AMD Ryzen 9 7900X Review

Fantastic multi-core performance; Top class gaming speeds; Future-proofed with PCIe 5.0 and DDR5; Great power efficiency;

Requires a powerful cooling system; Can find better value gaming CPUs elsewhere; Worth waiting for Intel Raptor Lake before buying;

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X Review

Simply put, AMD's flagship Ryzen 9 7950X is a multi-threading monster of a mainstream CPU. It commands a hefty power draw, an even heftier cooler, and (most consequential to you) a steep price, at $699 MSRP (though discounted a bit these days). For certain professions in which time literally is money, increased performance means the increased output of projects. However, if you have high-tech demands but your livelihood isn't determined by your PC's processing power, models just under the flagship often deliver nearly as much performance but are available for significantly less, like the $549-MSRP AMD Ryzen 9 7900X. Also often discounted, its list price is a smidge more than 20% lower than the 7950X's. For that, you get 25% fewer cores and a slightly higher base clock speed. Everything else remains the same. While we're impressed by the 7900X, dropping the "X" and going for the AMD Ryzen 7900 could save you even more money with slightly lesser (but still comparable) performance a...

AMD's Ryzen 9 7900X is essentially a cut-back 7950X at a lower price. For heavy-threaded workloads (but not "32 threads" heavy), the 7900X delivers—but AMD's 7900 performs just about as well for even less.

Ideal for mid-to-high-end content creation work

Pricey at MSRP for what it provides; Power-hungry; Needs heavy-duty cooling to reach full potential; No stock cooler in box