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 upcoming 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. The AMD 3000XT Matisse Refresh family is expected to hit retail on the 7th of July.
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.
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.
As soon as we can get our hands on these CPUs and after the NDA will lift, we will further cover the Zen 2 Matisse refresh with benchmarks and gaming/productivity comparisons against its most fierce competitors at any price range. Stay tuned!