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At Computex 2024, AMD said its Ryzen 7 7800X3D would be faster in games than the then-upcoming standard Ryzen 7 9700X, though by a smaller margin than many might expect. That was a directional statement from AMD—not a published, game-by-game benchmark comparison. It also referred to standard Ryzen 9000 processors at launch, not every later model carrying the Ryzen 9000 name.
What AMD said about the 7800X3D and 9700X
In a Computex 2024 interview with Tom’s Hardware, Donny Woligroski, AMD’s Senior Technical Marketing Manager of Consumer Processors, said the Ryzen 7 7800X3D would be faster in gaming than the Ryzen 7 9700X. He added that the gap might be smaller than people expected. Read the interview report.
“Is it the fastest in gaming? It’s faster than the competition in our tests. X3D is still the king of the hill, but by a much smaller margin than typically between X3D and non-X3D. So a 7800X3D would, yes, be faster than 9700X, but maybe not by as much as you would expect.”
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The quotation is Woligroski’s as published in Tom’s Hardware’s interview report. It expresses AMD’s expectation; the report does not provide a complete head-to-head test table showing game selection, system configuration, or individual results.
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Why a 16% IPC increase did not settle the gaming comparison
AMD’s June 2024 announcement described Ryzen 9000 as based on Zen 5 and reported an average 16% IPC improvement over the previous Zen 4 generation. IPC means instructions per clock: a measure of work a processor can perform per clock cycle under specified tests. AMD’s published footnote describes its testing as of May 2024, with specified hardware configurations and applications. See AMD’s Ryzen 9000 announcement and test notes.
That average was not a direct 7800X3D-versus-9700X gaming result. IPC is one factor in performance, and an average across applications does not predict a particular game’s frame rate. The 7800X3D also uses 3D V-Cache, while the launch-era Ryzen 9000 comparison involved standard, non-X3D processors. Those differences help explain why an architectural IPC uplift alone cannot determine which chip leads in games.
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What the historical comparisons do—and do not—show
Tom’s Hardware characterized the Ryzen 7 7800X3D as having about a 30% gaming lead over the fastest standard Ryzen 7000 processor in its 2024 coverage. That is a historical summary of testing, not a guaranteed advantage in every game or system. The same report noted an earlier-generation example: the Ryzen 9 7950X trailed the Ryzen 7 5800X3D by about 8% in Tom’s Hardware testing. Neither figure is a Ryzen 9000 head-to-head result. Tom’s Hardware’s report provides that historical context.
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Keep the Ryzen 9000 X3D models separate
The 2024 statement compared a Ryzen 7000 X3D chip with a standard Ryzen 9000 chip. AMD later announced the Ryzen 9 9900X3D and Ryzen 9 9950X3D, which use second-generation 3D V-Cache. AMD announced those Ryzen 9000 X3D processors in January 2025.
So “Ryzen 9000” is not one gaming-performance category: it includes standard models as well as later X3D models. Woligroski’s 2024 comparison does not establish how the 7800X3D performs against those later X3D processors. A current buying decision should compare the exact chips under consideration rather than applying the launch-era statement to the whole family.
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How to use AMD’s claim when comparing CPUs
- Match the exact models. The specific example was Ryzen 7 7800X3D versus Ryzen 7 9700X—not every Ryzen 7000 X3D processor against every Ryzen 9000 processor.
- Match the workload. A gaming claim does not automatically predict productivity performance, and an IPC average is not a game benchmark.
- Look for results in the games and setup that matter to you. Game choice, resolution, graphics card, memory, firmware, and test methodology can affect the measured margin.
- Use current comparisons for a present-day purchase. The interview is useful historical context, but by itself it does not establish current relative performance, price, availability, or which processor is the better value.
The original report’s headline also referred to leaks. The available coverage does not establish a trustworthy figure or authenticated test context for the alleged leaked results, so those leaks should not be treated as confirmed benchmark evidence.
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