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AMD, please don’t make the same mistake with the Ryzen 7 7700X3D

Jacob Roach
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AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800X3D launched about six months ago. I gave it a rare Editors’ Choice badge in my Ryzen 7 5800X3D review, and I stand by that assessment. But AMD made a big mistake with the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, and I hope it doesn’t repeat that mistake with the Ryzen 7 7700X3D (or whatever name AMD ends up going with).

Next-gen 3D V-Cache processors are on the way; AMD has already confirmed that. It’s no secret that AMD’s 3D-stacked cache is a winning strategy to top the charts of the best gaming processors, but if AMD holds the Ryzen 7 7700X3D as long it held last gen’s version, it’s going to be tough to recommend.

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Outclassed in an instant

Someone holding the Ryzen 7 5800X3D in a red light.
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

The Ryzen  7 5800X3D launched on April 20, 2022, and six months later, it’s not the gaming champion it once was. Launched at $450, it was the go-to processor for gaming, outperforming chips that ran almost twice as much. Now that Intel’s Raptor Lake and AMD’s Ryzen 7000 processors are here, however, it doesn’t look as enticing.

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Sure, the flagship Core i9-13900K and Ryzen 9 7950X offer better gaming performance, but that’s not the problem. The Core i5-13600K and Ryzen 5 7600X also outclass last gen’s 3D V-Cache chip in most games, all while costing around $150 less. At launch, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D claimed the second-highest result we’d recorded in Forza Horizon 4, only surpassed by Intel’s Core i9-12900K. Now, the Ryzen 7 7600X is nearly 16% faster, while the Core i5-13600K is 20% ahead.

Intel Raptor Lake performance in Forza Horizon 4.

In Far Cry 6, where the Ryzen 7 5800X3D showed a dominating lead of 28% over the Ryzen 9 5950X, it now only shows about a 4% lead over the Core i5-13600K and Ryzen 5 7600X. And in titles like Red Dead Redemption 2 where the Ryzen 7 5800X3D struggled, the current-gen AMD and Intel midrange options are some 17% ahead.

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Intel Raptor Lake performance in Far Cry 6.
Intel Raptor Lake performance in Red Dead Redemption 2.

In short, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D has become obsolete. It’s not a bad processor — I actually have one in a small form factor PC for gaming on the couch — but there’s little reason to pick one up now. It’s more expensive than newer processors that offer better performance, plain and simple. At launch, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D was a massive value win for gamers, but it only stole the limelight for a brief time.

And that’s a shame for gamers. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D was never a great processor overall, taking a clear backseat to its competitors in basically every task but gaming. Still, it offered a huge boost in gaming performance at a price that Intel and even AMD itself couldn’t match with processors in the main lineup. I hope the Ryzen 7 7700X3D arrives sooner, so it can have the time to shine that it deserves.

All eyes on CES

Dr. Lisa Su presenting AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D.

Hopefully, we’ll have a clearer view of AMD’s 3D V-Cache plans soon. Rumors say that the company will announce two 3D V-Cache processors at CES, while we previously heard rumors that AMD planned to launch three chips. It doesn’t matter if we get two or three processors; I just hope we see Ryzen 7000 3D V-Cache processors at all.

Ryzen 5000 launched in November 2020, and the Ryzen 7 5800X3D was the last processor to launch in the range (a year and a half after the first processors rolled out). AMD’s current roadmap suggests it will release next-gen Ryzen processors sometime in late 2023, but that’s unconfirmed at this point. Regardless, one thing is clear: The clock is ticking for the Ryzen 7 7700X3D to not be trumped by the generation that follows.

Hopefully, the extra time the Ryzen 7 5800X3D took in the oven was to refine 3D V-Cache, and we’ll get the Ryzen 7000 versions soon. Right now, it’s tough to recommend the processor with the Ryzen 5 7600X and Core i5-13600K floating around, especially for those who aren’t focused solely on gaming.

Although the Ryzen 7 7700X3D could top gaming charts like its last-gen counterpart, we still don’t know at this point. It’s important to wait for third-party testing before making any assumptions about the chip.

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