Impulse Buy Should I return (7900X3D)?

[VoidTheWarranty]

So here in Canada the 7900X3D hit an ATL on Amazon of $389 (sold out now). Another retailer has one "on sale" for $580. For reference current list price on Amazon for the 7800X3D $489, 7950X3D $749, 5700X3D is $299 and 5800X3D $409. Pricing for reference.  

5600X is what I have right now. Let me know if I should return this thing since it hasn't arrived yet or if this was smart. This is 90% a gaming rig and I realize the 7800X3D is a better all around gaming CPU but seemed like a good deal. I'm concerned I'm not going to see a massive uplift and I'd be better off just getting a new GPU. However my buddy who went from a 5600X to a 5800X3D seems to think it runs smoother but not sure if smoother is worth the money. Seems like some games do favor this over the 7800X3D spiderman, hogwarts, I think I saw one COD maybe? 

I won't be overclocking this thing so I'm going to make it as budget as possible. If it's worth keeping feel free to drop your X3D tips since all I know is that you are limited with your options on these. 

I have a RX 6750 XT, what sort of uplift do you think I'll end up seeing? I'll let people know should I keep the chip. 

[The Pook]

if Ryzen 9000 wasn't 1 month away I'd keep it. return it and wait. 

[pio]

43 minutes ago, The Pook said:

if Ryzen 9000 wasn't 1 month away I'd keep it. return it and wait. 

This.

Also, I cannot confirm as I don't have one, but SUPPOSEDLY the 7900x3d is a bad purchase due to having two CCD's, and only one of them has the x3d cache.  So essentially you've basically got a 7600x3d, but with 6 extra non 3d cores.  That's what I was reading about it from others though, so take it with a big grain of salt.   

But as a 7900x (regular) owner, I'd agree with Pookie.  I'd be waiting till next month too if you can.

[VoidTheWarranty]

Well I have 30 days to return so I guess we'll see if AMD can release something on par with with a 7900X3D that costs less than this we'll see. I kinda doubt it considering a Ryzen 7 7700 (non X) is $410 and I'm pretty sure the 7900X3D trounces it in gaming for $21 less. 

[Fluxmaven]

If it were me, I'd 100% return and wait on 9000 series. Y'all up in Canada seem to get shafted HARD with PC part prices though. So you might not actually get a 9700X for less than your 7900X3D. 

 

What resolution do you play at and what do you want to accomplish with upgrading?

 

If you play mostly Esports twitch shooters and are targeting high FPS at lower resolution, then yes a CPU upgrade is the way to go. If you want to push a higher resolution with all the eye candy, I'd take the money you'd spend on moving to AM5 and get a better GPU.

 

In the states, a decent AM5 setup costs about the same as a RX 7900 GRE. 

[Slaughtahouse]

15 minutes ago, Fluxmaven said:

If it were me, I'd 100% return and wait on 9000 series. Y'all up in Canada seem to get shafted HARD with PC part prices though. So you might not actually get a 9700X for less than your 7900X3D. 

 

What resolution do you play at and what do you want to accomplish with upgrading?

 

If you play mostly Esports twitch shooters and are targeting high FPS at lower resolution, then yes a CPU upgrade is the way to go. If you want to push a higher resolution with all the eye candy, I'd take the money you'd spend on moving to AM5 and get a better GPU.

 

In the states, a decent AM5 setup costs about the same as a RX 7900 GRE. 

 

Prices are usually comparable and the ones mentioned in the OP are in CAD. Sales are less frequent and we dont have Microcentres.  Conversion has been floating around 1.3 CAD to 1 USD for context. It’s almost 1.4 today. So 389 CAD + tax = 280 USD + tax

 

Beyond that note, I do agree with your general sentiment. It’s possible a 9600X will be on par or slightly faster (in games) than a 7900X3D for similar price, or less. But it’s splitting hairs.

 

The only reason Id return the 7900X3D is I heard it’s a bit finicky in how it operates. But that’s just on what I recall from launch reviews and I believe the issue was really only highlighted because it retailed at a higher price than the 7800X3D but performed worse.

 

If it’s plug n play, it’s actually a really good deal.

Edited June 10 by Slaughtahouse

[The Pook]

1 minute ago, Slaughtahouse said:

If it’s plug n play, it’s actually a really good deal.

 

he said he's coming from a 5600X so unless he's planning on slapping it in his AM4 board he's also got a mobo and DDR5 on the buy-list. 

 

buy a cheaper board/RAM and go 9000 series or stick with your 5600 until you do IMO. 

[Slaughtahouse]

1 minute ago, The Pook said:

 

he said he's coming from a 5600X so unless he's planning on slapping it in his AM4 board he's also got a mobo and DDR5 on the buy-list. 

 

buy a cheaper board/RAM and go 9000 series or stick with your 5600 until you do IMO. 

 

Sorry, I meant in the context of how the CPU operates. E.g., Does the 7900X3D need any software or tweaking in the UEFI to get to operate correctly in games? I honestly don’t know.

 

Also, the X3D CPU, at least on AM4 help absorb a lot of the latency impact from slow RAM. Im not sure if it works the same on AM5 but if 9000 series and 7000 non 3D require a lot of RAM tweaking to get the most out of it, its something to note.

 

I hate RAM overclocking and I really liked when I got my 5800X3D, my effort to maximize my system went down dramatically.

[Fluxmaven]

7 minutes ago, Slaughtahouse said:

Does the 7900X3D need any software or tweaking in the UEFI to get to operate correctly in games? I honestly don’t know.

Aside from a newer BIOS update to support the CPU at all, you also need to update the chipset driver. As well as have Windows game mode and Xbox game bar enabled/installed. The 7900X3D is an asymmetric design with 2 different CCD's. One has the 3D V-Cache and runs a bit slower clock speed, and the other is the standard CCD that boosts up to the listed max boost speeds. 

 

The reason people tend to dislike the 7900X3D specifically, is that when it parks the non 3D CCD while playing a game, you effectively are gaming on a 6 core CPU. On a 7900X you can use all 12 cores across both CCD's simultaneously with a bit of a latency penalty for cross CCD traffic. 

 

By contrast, Your 5800X3D (and my 7800X3D) are 8 core single CCD chips that don't suffer from any weird thread parking/scheduling issues. 

 

[UltraMega]

If it were me, I would get a 5700X3D on ebay for $270 CAD, then sell the 5600X and get about $100 back. Going from a 5600X to a 5700X3D for $170 is pretty reasonable if you have the itch to upgrade. The 5700X3D is generally faster than a 7700X for gaming, and you wouldn't have to get a new mobo/ram. The difference between a 5700X3D and any CPUs that outperform it in games is very small. 

 

With your GPU, assuming you play at 1440p at least, the difference from a faster CPU would be pretty small in any games that are graphically demanding. The difference between a 5700X3D and anything faster would be basically non-existent with an RX6750XT. 

Edited June 10 by UltraMega

[Sir Beregond]

33 minutes ago, Fluxmaven said:

The reason people tend to dislike the 7900X3D specifically, is that when it parks the non 3D CCD while playing a game, you effectively are gaming on a 6 core CPU. On a 7900X you can use all 12 cores across both CCD's simultaneously with a bit of a latency penalty for cross CCD traffic. 

 

By contrast, Your 5800X3D (and my 7800X3D) are 8 core single CCD chips that don't suffer from any weird thread parking/scheduling issues. 

 

This. There are cheaper ways to game on 6 cores.

 

It's the one Zen 4 X3D chip that really makes no logical sense to me. Either got 7800X3d or step up to a 7950X3D, or more realistically just wait a month and see how the Zen 5 chips turn out.

Edited June 10 by Sir Beregond

[neurotix]

Requirements for an X3D chip to work correctly with the V-Cache in games:

 

1. CPPC preferred cores set to "Auto" in bios.

2. AMD chipset drivers installed with the 3D V-Cache Optimizer Services installed.

3. Use the Balanced power plan in Windows. After installing the chipset drivers it changes the Balanced power plan.

4. Xbox Game Bar enabled (you don't have to use it in games)

 

I own a 7900X3D because I had a 3900x and a 5900x and didn't want to lose cores going to the 7800X3D, but also couldn't afford the 7950X3D.

 

My advice: return the 7900X3D. Mine has a problem where in high performance power plan it won't boost past 5150MHz on the 2nd CCD. (It won't hit 5650 anymore under load). It did when I first got it, then stopped working after a month, a bios update fixed it but only for a month, and it has not worked properly since last April. You're supposed to be able to use Balanced power plan which runs games on the 1st CCD, then switch to high performance power plan for games or benchmarks that require high clock speed. So best of both worlds. Doesn't work for me.

 

I would do what other people are saying, especially whoever mentioned getting the 5700X3D and using the savings to get a better GPU.

Edited June 11 by neurotix

[Snakecharmed]

Adding another vote to the return bucket.

 

It's worse than either a 7800X3D or a 7900X. It's basically a 7600X3D with extra baggage. If nothing else, I would expect Zen 5 to cause some downward pricing pressure on Zen 4 next month.

[ozlay]

I would consider waiting for the x870/e motherboards and decide from there.

[VoidTheWarranty]

1 hour ago, neurotix said:

Requirements for an X3D chip to work correctly with the V-Cache in games:

 

1. CPPC preferred cores set to "Auto" in bios.

2. AMD chipset drivers installed with the 3D V-Cache Optimizer Services installed.

3. Use the Balanced power plan in Windows. After installing the chipset drivers it changes the Balanced power plan.

4. Xbox Game Bar enabled (you don't have to use it in games)

 

I own a 7900X3D because I had a 3900x and a 5900x and didn't want to lose cores going to the 7800X3D, but also couldn't afford the 7950X3D.

 

My advice: return the 7900X3D. Mine has a problem where in high performance power plan it won't boost past 5150MHz on the 2nd CCD. (It won't hit 5650 anymore under load). It did when I first got it, then stopped working after a month, a bios update fixed it but only for a month, and it has not worked properly since last April. You're supposed to be able to use Balanced power plan which runs games on the 1st CCD, then switch to high performance power plan for games or benchmarks that require high clock speed. So best of both worlds. Doesn't work for me.

 

I would do what other people are saying, especially whoever mentioned getting the 5700X3D and using the savings to get a better GPU.

 

I appreciate this as you actually have one. Thanks for the advice.

 

Nah I'm done with AM4 wasted too much time tweaking it and going from a 3000 series to 5000 was pretty lackluster of an upgrade. 

 

 

[VoidTheWarranty]

2 hours ago, UltraMega said:

If it were me, I would get a 5700X3D on ebay for $270 CAD, then sell the 5600X and get about $100 back. Going from a 5600X to a 5700X3D for $170 is pretty reasonable if you have the itch to upgrade. The 5700X3D is generally faster than a 7700X for gaming, and you wouldn't have to get a new mobo/ram. The difference between a 5700X3D and any CPUs that outperform it in games is very small. 

 

With your GPU, assuming you play at 1440p at least, the difference from a faster CPU would be pretty small in any games that are graphically demanding. The difference between a 5700X3D and anything faster would be basically non-existent with an RX6750XT. 

 

1080p by choice. That's an idea.

[bonami2]

I would wait if i was you.  But at the same time it a great option. I would not go for less than 12 core though if you go 9000.

[The Pook]

2 hours ago, bonami2 said:

I would wait if i was you.  But at the same time it a great option. I would not go for less than 12 core though if you go 9000.

 

I just have my fingers crossed for extra cache on both CCDs on the 9000 X3Ds 

[VoidTheWarranty]

22 minutes ago, The Pook said:

 

I just have my fingers crossed for extra cache on both CCDs on the 9000 X3Ds 

Well I canceled it. We'll see if I regret it. While that 9000X3D would be nice I'll be waiting another couple years to upgrade to one of them. If the 7800X3D does drop in price I'll snag one I'll be watching. I'm going to be surprised if the 9600X is that amazing but I feel like I'm either missing something or I'm just not buying into the fanboi hype. I'm not sure why there's so much hype over a chip that's single core performance in CPU-Z is on par with a i7-12700K.  

But the 7900X3D at $389 when it's generally $500+ and a 7800X3D is $488 well the 7900X3D to me still seemed like a good option but I agree not the best. Most importantly I'm not paying $500 for either of them I just don't think a 7800X3D or 9000X3D is worth $488-500 to me. I actually won't pay over $400 for a chip again it just wasn't worth it. I rather opt for the $400 deal I just saw pop up for a 7600X + Mobo combo.

Anyone go from a 5600X to 7600X to X3D chip for actual real life comparison? 

Thanks everyone for the AM4 advice. It is probably the best advice for someone interested in keeping with AM4 however I have 0 interest in a 5700X3D or 5800X3D I'm sick of AM4. I spent more hours tweaking this thing probably than all the other PC's I've had combined (20+ years of building PC's) and honestly AM4 never felt satisfying. 

[Sir Beregond]

1 hour ago, VoidTheWarranty said:

But the 7900X3D at $389 when it's generally $500+ and a 7800X3D is $488 well the 7900X3D to me still seemed like a good option but I agree not the best.

It's' paying $389 for a 6-core as far as gaming is concerned. It's not as good a deal as you think it is if gaming is your main concern.

 

What kind of uplift are you looking for to be "worth it" I think is the real question here.

[The Pook]

1 hour ago, VoidTheWarranty said:

Well I canceled it. We'll see if I regret it. While that 9000X3D would be nice I'll be waiting another couple years to upgrade to one of them. If the 7800X3D does drop in price I'll snag one I'll be watching. I'm going to be surprised if the 9600X is that amazing but I feel like I'm either missing something or I'm just not buying into the fanboi hype. I'm not sure why there's so much hype over a chip that's single core performance in CPU-Z is on par with a i7-12700K.  

But the 7900X3D at $389 when it's generally $500+ and a 7800X3D is $488 well the 7900X3D to me still seemed like a good option but I agree not the best. Most importantly I'm not paying $500 for either of them I just don't think a 7800X3D or 9000X3D is worth $488-500 to me. I actually won't pay over $400 for a chip again it just wasn't worth it. I rather opt for the $400 deal I just saw pop up for a 7600X + Mobo combo.

Anyone go from a 5600X to 7600X to X3D chip for actual real life comparison? 

Thanks everyone for the AM4 advice. It is probably the best advice for someone interested in keeping with AM4 however I have 0 interest in a 5700X3D or 5800X3D I'm sick of AM4. I spent more hours tweaking this thing probably than all the other PC's I've had combined (20+ years of building PC's) and honestly AM4 never felt satisfying. 

 

then just wait lol. it doesn't sound like you're upgrading out of necessity anyway from the OP. 

[VoidTheWarranty]

1 hour ago, The Pook said:

 

then just wait lol. it doesn't sound like you're upgrading out of necessity anyway from the OP. 

I'm not upgrading out of necessity. That is correct but upgrading based on Performance/value/enjoy of building PC's. This is an "extreme hw" forum right? 

[Fluxmaven]

Since you are determined to move away from AM4, you are going to be spending a lot to upgrade. Even if you had kept the 7900X3D, you still need an AM5 board and DDR5 which ends up with you spending $500+ total for a single gen upgrade which rarely feel worth it. 

 

I own or have owned a 3900X, 5600X, 5900X, 7700X, 7800X3D, and 7900X. They were in different rigs so I didn't directly compare them all, but owned them concurrently. Chips a single gen apart never felt mind bogglingly faster.

 

It is an enthusiast forum and we all like building PCs, but you asked if you should return and we shared our thoughts. 

[The Pook]

22 minutes ago, VoidTheWarranty said:

That is correct but upgrading based on Performance/value/enjoy of building PC's. 

 

well an upgrade would accomplish 1/3 of those 

[pio]

55 minutes ago, VoidTheWarranty said:

I'm not upgrading out of necessity. That is correct but upgrading based on Performance/value/enjoy of building PC's. This is an "extreme hw" forum right? 

You've got the general idea of the site down yes.  But most of us here, also aren't super deep pockets and don't just buy upgrades to buy them, they've got to be a worthwhile upgrade that you can feel.

I have literally every generation of AMD components.  I don't have x3d parts, no.  But I do have a Ryzen 1600, 2600x, 3600, 5800x, and a 7900x.  I can tell you PERSONALLY, I'm not super interested in Ryzen 9000 series, as my 7900x finally feels like enough CPU.  I can tell you a jump from a 5600x to a 7600x would be a pretty bad decision, it'd be no different than a 3600x to a 5600x jump, except you're doing a whole platform.

It is my opinion, a 5700x3d or 5800x3d would be the upgrade of value choice in your situation.  Tired of AM4, I totally get that.  But a single CCD x3d chip on AM4 absolutely WOULD get you into current gen speeds.  A 5700x3d / 5800x3d is about equal to a Ryzen 7700x ish.  I would assume the Ryzen 7800x3d would be about equal to a Ryzen 9800x when they release, based on past x3d chip performance vs next gen.

 

If you're feeling the itch, you're going to want more cores AND more IPC to properly "feel" the upgrade.  Unless you've got deep pockets to get the full fat 7950x (or 5950x on AM4), then the chip you want is the 8 core x3d chip.  Your choices are either an AM4 option and keep your parts, or jump to AM5 with the 7800x3d (or go with just the more cores of the 7700x / 7800x).  Or.....you can wait the ~1 month for Ryzen 9000 series to hit, and perhaps pick up an 8 core part of those.  Those might also influence current part pricing.

I'd either wait for 9000 series (and look at 8 core part upgrades), or grab an AM4 x3d chip now.