 7C35v12) for the motherboard contains AMD’s new ComboPI1.0.0.3.a (AGESA) firmware.
We discovered the following direct measurable effects between the two firmware versions:
(Note: This is a custom test that uses a fine-grained looping timed fixed instruction chain to derive frequency; it showcases single-core frequency)
We notice a significant change in the CPU’s boosting behaviour, now boosting to higher frequencies, and particularly at a faster rate from idle, more correctly matching AMD’s described intended boost behaviour and latency.
We’re currently in the process of re-running all our suite numbers and updating the article where necessary to reflect the new frequency behaviour.
Article Testing Methodology Update (July 9th):
We've updated the article benchmark numbers on the Ryzen 9 3900X. We've seen 3-9% improvements in exclusive ST workloads. MT workloads have remained unchanged, Gaming had both benefits and negatives. We continue to work on getting updated 3700X numbers and filling out the missing pieces.
Original BIOS results are as of first publication are marked with ** in the graphs.
Article Testing Methodology Update (July 10th):
We've also updated our Ryzen 7 3700X results now. Ultimately our conclusions haven't changed, but AMD does narrow the gap a bit more. For a full summary of our findings, please check out this article.
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Maxiking - Tuesday, July 23, 2019 - link
LOOOOOOL, so we have a guy confirming AMD doing fraund by misleading people about the frequency, instead of acknowledging the fraund, we gonna talk about semantics.Yeah, if you get sentenced for a sexual assault, you should sue then anyone who has accussed you of raping. Just wow.
Brilliant logic, sir.
Maxiking - Tuesday, July 23, 2019 - link
*fraudQasar - Tuesday, July 23, 2019 - link
still valid there buddy.. like has been said, you are the only one throwing the word fraud around, and that amd should be sued over this. so what everMaxiking - Tuesday, July 23, 2019 - link
And again... let me copy paste."You are uneducated, TDP doesn't mean power consumption or the highest peak but the amount of heat dissipated, it informs you how much of heat the cooler must be able to dissipate in order to keep the cpu cool enough to run.
Get it? 1700x TDP was 95W yet there were tasks it managed to consume 120 or even 140w on stock settings. Like do you even watch reviews? It was the same with 2700x.
but mimimimimimi AMD good mimimimimi Intel bad"
Korguz - Tuesday, July 23, 2019 - link
and yet, you still refuse to admit, that intel has its own issues with fraud and misleading its own customers.does he actually say its fraud ?? not directly, seems only YOU keep saying that, and only YOU say amd should be sued for it. again.., i would love to see YOU file a suit against amd for it, considering you are so hung up about it but you wont, cause you are all talk, no action, and probably know.. you wouldnt get very far with that law suit
Maxiking - Tuesday, July 23, 2019 - link
I said a few times... I don't tend to buy amd products so no, I am not gonna sue anybody.And as pointed out in the video, in his German one, he works for a retailer selling prebuilt pcs.. People keep returning pcs with AMD cpus becaue they do not boost to the promised frequency. You there, there are something like laws, if you write on the box 4.6ghz, it must reach it.
You are so knowledgeable, sharp minded and analytical when comes to meaning of words and what people want to say, you should sue Intel on your own, should be easy.
Korguz - Tuesday, July 23, 2019 - link
why not ?? going by how dead set you are about this.. seems like it would be an easy win for you.. ooooohhhh in the german one.. i understand now.. too bad i dont speak german so i cant confirm this... and if some one writes on the box that something uses a certain amount of power.. then it should use it.. not 50 to 100 watts more.. i have a few friends that buy intels cpus.. they see it uses 95 watts of power.. so they get a HSF that can dissipate that much power.. then wonder why their cpu throttles and runs slow when under load... then i point then to the link i just posted,and they are not happy.. and now need to go buy yet another HSF to handle the extra power.You are so knowledgeable, sharp minded and analytical when comes to meaning of words and what people want to say, you should sue Amd on your own, should be easy. again, too bad you wont.. cause you are all talk. have a good day sir..
Maxiking - Thursday, July 25, 2019 - link
Again, you have once again showed your AMD fanboyism.There is written: TDP 95W. I already explained what TDP means. AMD's TDP isn't accurate either.
AMD has 4.6ghz on the box whilst a bing number cpus does not REACH IT AT ALL. There is no "*" moniker next the 4.6ghz claim and they do not say that their cpu may not reach the frequency at all. In fact, there is a video from AMD on youtube promised even higher frequency, lol. Up to 4.75 ghz.
So yeah, stop being desperate and forcing Intel into the debate.
Because your childish attempts are futile, this is not about AMD or Intel. It is about us consumers. What will be next? 6 Ghz on the box?
Maxiking - Thursday, July 25, 2019 - link
AMD has 4.6ghz on the box whlist a big number of cpus do not REACH IT AT ALL under any load, conditions. Typing on phone is just cancer.Korguz - Thursday, July 25, 2019 - link
and again, like in another thread, you showed how much you hate amd, and are biased against them, and you call me an amd fanboy, you are just as much an intel fanboy. FYI, IF you actually READ the link i posted, you would see that intels 95 watts, is pretty much a MINIMUM their chips use, in reality, its more like 50 to 100 ABOVE that, and also.. amd is A LOT closer then intel is to the TDP they state, but again.. to be fair, amd AND intel use and come do different values for TDP, but you cant see passed your hated for amd to see this.. you are the one that has to resort to name calling, so WHO is being childish ?? what wil be next, intel claiming their cpus use 100 watts, but in reality, they use 300 ?