AMD Ryzen 7 3800X vs 3800XT vs 3700X: What are The Key Differences?

AMD is officially refreshing the Zen 2 lineup on the 7th of July, with new ‘Matisse‘ processors that are small improvements over the already existing ones. For this article, we are going to focus on the 8 core 3800XT which received the biggest clock speed increase out of this new lineup, the other two CPUs being the 6 core / 12 thread Ryzen 5 3600XT and the 12 core / 24 thread Ryzen 9 3900XT. Don’t worry though, we have formulated spec comparisons on the latter two CPUs as well; feel free to check them out on our website!

We have compiled the specs of all current Ryzen 7 generation 8 core products from AMD into a spec comparison table in order to make everything easier; we will be comparing the newly-released Ryzen 7 3800XT with the already established Ryzen 7 3700X & Ryzen 7 3800X released last year on the same 7th of July launch date. Being a refresh, the performance uplift won’t be anything significant but its worthy to mention that all Ryzen XT processors will feature a healthy 4% increase in single-core performance across the board over the existing Zen 2 Matisse parts, mostly coming from boost clock algorithm and Infinity Fabric tweaking. AMD also claims a hefty 40% better efficiency when compared to the competitor, Intel.

Ryzen 7 3700X vs 3800X vs 3800XT: Specification Comparison

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 3700X	AMD Ryzen 7 3800X	AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
Design
Cores / Threads	8 / 16	8 / 16	8 / 16
Base Clock	3.6 GHz	3.9 GHz	3.9 GHz
Max Boost Clock	4.4 GHz	4.5 GHz	4.7 GHz
L3 Cache	32 MB	32 MB	32 MB
TDP	65 W	105 W	105 W
Architecture	Zen 2	Zen 2	Zen 2
Process	7 nm	7 nm	7 nm
Socket	AM4	AM4	AM4
FP32 Performance	1,689.6 GFLOPS	1,728.0 GFLOPS	1,804.8 GFLOPS
Die Size	74 mm²	74 mm²	74 mm²
Transistors	3,800 million	3,800 million	3,800 million
Launch Date	July 7th 2019	July 7th 2019	July 7th 2020
Launch Price	$329	$399	$399
Availability	Amazon	Amazon	Amazon

These new XT processors are an intermediate generation between Zen 2 and Zen 3 which is possible due to good yields and manufacturing process optimizations. The much-awaited Zen 3 CPUs, the 4000 series are not delayed and will be launching later this year. Hardware-wise, things are almost identical, as expected from a mid-life refresh but clock speeds are up both for the core speed and the Infinity Fabric speed, the interconnected mesh that allows AMD to ‘glue’ their cores together with the very fast core to core communication. The rest is pretty much the same for the 3800XT when compared to its closest ancestor, the Ryzen 7 3800X; it still sports 8 cores / 16 threads, the same amount of L3 cache has the same Die size and power consumption is similar.

TSMC’s 7nm process is maturing better and better and this is why AMD pushed this refresh – because they can release these new CPUs as a decent step up in performance at the same price point as the previous Matisse Zen 2 CPUs. The 3800XT got the biggest leap in clock speed as its up 200MHz over the 3800X, making it pegged together with the higher end 3900XT at 4.7 GHz. Intel will really have to scratch their head on this one since a 4.7 GHz Ryzen beats the single-core performance of even a 5.2 GHz Intel core CPU.

The most exciting improvement we can hardly wait to test here at PremiumBuilds is the tweaks AMD brought to the Infinity Fabric speed. Previously, the Zen 2 processor kept the IF speed at a max of 1,800 MHz when on a 1:1 ratio with the memory speed. AMD is now claiming that they upped that to 2,000 MHz out of the box so we are excited to see what this 10% boost will bring to the table in latency-sensitive applications like games because we already know how much of an impact great RAM speed has on Ryzen. We don’t believe Intel will lose the gaming performance crown at the high end because that is likely going to happen with the Ryzen 4000 series but this Ryzen 7 3800XT processor with the updated max boost speeds and Infinity Fabric improvements might take the ball so close in Intel’s court that the difference will be too subtle to notice. This technology is the biggest reason why AMD has such a scalable architecture and affords to make bigger and bigger CPUs with great yields and performance for a great price.

The closest Intel competitor price-wise would be the Intel Core i7 10700K and as of this refresh, the Ryzen 7 3800XT will have a better single-core and multi-core speed combined. This refresh really is a scary sight for AMD’s competitor, Intel; it shows how Intel’s 10th gen generation can be closely matched with a minimal effort from AMD’s part and at lower prices. We don’t have a lot of information on the upcoming Zen 3 architecture but we know it’s going to launch in 2020 and that its enough of a performance jump to look good even when compared with the Zen 2 refresh. Don’t get us wrong though, the Ryzen 7 3800XT together with the other two are great options today both value and performance-wise and if you can’t find a good offer on the outgoing models, getting one of these will make your PC sing for many years to come.

Ryzen 7 3800XT vs 3800X: Benchmarks Comparison

Benchmarks are now available after the Ryzen XT NDA lift; one of the new CPUs in the lineup is the Ryzen 7 3800XT which is an improved Ryzen 7 3800X with the same 8 cores and 16 threads but higher boost clock speeds and other small architectural tweaks. Can this new CPU beat its predecessor in order to justify its current retail price?

We’ve benchmarked the Ryzen 7 3800XT against other popular high-end CPUs using the 1080p resolution and a RTX 2080 Ti in order to acquire the best results. All CPUs are tested within the same environment and same graphics settings by looking at the average FPS and 1% Low FPS numbers. We’ve used CoD: Modern Warfare, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, DOOM: Eternal, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Jedi: Fallen Order as our gaming test suite to better understand how this new processor handles your gaming experience.

Lets get right into it!

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

Counter Strike: Global Offensive

Red Dead Redemption 2

Jedi: Fallen Order

DOOM: Eternal

The Ryzen 7 3800XT is, as expected, a very good gaming CPU, capable of high average FPS and consistent 1% Lows. We’ve never felt a stuttery experience or the processor utilization to get out of hand. The top gaming CPU on the market right now, the Core i9 10900K is just 6% faster in average and 7% faster in 1% Lows than the Ryzen 7 3800XT, making the latter a very good option considering its 25% cheaper. Because all games run with such high frame rates its also almost impossible to feel any difference in gaming performance even if statistically, it’s slightly slower than the 10900K.

When compared to the processor its replacing, not much has changed. The Ryzen 7 3800XT is now 1% better in both average and 1% Low fps, making the results be just margin of error. Needless to say that AMD didn’t innovate with this stop-gap generation and just pushed the clocks a little higher. The Ryzen 7 3800X and 3700X are still better valued when compared to the 3800XT because they are both heavily discounted and the 3800XT currently retails for MSRP.

Average FPS & 1% Low FPS results (higher is better)

The Ryzen 7 3800XT is also not a great contender when analyzing the cost-per-frame and this happens both because AMD decided not to include a stock heat sink in the retail box so you need to buy a separate compatible one. Great air coolers for the Ryzen 7 3800XT start around the $60 mark and we factored that in our cost-per-frame chart. If you’re in the market for an 8 core 16 thread Ryzen CPU and you don’t mind a few % performance deficit, then the Ryzen 7 3700X is a better value offer. If you’d compare

Overall though, these CPUs can all do gaming very well and you can’t go wrong with either if you closely watch the pricing on each platform.

Cost per frame & value (lower is better)

Multicore workstation performance (higher is better)

Ryzen is a great multi core architecture and the numbers definitely show that. You’re getting the best value at each price point with these processors and the Ryzen 7 3800XT is no exception. Boasting 8 cores and 16 threads, the Ryzen 7 3800XT is the best 8 core CPU on the market right now with impressive performance in the applications that can leverage the full 16 threads. The 3800XT scores 8% better in multi threaded workloads when compared to the Ryzen 7 3700X but you need to be careful at the slight price premium you’re paying for this new part over the outgoing Ryzen generation.

The Ryzen 7 3800XT will single handedly handle gaming, streaming and even rendering all at the same time and this is the beauty of having such a strong worker in your system. Stutter free gaming and faster workloads will provide you with a better quality of life during everyday use.

Conclusion

We hope that we’ve been concise and have compiled all this information in a simple format for you to get up to date with the 2020 Zen 2 refresh. If you want to upgrade to the 3800XT or any of these Zen 2 XT processors, you’ll have nothing to worry about when talking about compatibility as you’ll be able to use older AM4 boards with BIOS updates to be up and running (or with USB BIOS Flashback). The only hindrance we can see with these new XT models is the lack of a box cooler on the 3800XT and 3900XT; that’s right, AMD doesn’t include a stock cooler on these two CPUs, claiming that an aftermarket one will help the CPU stretch its legs and perform more consistently. We believe AMD’s internal testing and have compiled a list with the best coolers for the new generation 3800XT and 3900XT.

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