AMD Ryzen 7 9700X & Ryzen 5 9600X CPUs Review: The Next-Chapter of Zen on Desktops

Conclusion - Another Solid Ryzen/Zen Family

And there you have it, a fresh new batch of AMD Zen chips are now official. AMD is giving the mass majority the first taste of its latest Zen 5 CPUs in the form of two new mainstream chips, the Ryzen 7 9700X and the Ryzen 5 9600X. These chips aim at the sub-$400 and sub-$300 US segments, offering better performance and efficiency than the last-generation offerings.

AMD Zen 5 Brings Boosted Performance For Apps

The AMD Zen 5 core architecture delivers around 10-15% average performance uplifts in multi-core and single-core applications. This is a decent gain for a new generation of Ryzen CPUs. These latest chips still retain the AVX-512 capabilities, offering a strong reason to go with them for apps that can utilize these instruction sets. The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is a good 11% ahead of the Ryzen 7 7700X in multi-core apps while the Ryzen 5 9600X is 14% ahead of the Ryzen 5 9600X in multi-core apps. The single-core performance varies from application to application but we noticed that the chips would average out around 14.5% over the last-gen counterparts.

 

Intel still holds the lead with its 14th and 13th Gen CPUs in multi-threaded applications due to its hybrid P-Core and E-Core implementation. Those chips also run at much faster clock speeds and the Ryzen 7 9700X mostly closes in around Core i5-14600K while the Ryzen 5 9600X seems to be a bit slower than the Core i5-13600K. So over the Zen 4 parts, the Zen 5 chips are a decent upgrade but Intel still retains a strong position when it comes to running applications.

Faster Gaming Performance That Trades Blows With Last-Gen X3D

Now for the gaming performance, the first thing that gamers will compare the two chips against are the Ryzen 7 7800X3D and the Intel K-series SKUs. Well, I'd just state right now that while the Ryzen 7 9700X nor the Ryzen 5 9600X reach the same level of performance as the 7800X3D, they do get very close in some instances. The Ryzen 7 9700X is very close to Core i9-14900K in terms of performance while the Ryzen 5 9600X mostly sits between the Core i9-13900K and Core i7-14700K which are strong respective uplifts versus the prior generation.

Gaming performance is also very smooth with the AMD Ryzen 9000 "Zen 5" CPUs showing zero issues such as frame rate inconsistency or stuttering on the top GPUs such as the GeForce RTX 4090 that we used in our testing. Comparing the performance versus the previous generation, you will end up being 14% faster on average with the Ryzen 7 9700X versus the Ryzen 7 7700X and the Ryzen 5 9600X will be 13% faster on average versus the Ryzen 5 7600X.

Efficiency King, Zen 5 Better Than Ever on Desktops

When it comes to efficiency, AMD's Ryzen CPUs have been super strong, and with the Zen 5 CPU architecture, AMD is extending this lead. The best part is that AMD's Ryzen 9000 CPUs stick close to their default TDPs of 65W (9700X and 9600X) at stock and you can go the PBO route for additional performance though we only managed to get an extra 3-4% boost with it enabled so it's better to just let the chips run at default. Even with PBO enabled, the chips were only running 10W higher than the ECO mode profiles of the Ryzen 7 7700X and Ryzen 5 7600X CPUs.

The advantage you get from lower power consumption can be seen in the temperatures with bot chips running much cooler than the previous generation offerings. The reason why Zen 4 ran hot was due to them being PBO'd by default and that isn't the case here. The Zen 5 chips run in the 80s range by default and PBO can push them in the high 80s. Once again, you are getting lower power, and lower temperatures but added performance.

Lower MSRPs From The Start But Should That Be Enough?

Now for the prices, the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X CPU will retail at $359 US while the Ryzen 5 9600X will retail at $279 US. These prices are lower than the MSRPs of the last-gen parts which were set at $399 US for the 7700X and $299 US for the 7600X. The issue is that Ryzen 7 7700X CPUs now retail for under $300 US (around $279 US) while the Ryzen 5 7600X retails for under $200 US (close to $189 US). These Zen 4 discounts make the Ryzen 7000 CPUs a slightly better value plus these are more sensible prices for 8-Core and 6-Core parts. A $349 US price for the 9700X and a $279 US price for the 9600X may have worked better but that's what we are getting right now. Even the Intel CPUs are retailing at much lower prices with the 14600K down to $290 US and the 14600KF down to $375 US.

For those who want slightly better prices, we can wait a bit more, say Q4 2024 when the prices are expected to see their first drops accompanied by the launch of the next-gen Zen 5 parts but even then, the Ryzen 9000 X chips are a good investment at their respective price points.

A Solid Launch & More Reasons To Go AM5

So is AMD Ryzen 9000 another success for the red team? Well, it sure is! With strong performance improvements, better efficiency, lower MSRPs, and boosted gaming performance, the Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X make for a formidable CPU launch. AMD isn't stepping the foot off the high-performance PC segment anytime soon and the result is that Zen chips keep on getting better and better. Furthermore, now may be the best time to recommend anyone a Ryzen CPU since Intel is facing a lot of issues themselves. The 13th and 14th Gen CPUs face severe instability issues and while the company has a new microcode update rolling out by mid-August, we have to wait and see whether that resolves the degradation of the said chips before recommending them anymore.

Meanwhile, the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X & Ryzen 5 9600X are a strong start for Zen 5 on desktops and that only gets us excited for the high-end Ryzen 9 launches plus the imminent X3D parts are looking to be some awesome chips for gamers.

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