AMD Ryzen 5 7600, Ryzen 7 7700, Ryzen 9 7900 Performance and Value

Last Updated on January 21, 2023 by Nahush Gowda

The three new low-powered, non-X Ryzen processors are here and it needs to be seen whether they become a good entry point for a new AM5 build, given their lower price.

Although, it should be noted that, after the lukewarm performance of Ryzen -X series processors, AMD slashed the price of X processors by more than 20%. The current, “street price” of these processors is not too far from the launch prices of these new Ryzen processors putting these new processors in a weird spot.

Let’s discuss the performance of these processors and try to gauge their value in comparison to Intel and Ryzen -X processors.

Ryzen 5 7600, Ryzen 7 7700, Ryzen 9 7900 Gaming performance

On a very realistic level, these processors are great for gaming, especially at 1440p or higher. But, we gotta compare it to Intel 13th gen and other Ryzen processors to see even 1 frame difference.

Here is a 10-game average performance in 1080p

Here is a 10-game average performance in 1440p

For productivity, here are the results of Cinebench, Adobe Photoshop and 7-Zip benchmarks.

Ryzen 5 7600: Is it worth it?

Ryzen 5 7600 is fine for gaming but what about productivity? As you can see in the chart, Ryzen 5 7600 isn’t far off from its -X counterpart. It is only 3% slower than the Ryzen 5 7600X in multi-core performance.

Given the price difference of just around ₹1,000, you can simply get the Ryzen 5 7600X. It should be noted that the Ryzen 5 7600 can be overclocked to get performance on par with the 7600X. But, if you want a better performance out of the box without turning on PBO (Precision Boost Overdrive) or overclocking.

Although if you are more concerned about better efficiency out of the box, Ryzen 5 7600 would be a better choice. Again, you could run Eco Mode on Ryzen 5 7600X to get better efficiency and cooling.

I know, this is a very confusing choice but I would go with Ryzen 5 7600 and save whatever money I can. Probably get a better CPU cooler.

Compared to the Intel i5-13600K, Ryzen 5 7600 is slower in games although not by much to see the real-world difference, 13600K is better in productivity but again, the 13600K is around ₹8,000 more than Ryzen 5 7600.

Compared to Intel i9-13900K, the Intel is better for production workloads but it is significantly more expensive and comes at a cost of power inefficiency. If you just want the fastest thing on the market, go with Intel. If efficiency and cost are a concern, Ryzen 9 7900 isn’t a bad choice.

Ryzen 7 7700: Is it a better value than 7700X?

For gaming, Ryzen 7 7700 can perform the same as the 7700X with PBO turned on. Even without it, the difference isn’t much and is similar in performance to 13700K in 1440p.

For productivity, the difference is around 8% but this performance gap becomes virtually 0 when PBO is turned on. Again, similar to the Ryzen 7600, the price difference between them is so less that both are essentially the same product.

You could go with Ryzen 7 7700 for better overall efficiency without the Eco mode or go with Ryzen 7700X for a larger headroom with overclocking and if you want the best performance out of the box.

Or simply, you can choose to go with whatever is available for a lesser cost. It is also worth noting that Ryzen 7 7700 will come bundled with a Wraith Prism and the Ryzen 7 7700X doesn’t. You could save some cost there if your budget is really constrained.

Ryzen 7 7700 is in a weird spot because it costs the same as the 13600K which is better than the 7700 for production workloads. At this price point, if you want it for gaming, Ryzen 7 7700 is fine but you are better off with 13600K for production as its higher core count does factor in performance.

Ryen 9 7900: Is it better value for productivity?

Ryzen 9 processors are better suited for productivity rather than gaming as the Ryzen 7 processors are more than capable of getting the best performance out of even RTX 4090.

In this case, the Ryzen 9 7900 is 17% slower in multi-core performance compared to the Ryzen 9 7900X, 10% slower in Blender and about 7% in single-core Cinebench which is more significant than the other two.

Although this gap is quickly closed by turning on the PBO. You could draw the same conclusion as before but the price difference is slightly bigger in this case. Ryzen 9 7900X is ₹4,000 to ₹5,000 more expensive than the Ryzen 9 7900.

I would personally go with the less expensive Ryzen 9 7900 and get a better case/cooler since the performance is virtually the same.

Compared to the similar priced Intel i7-13700K, Ryzen 9 7900 does provide similar gaming performance and slightly worse productivity performance, especially in multi-core performance.

Although Ryzen 9 7900 is much more power efficient and runs cooler out of the box. Also, it will have longer platform support.

Final thoughts

The recent price drops of the Ryzen X processors have put these new processors in a weird spot. Given that the cost of upgrading to AM5 is still high because of motherboards and DDR5 memory (but mostly because of the motherboard), AMD might be compelled to drop the prices on these new non-X processors as well.

During CES 2023, AMD confirmed that new entry-level motherboards could be entering the market soon although it wasn’t very clear if it would arrive now or in February alongside the new 3D V-cache refresh of Zen 4 processors.

Read: AMD’s announcement at CES 2023

You could make a case for Intel 13th gen processors being a better value but that platform is essentially dead and you wouldn’t be making any upgrades on that platform. For AM5, AMD has promised long-term support just like with AM3 and AM4 platforms.

The new processors are not at all bad value given their prices but they definitely do seem pointless when the X-class processors are available at a very similar price.