AMD has been killing the competition with an array of fantastic offerings in the CPU market. Ryzen has been a game-changer for people like me who make builds constantly but always hesitate when it comes to spending so much on Intel’s weighty CPU division.
Ryzen has also become harder to understand though as they’ve released more and more products in a pretty small period of time. Unlike Intel though, many of these products have been huge innovations causing Intel to shrink a bit in the scheme of things. The Core-Count and Thread-Count of these new processors is unreal.
For those of us who need that extra multitasking power, like streamers, there is real value in the Ryzen series. These aren’t cheap by any means and that’s ok, these are the best processors you can get right now.
Related Post: Ryzen 3900x vs Intel i7-10700K
Ryzen 3800X vs 3800XT vs 3900X
Ryzen 3800X – Performance
The Ryzen 3800X is a great CPU, it has 8 cores and 16 threads which is really amazing when you consider how it wasn’t very long ago that multi-core architecture seemed like something from the future. As far as the 3800X goes, it goes head to head with some of the best CPU options on the market and doesn’t miss a beat.
There is a sweet spot for processors and Ryzen 7 has hit it with the 3800X. Basically when it comes to gaming, you won’t see a big difference by upgrading past this point and even if you throw a lot of cash at it, the most you would see is a handful of frames.
The consistency of this CPU is also stunning. Rather than deviate too much and make framerates wonky, the 3800X is just a powerhouse that often keeps power from shifting around. Some benchmarks show 1% shift in power compared to many that may struggle with 6 or 7 percent shifts.
If you were to tell me a couple years ago that AMD would be outperforming Intel, I’d laugh. Yet I found myself somewhat sad having bought an i7-9700k without realizing they silently removed hyper-threading from the i7 series. I literally bought it to do media and Intel pulled a nasty and put that in the i9 series. Frustrating to see, but I have hope my next CPU will be from whatever Ryzen line is out because they are crushing it!
Ryzen 3800XT – Performance
Why would I consider the 3800XT? Simply put it’s a hardware refresh. Over the course of the year, processors often get new tweaks or an additional change here and there.
The difference between the 3800X and 3800XT mostly comes down to improved performance in GFLOPS (1,728 vs 1,804) which doesn’t mean a lot to the casual user. It also allows for a bit more overclocking room with a 4.7 GHz Max Boost Clock compared to the 4.5 GHz.
Truthfully though, they’re practically the same processor. So don’t be insane and run our and replace your X with an XT. If you have the choice though, it’s the same price, stronger, better designed, and a simple buy. So run with the 3800XT.
Ryzen 3900X – Enthusiast
I would put this in my rig in a heartbeat. 12-core, 24-thread. This thing is insane! It’s not that much more expensive than the 3800XT either. It keeps that high performance games that you’d expect to find from a good processor without sacrificing the speed that most processors in this niche accidentally do.
Most high core/thread count processors sort of suck at gaming or at least don’t add much value. Where this shines though is video editing. This is the sort of CPU someone in an industry needing intense computing power would want.
For instance, those who make content for Youtube or work with film production can get a huge boost in rendering speed with the Ryzen 3900X.
If you do some sort of computer based research that is CPU intensive as well, this might be one of the best options before getting into really pricey top-tier industrial processors (Like Threadripper). If you are gaming… it’s best to go cheaper.
While all the threads and cores are great, most modern games just cannot take advantage of all the power efficiently. This actually can result in lower performance because high-thread/high core-count CPU tend to actually run at lower clock speeds. It’s like having ten engines in a race.
If you are pulling something heavy, you want as many engines as possible. If you are racing, you want one or two of the smallest engines. Games will use the fastest engines but often fail in performance. I do love though that in benchmarks, the 3900X is amazing with games and media.
That’s a win. I edit a ton of content in Adobe Premiere though and the 3900X would be my work station pick while the 3800 would be my gaming pick. Honestly if I’m spending $400 on a processor though I might just upgrade to future-proof.
Who is the winner?
The largest difference is between the 3800 series and the 3900X. Once you add this many threads and this many core counts, you actually have to know why you are building your computer to be the way it is.
A stronger CPU for instance doesn’t translate to better performance in games directly. It might though be what cuts your insane rendering time making videos down to something more manageable. The 3900X is just really impressive, and kind makes me swoon a bit.
Thanks for joining us!
You can’t go wrong with any of these CPU options. As a hardcore PC Gamer myself, I love the new Ryzen series and find them a world apart from the offerings even five years ago.
These CPU’s make epic builds affordable and in the case of the 3900X, make a 4K editing machine a reality! I would recommend considering them if you want something that games at the best FPS and can handle Adobe like a champ. As always, thanks for reading and we hope to see you back here soon!
