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The Ryzen 9 7900 was launched as a low-cost alternative to the higher-end Ryzen 9 7900X and the Ryzen 9 7950X. Interestingly, the budget chip costs $430, which makes it over $100 cheaper than the higher-end processors.
At CES 2023, AMD showcased the Ryzen 7000 non-X chips alongside the 3D V-caching enabled Zen 4 processors. They are currently available for purchase at leading retailers like Newegg, Target, Walmart, and more.
The 7900 comes with a tighter power budget and slower clock speeds in comparison to the Ryzen 9 7900X and the 7950X. In general, this makes it a better option for most gamers as the brand's higher-end chips require a similarly high-end motherboard to deliver an optimum performance. However, a cheaper B650 board will suffice for these processors.
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How much performance are gamers giving up while opting for this new 12-core CPU instead of the latest and greatest from the chip manufacturer? Let's analyze the differences between the chips and try to find an answer.
The Ryzen 9 7900 is efficiency at its peak, but this chip is not for everyone
The 7900 comes with similar specs compared to the lower-end Ryzen 9 7900X. However, when pitched against the $700 7950X, the chip is far weaker. It's no surprise that the CPU loses in terms of raw gaming performance to the flagship processor from the Red Camp.
Ryzen's new option comes with 12 Zen 4 cores in comparison to the 7950X's 16 cores, with the economical chip also having much slower operating frequencies. The biggest difference, however, lies in the overall power draw.
While the 7950X is rated at 170W and draws over 210W while in operation, as recorded in the review of the chip, the newer processor is rated at a modest 65W. In practice, it boosts to 88W, which is still much lower than the flagship chip.
Additionally, the brand new cut-down CPU also comes with the Wraith Prism cooler bundled in the box. With a streak of RGB and a heavy heatsink, it's more than enough to keep the 7900 sufficiently cool. In comparison, the 7950X was unable to hit peak performance, even with some high-end AIO liquid coolers slotted in to cool the beast.
Thus, the Ryzen 9 7900 comes off as a solid value-for-money high-end chip that will not dig a hole in gamers' pockets.
Performance differences
In terms of performance in video games, the Ryzen 9 7900 is only about 2-3% slower in 1080p across a wide range of video games. Clearly, this difference is fairly minor, with most gamers unlikely to even notice it.
Especially when the chip is paired with a high-end RTX 40 series or Ryzen 7000 series GPU, the framerate difference will be too small to be distinctive.
With PBO turned on, the Ryzen 9 7900 goes on to almost level the Core i7 13700K in terms of overall performance. This makes the new Zen 4 chips competitive to the Raptor Lake in the $400 bracket.
In addition, gamers can save plenty of money that can be used to obtain a higher-end graphics card. Instead of opting for the 7950X, jumping from an RTX 4070 Ti to an AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX will offer a much higher difference in framerate and will provide players with smooth gameplay, even at high-end resolutions like 4K.
Conclusion
Since the launch of the Ryzen 7000 non-X chips, high-end Ryzen 7000 processors are considered to be overkill for gaming purposes. In the currently competitive market, gamers can opt for cheaper CPUs while still achieving similar performance.
