ryzen 7 2700x vs i7 9700k

Which is best – Ryzen 7 2700X vs Intel i7 9700K

Both AMD and Intel make amazing processors, but Intel can be a little expensive. Intel’s CPU mostly focuses on gaming. Intel’s CPUs allow you to get the most out of gaming and streaming. While AMD’s CPUs are “all-rounders”. That means that AMD’s CPUs are the best when it comes to multitasking.

AMD’s CPUs do a better job when it comes to video editing and graphics designing. In this particular article, we’ll be doing ryzen 7 2700x vs i7 9700k.

Features:

The Ryzen 7 2700X is an eight-core 16-thread processor @3.7Ghz. The CPU can be overclocked to 4.3GHz. The processor supports DDR4-2933 memory with improvements to AMD’s SensMI suite. Something that adjusts the CPU’s performance to ensure maximum performance efficiency.

The Intel i7 9700K also has eight-core processors, but unlike Ryzen 7 2700X, it doesn’t support hyper-threading, and hence, has half the threads Ryzen 7 2700X does. The Intel i7 9700K can be overclocked from 3.6 GHz to 4.9 GHz on single cores, 4.7 GHz on four cores, and 4.6 on all eight cores.

Here’s a quick comparison of the features of the two processors.

Intel Core i7-9700KAMD Ryzen 7 2700X
ArchitectureCoffee LakeZen+
Socket1151AM4
Cores / Threads8/88/16
Base Frequency (GHz)3.63.7
Boost Frequency(Active Cores - GHz)1 Core - 4.92 Cores - 4.84 Cores - 4.78 Cores - 4.64.3GHz
L3 Cache12MB16MB
Process14nm++12nm
TDP95W105W
Memory SpeedDDR4-2666DDR4-2933 (single rank)DDR4-2677 (dual rank)
Memory ControllerDual-ChannelDual-Channel
Integrated UHD Graphics GT2(Base/Boost MHz)350 / 1200no iGPU
Recommended Customer Pricing$374 - $385$329

AMD’s Ryzen 7 2700X takes the win on this one. However, there are a few things Intel’s i7 9700K offers that its Ryzen counterpart doesn’t have. The Intel i7 9700K now comes with solder-based thermal interface material that helps improve heat dissipation. 

That does mean it comes with an improved thermal interface, but that doesn’t mean it enables extra headroom for overclocking, it just enables Intel to add two extra cores without deploying a smaller manufacturing process. The Intel Core i7 9700K is built on the same 14nm++ manufacturing process as the 8th-generation CPUs.

But the reason why AMD takes the win here is that the Ryzen 7 2700X has eight cores and 16 threads while Intel’s i7 9700K doesn’t offer thread doubling even though they both come with dynamic core clock adjustments.

AMD’s Ryzen 7 2700X

Overclocking Potential

Both the i7 9700K and Ryzen 7 2700X feature overclocking, but there’s a slight difference in their overclocking capabilities. It’s almost as if the manufacturers of the two have completely different philosophies when it comes to overclocking. What we mean by that is that almost every AMD CPU can be pushed to new limits while Intel, on the other hand, has kept the feature exclusive to its expensive K-variants.

The Ryzen 7 2700X can be overclocked to 4.3 GHz, that’s only 500 MHz more than its base frequency. Intel’s i7 9700K, on the other hand, can be overclocked to almost 5 GHz on all eight cores from a base frequency of 3.6 GHz.

Overclocking the Intel i7 9700K will boost almost every task’s performance substantially. When you compare that with the Ryzen 7 2700X, then you’re not getting any noticeable performance boost. But that’s only because AMD’s Precision Boost 2 technology already pushes the CPU to its performance limits if you have a compatible motherboard and a capable cooler.

Hence, i7-9700K takes the win here. It offers better overclocking potential than its AMD counterpart.

Intel I7 9700K

Gaming Performance

When it comes to gaming performance, the Intel i7 9700K takes the crown. So if you’re building your PC just for gaming, then the choice is abundantly clear. In certain games, the Intel i7-9700K outpaced an overclocked Ryzen 7 at base frequency.

The gaming performance of a Core i7-9700K rivals that of an i9-9900K. In certain games, the i7-9700K got an extra frame or two than the i9-9900K. Games like GTA V, and Civilization V.

Don’t take this the wrong way, Ryzen 7 2700X offers extreme gaming performance, but it just isn’t as good as the Intel i7-9700K when it comes to gaming. In fact, even the Intel i5-9600K outperforms the Ryzen 7 2700X in some games like GTA V and Fortnite.

With that being said, the Ryzen 7 2700X is still one of the best gaming CPUs. Bear in mind that once you raise your resolution above 1080p, your frames will start to drop as your GPU will bottleneck. If you’re using a high-end graphics card like an RTX 2060, you’ll get similar frames on both of the CPUs.

The Intel i7-9700K takes the win here. The Ryzen 7-2700X may be better when it comes to multitasking, but the Intel i7-9700K excels vastly when it comes to gaming.

Productivity Performance

When it comes to productivity, the Intel i7-9700K and the Ryzen 7 2700X give almost the same performance. AMD’s Ryzen 7 2700X is better at certain tasks like rendering with Blender and Cinebench and compressing files with 7-Zip while the Intel i7-9700K excels when it comes to coding with Lame or Handbrake, and even Adobe’s Creative Cloud suite.

In the end, we can safely assume that it’s a tie in productivity. Both CPUs perform great when it comes to productivity, one being better than the other in certain tasks.

But when it comes to stock coolers, and Motherboards, AMD easily takes the win. So the overall best CPU is the Ryzen 7 2700X, needless to say, it’s even cheaper by a huge margin.

Here’s a quick summary of what fields the two CPUs excel at:

RoundIntel Core i7-9700KAMD Ryzen 7 2700X
Features
Overclocking
Stock Coolers
Motherboards
Gaming Performance
Productivity Performance
Value
Total35

Conclusion:

So the overall winner in the ryzen 7 2700x vs i7 9700k is the Ryzen 7-2700X. Although it’s not as good as the Intel in gaming or overclocking, it offers better features like hyper-threading and 16 threads along with 8 cores. It’s even cheaper and is compatible with more motherboards, and its stock cooler is way better than Intel’s. But if you’re going for a gaming-only build, go with the Intel i7-9700K, otherwise, Ryzen 7-2700X is the better option.

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Andrew

Andrew is a professional writer with 7+ Years of experience. His style and uniqueness inspire and educate readers throughout the world.

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