The middle child in AMD's new-for-2020 trio of Ryzen XT processors, the Ryzen 7 3800XT ($399) is a desktop CPU plagued by the same problem as its 2019 Ryzen 7 3800X predecessor. And that problem has a name: Ryzen 7 3700X. Even with AMD's refinements to its 7-nanometer (7nm) manufacturing process in the XT line of chips, the 3800XT can't quite find its way to a level of greatness that matches its price point. The chip adds up to a rare value misfire for AMD, in a year in which the company has seldom made a misstep. Midrange content creators will see better returns on an investment in the Ryzen XT family with the Ryzen 5 3600XT, and the Editors' Choice-winning Ryzen 7 3700X often scored so close to the Ryzen 7 3800XT in both content creation and gaming that, at times, it was hard to tell them apart. With AMD's next-generation Zen 3 around the corner (coming by the end of 2020, the company insists at the moment), the Ryzen 7 3800XT is a not a bad chip by itself, but it's outclassed ...
It's undeniably a muscle chip, but on price, content-creation power, and gaming results, AMD's Ryzen 7 3800XT can't quite escape the shadow of the too-good, too-cheap Ryzen 7 3700X.
Clear gains in Cinebench R15 and R20; Fast single-core POV-Ray results; Capable overclocker, in our sample
Ryzen 7 3700X is a tough eight-core price competitor; For pure gaming, a difficult value play against Ryzen 3 3300X; Other Ryzen chips are more cost-effective engines for content creation; Unlike Ryzen 7 3700X, no bundled cooler