Recommended System Requirements | ||
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Game | Core i7-9700KF 8-Core 3.6GHz | Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core 3.6GHz |
Red Dead Redemption 2 | 33% | 47% |
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 50% | 60% |
Halo: Reach | 72% | 78% |
Star Wars: Jedi - Fallen Order | 26% | 41% |
Cyberpunk 2077 | 43% | 55% |
Borderlands 3 | 33% | 47% |
FIFA 20 | 52% | 62% |
Halo: The Master Chief Collection | 33% | 47% |
Fortnite: Chapter 2 | 63% | 71% |
eFootball PES 2020 | 45% | 56% |
In terms of overall gaming performance, the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core 3.6GHz is massively better than the Intel Core i7-9700KF 8-Core 3.6GHz when it comes to running the latest games. This also means it will be less likely to bottleneck more powerful GPUs, allowing them to achieve more of their gaming performance potential.
The Ryzen 7 3700X was released less than a year after the Core i7-9700KF 8-Core, and so they are likely to have similar levels of support, and similarly optimized performance when running the latest games.
Both CPUs exhibit very powerful performance, so it probably isn't worth upgrading from one to the other, as both are capable of running even the most demanding games at the highest settings (assuming they are accompanied by equivalently powerful GPUs).
The Core i7-9700KF 8-Core and the Ryzen 7 3700X both have 8 cores. Games are not yet able to harness this many cores, so it is probably excessive if you mean to just run the latest games; however, if you intend on running a server with this CPU, it would seem to be a decent choice.
The Ryzen 7 3700X has 8 more threads than the Core i7-9700KF 8-Core. The Core i7-9700KF 8-Core has one thread per physical core, whereas the Ryzen 7 3700X uses hyperthreading and has 2 logical threads per physical core.
Multiple threads are useful for improving the performance of multi-threaded applications. Additional cores and their accompanying thread will always be beneficial for multi-threaded applications. Hyperthreading will be beneficial for applications optimized for it, but it may slow others down. For games, the number of threads is largely irrelevant, as long as you have at least 2 cores (preferably 4), and hyperthreading can sometimes even hit performance.
More important for gaming than the number of cores and threads is the clock rate. Problematically, unless the two CPUs are from the same family, this can only serve as a general guide and nothing like an exact comparison, because the clock cycles per instruction (CPI) will vary so much.
The Core i7-9700KF 8-Core and Ryzen 7 3700X are not from the same family of CPUs, so their clock speeds are by no means directly comparable. Bear in mind, then, that while the Core i7-9700KF 8-Core and the Ryzen 7 3700X both have the same clock frequency, this is by no means an indicator that the two CPUs will provide the same level of performance. As such, we need to look elsewhere for more reliable comparisons.
Aside from the clock rate, the next-most important CPU features for PC game performance are L2 and L3 cache size. Faster than RAM, the more cache available, the more data that can be stored for lightning-fast retrieval. L1 Cache is not usually an issue anymore for gaming, with most high-end CPUs eking out about the same L1 performance, and L2 is more important than L3 - but L3 is still important if you want to reach the highest levels of performance. Bear in mind that although it is better to have a larger cache, the larger it is, the higher the latency, so a balance has to be struck.
The maximum Thermal Design Power is the power in Watts that the CPU will consume in the worst case scenario. The lithography is the semiconductor manufacturing technology being used to create the CPU - the smaller this is, the more transistors that can be fit into the CPU, and the closer the connections. For both the lithography and the TDP, it is the lower the better, because a lower number means a lower amount of power is necessary to run the CPU, and consequently a lower amount of heat is produced.
The Ryzen 7 3700X has a 30 Watt lower Maximum TDP than the Core i7-9700KF 8-Core, and was created with a 7 nm smaller manufacturing technology. What this means is the Ryzen 7 3700X will consume significantly less power and consequently produce less heat, enabling more prolonged computational tasks with fewer adverse effects. This will lower your yearly electricity bill significantly, as well as prevent you from having to invest in extra cooling mechanisms (unless you overclock).
CPU Codename | Coffee Lake | Zen 2 | |||
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MoBo Socket | LGA 1151 | Socket AM4 | |||
Notebook CPU | no | no | |||
Release Date | 31 Jan 2019 | 07 Jul 2019 | |||
CPU Link | GD Link | GD Link | |||
Approved | ![]() | ![]() |
CPU Cores | 8 | ![]() | vs | ![]() | 8 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
CPU Threads | 8 | vs | ![]() | 16 | |
Clock Speed | 3.6 GHz | ![]() | vs | ![]() | 3.6 GHz |
Turbo Frequency | 4.9 GHz | ![]() | vs | 4.4 GHz | |
Max TDP | 95 W | vs | ![]() | 65 W | |
Lithography | 14 nm | vs | ![]() | 7 nm | |
Bit Width | 64 Bit | ![]() | vs | ![]() | 64 Bit |
Max Temperature | 100°C | ![]() | vs | - | |
Virtualization Technology | no | vs | no | ||
Comparison |
L1 Cache Size | - | vs | ![]() | 512 KB | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
L2 Cache Size | - | vs | ![]() | 4096 KB | |
L3 Cache Size | 12 MB | vs | ![]() | 32 MB | |
Max Memory Size | - | ![]() | vs | ![]() | 64 GB |
Memory Channels | - | vs | ![]() | 4 | |
ECC Memory Support | no | vs | no | ||
Comparison |
Graphics | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Base GPU Frequency | - | vs | - | ||
Max GPU Frequency | - | vs | - | ||
DirectX | - | vs | - | ||
Displays Supported | - | vs | - | ||
Comparison |
Package Size | 37.5mm x 37.5mm | vs | - | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Revision | - | vs | - | ||
PCIe Revision | - | vs | - | ||
PCIe Configurations | - | vs | - |
Performance Value | ![]() |
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Mini Review | The Core i7-9700KF 8-Core 3.6GHz is a high-end CPU based on Intel's 9th Gen 14nm, Coffee Lake refresh microarchitecture. It offers 8 physical cores (8 logical) initially clocked at 3.6GHz, which may go up to 4.9GHz using Turbo Boost. The 9700KF is almost identical to the Core i7-9700K aside from the lack of integrated graphics. It has an unlocked multiplier and can therefore be overclocked using traditional methods. It has 12MB of SmartCache. Intel SmartCache refers to the architecture that allows all cores to dynamically share access to the last level cache. Level 3 cache is a static memory bank of a processor and it is used to feed it instructions. This processor also supports DDR4 based RAMs with maximum memory support of 64GB. The Core i7-9700KF 8-Core 3.6GHz has a maximum Thermal Power Design of 95W. It is on par with competitor processors. Among its many advanced features are Intel Optane Memory support, Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 and Virtualization technology. The Core i7-9700KF 8-Core 3.6GHz does not feature integrated graphics. This CPU is likely to offer decent computational performance and will not be a bottleneck in all but the most CPU-intensive AAA games in 2019. | The Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core 3.6GHz is a high-end CPU based on AMD's 7nm Zen 2 microarchitecture. It offers 8 physical cores (16 logical), initially clocked at 3.6GHz, which may go up to 4.4GHz using Precision Boost. It has an unlocked multiplier, therefore, it can be overclocked using traditional methods. As an AMD 'X' CPU, the Ryzen 5 3700X can use eXtended Frequency Range (XFR) for automated overclocking. It has 32MB of L3 Cache. Level 3 cache is a static memory bank of a processor and it is used to feed it instructions. This processor also supports DDR4 based RAMs with maximum memory support of 64GB. It has a maximum Thermal Power Design of 65W. It is power efficient compared to competitor processors. Among its many features are Simultaneous Multithreading, Cool n Quiet, CoolCore Technology, Extended Frequency Range (XFR), Pure Power and Precision Boost are enabled. |
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