Question 3700x vs 5700x

[jamesdsimone]

If I decide to upgrade is the 5700x that much better than the 3700x? 3700x's are listed at less than 100USD on ebay. 5700x's are around 200USB. The CPU is going to be used for gaming and transcoding. Is there any reason to get a 12 core CPU?

 

[coercitiv]

The CPU is going to be used for gaming and transcoding. Is there any reason to get a 12 core CPU?

In terms of transcoding the 5700X is comparable to 3900X in performance. Obviously it depends on the encoder, but you can see a simple breakdown here.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

The 5700X is a better investment going forward.

As @coercitiv pointed out, transcoding is an easy win for the 5700X. I can't speak to that, because I use NVENC like the filthy casual I am.

I don't think a modern 12 core is necessary for a gaming build either. There are some games that can leverage them, but a 16 thread Zen 3, 12600K, 13600K, are well suited to the task. Consoles use a Zen 2 I have read is comparable to a 3700X so anything faster with as many cores is a good choice. The added overhead on the PC being the reason the 3700X is a bit underpowered for the job moving forward.

 

[jamesdsimone]

I use Handbrake and Linux to transcode and truthfully the transcoding speed is secondary. I had been transcoding with my old FX8350 which did a pretty good job. I usually use very high settings when I transcode DVD's and it usually would finish trandscoding 2 DVD's before I even checked back so I'm the bottleneck when it comes to that. So gaming is the primary concern. I think I have to flash the BIOS on my MB to use the 5700X.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Since you already have an AM4 board, the 5700X is the way to go. I have a 5800X and 3700X; while you would not be able to tell the difference the majority of the time, in games like Cyberpunk and Spiderman Miles Morales using ray tracing, the 3700X can struggle with frame pacing in more demanding areas. Which makes it poorly suited for CPU heavy future titles.

If you don't use ray tracing the 3700X should be fine for a few more years. So if $100 or more is best spent elsewhere in your life, not the worst pick in that scenario.

 

[nicalandia]

If I decide to upgrade is the 5700x that much better than the 3700x? 3700x's are listed at less than 100USD on ebay. 5700x's are around 200USB. The CPU is going to be used for gaming and transcoding. Is there any reason to get a 12 core CPU?

Might as well get the 5800X3D

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Might as well get the 5800X3D

I thought about that, but he is already deciding if paying more than $100 is worth it. Asking him to pay over 3 times as much is really pushing the budget. Also, if he gets a 3700X for $95 and needs to upgrade in a couple of years, he will be able to swap it for the 3D at that point and probably still pay less in total than buying the 3D now.

 

[blckgrffn]

Might as well get the 5800X3D

If you got the extra $100, I second this. It's an elite CPU and you'll never wonder if you should upgrade your CPU in your existing board. It's the apex predator of FPS in AM4.

As @DAPUNISHER points out, if you are rather hard capped at $200, I still think the $100 is fine to get to the 5700X now.

I was working with a family to do a Christmas build in this type of cost range and when we missed the 12700K with nice board at $325 at Microcenter, I fell back to a 5700X/B550 build.

Luckily a new deal came up for the 12600K so we pivoted for even less, but I was planning to go the 5700X route in real life, this isn't my idle theory crafting.

Let's be plain though - the 3700X at sub $100? Not a bad choice either. At $100, $200 and $300 price points I think these are all very viable options.

Now, if you have a Microcenter available, I might feel differently

 

[jamesdsimone]

I think I do have a Microcenter.

 

[Thunder 57]

The 5700X just hit $199 on Amazon today. I decided it was well worth it to replace my 2600X. I don't use Handbrake much, but I'm sure it will be a huge boost. From what I have seen the 5700X is slightly faster in Handbrake than the 3900X.

I just checked the 3700X on eBay. Unless you get lucky/patient they are going for more like $120-130. Between a used 3700X at that price or a new 5700X at $200, I know what I would pick.

Also, it's nice to be able to do in place CPU upgrades again. Thanks AMD!

 

[blckgrffn]

The 5700X just hit $199 on Amazon today. I decided it was well worth it to replace my 2600X. I don't use Handbrake much, but I'm sure it will be a huge boost. From what I have seen the 5700X is slightly faster in Handbrake than the 3900X.

I just checked the 3700X on eBay. Unless you get lucky/patient they are going for more like $120-130. Between a used 3700X at that price or a new 5700X at $200, I know what I would pick.

Also, it's nice to be able to do in place CPU upgrades again. Thanks AMD!

I believe there's a 3700X in our FS/FT forum right now for $100 shipped, which is miles better than eBay anyway IMO

@jamesdsimone if you have a local MC, checkout the 12600K with Z690 board for $250 or the 12700K with Z690 board for ~$325. I personally favor the AMD way of things, but these are really solid kit for cheaper than a 5700X and a decent motherboard, even a B450. It's just and outstanding value.

They have a meh 3600 with a "free" board for $150 (was hot at $100 a couple weeks ago) and then their real combos are on the new Ryzen CPUs and that's going to be a couple hundred more easily, even with free DDR5 and a $20 board discount.

 

[bzb_Elder]

If there is a microcenter nearby, any reason the 5800x isn't worth $30 over the 5700x? Just curious. My son picked up a 5800x on black friday for $200. I agree though on the Intel deals. Picked up a 12700k / mobo combo myself. Incredible value. And I've been a Ryzen 1600->3600 user since the Ryzen's came out.

 

[coercitiv]

If there is a microcenter nearby, any reason the 5800x isn't worth $30 over the 5700x? Just curious.

Strictly from a value perspective, not worth it, especially for someone debating between a cheaper CPU and the 5700X. However, for those not tempted by perfect value buys, the 5800X might be a slightly superior chip.

The average buyer should just pick based on the intended use:

• want something that needs modest cooling at stock? get 5700X
• want something that offers max performance out of the box? get 5800X

You can always make one behave more like the other, but the average user may not want the hassle.

Picked up a 12700k / mobo combo myself. Incredible value.

I smiled a bit seeing your choice of case: I have my 12700K sitting in a O11 Dynamic Mini, at the time of my build mITX boards were too hard to find and the Lian Li case allowed me to keep system height low even with an ATX board.

 

[jamesdsimone]

Couldn't see how to delete the post.

 

[jamesdsimone]

Strictly from a value perspective, not worth it, especially for someone debating between a cheaper CPU and the 5700X. However, for those not tempted by perfect value buys, the 5800X might be a slightly superior chip.

The average buyer should just pick based on the intended use:

• want something that needs modest cooling at stock? get 5700X
• want something that offers max performance out of the box? get 5800X

You can always make one behave more like the other, but the average user may not want the hassle.


I smiled a bit seeing your choice of case: I have my 12700K sitting in a O11 Dynamic Mini, at the time of my build mITX boards were too hard to find and the Lian Li case allowed me to keep system height low even with an ATX board.

I appreciate all the MB input but I have an MSI X470 Gaming Plus Max so I'm good there. I can get a 3700X for around 100 but it will take some patience. Right now a new retail box 5700X is 199.00 on Newegg. I thought about the 5800X but it's the same CPU just clocked 100mhz faster so not really much difference. The 5700X is a 65 watt part vs 105 watts for the 5800X so that's an advantage for the 5700X. I have water cooling so I can overclock at some point if I want to. This all goes back to the 2700X that I bent pins on. I finally got it installed and posting but the last time I did it wouldn't post properly. I have been so swamped with work I have not had time to get back to it. If I can get the 2700X to post, I'll get that up and running and go from there but if not I think at this point the 5700X seems like the way to go. I might have to flash the BIOS but the X470 has a clear CMOS button so I can't brick it right.

 

[blckgrffn]

I appreciate all the MB input but I have an MSI X470 Gaming Plus Max so I'm good there. I can get a 3700X for around 100 but it will take some patience. Right now a new retail box 5700X is 199.00 on Newegg. I thought about the 5800X but it's the same CPU just clocked 100mhz faster so not really much difference. The 5700X is a 65 watt part vs 105 watts for the 5800X so that's an advantage for the 5700X. I have water cooling so I can overclock at some point if I want to. This all goes back to the 2700X that I bent pins on. I finally got it installed and posting but the last time I did it wouldn't post properly. I have been so swamped with work I have not had time to get back to it. If I can get the 2700X to post, I'll get that up and running and go from there but if not I think at this point the 5700X seems like the way to go. I might have to flash the BIOS but the X470 has a clear CMOS button so I can't brick it right.

Like I said there is a 3700x in the FS/ft forum right now for $100.

Thanks for clarification that you’ve got a motherboard already. It makes sense based on your question.

Does your board support a flash without the CPU in? I would be a bit leery of flashing with a CPU you don’t trust in there. There might be some sort of flashback feature but you want to be figuring that out before you start.

Just recently I spent about 3 hours my life sweating a firmware update on an Intel Xtreme board of all things after it wouldn’t post because I didn’t flash all the versions between but instead made a big jump. Luckily it did have a blind recovery function in a particular USB port. Pay attention to the versions available and if they indicate a minimum version step, take it. Keep that nice motherboard working

 

[jamesdsimone]

I don't know if it will flash without a CPU. I don't think so since I had problems getting it to power on when the CPU was not seated properly. I'm hoping to play with it this weekend to see if it will post. I had it posted to the
BIOS but then it would post to the BIOS and then go directly to an error screen. I had a HD which
S.M.A.R.T reported as bad. I removed it so hoping that was the issue.

 

[Mloot]

My son recently replaced his 2700x with a 5700x on a b350 Tomahawk board. He said he has noticed a real difference in gaming, since his 2700x seemed to be choking his 3070ti. As a side benefit, he says that his room doesn't seem to heat up as much during gaming sessions with the new cpu.

 

[Shmee]

I would say get a 5700X, or, maybe a 5900X if you can find one for a good price used. 5900X will help with the transcoding, and it will be fast in gaming.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I went with the 5900X.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I don't know if it will flash without a CPU. I don't think so since I had problems getting it to power on when the CPU was not seated properly. I'm hoping to play with it this weekend to see if it will post. I had it posted to the
BIOS but then it would post to the BIOS and then go directly to an error screen. I had a HD which
S.M.A.R.T reported as bad. I removed it so hoping that was the issue.

Your board doesn't have bios flashback.

I have used a toothpick to nudge the pins back, then took a credit card I shaved the edge of, to make certain they are properly aligned. Never had a issue afterwards. If it doesn't drop in i.e. zero insertion force, keep at it until it does. Then flash the bios for the Zen 3 support.

 

[In2Photos]

I have seen others use a mechanical pencil without lead in it to slide over the pin. The pencil provides excellent leverage while applying force to the entire pin. Just go slow.

 

[Noid]

Your not going to get a big increase with the same core count.
I did this upgrade and was a bit disappointed.

( If you already have the same amount of cores )

[edit]
My 3700 was a better overclocker
( ran multiple BIOS profiles with low heat )

My 5700 required lots of memory tuning. Stock voltages ran the chip HOT. Lower overclocking " flexibility " ( my chip is hard to cool with air cooling ( Noctua )

 

[lopri]

5800X is $200 and 5700X is $190 at Microcenter.

 

[aigomorla]

Are you a gamer?
If yes: get a 5800X3D instead.

If No: No, keep the 3700x, and just save up for a new generation as Ryzen has changed socket entirely this gen, and you'll probably want to migrate on the new platform when your 3700X feels dated.