Last week, AMD released the Ryzen 5 7600X3D with optional 3D V-Cache. Initially it was said that the specified processor would be available only in the USA, and it would be sold exclusively in retail stores of the Micro Center retailer. As it became known later, the new product also appeared in Europe, but only in Germany and only from one retailer – Mindfactory. The PC Games Hardware portal received a sample of the new six-core chip and examined its capabilities.
Image source: PC Games Hardware
AMD has previously released “exclusive” processor models. These, for example, include the Ryzen 5 5600X3D, which was also available only in the US and only from Micro Center, as well as the Ryzen 5 7500F, which is formally intended for OEMs, but is actually available at retail. The most obvious reason for such limited releases is insufficient production volume for a larger release. Most often, these “exclusive” chips are discards of older processor models that for some reason do not meet AMD’s requirements.
Image Source: AMD
The Ryzen 5 7600X3D is likely a culling of the older eight-core Ryzen 7 7800X3D, which not only has a reduced number of cores, but also reduced clock speeds. The Ryzen 5 7600X3D has a base frequency of 4.1 GHz and a maximum frequency of 4.75 GHz, which is 100 and 300 MHz lower, respectively, than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. The younger chip also differs from the older model in its TDP of 65 W. The power consumption of the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, Ryzen 9 7900X3D and Ryzen 9 7950X3D is 120 W.
Gaming performance
According to 43 PC Games Hardware gaming tests, the Ryzen 5 7600X3D is faster than the Ryzen 9 7900X3D, Ryzen 7 9700X, and even the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. However, it is slightly slower than the Intel Core i5-13600K and Core i5-14600K. Both are cheaper than AMD’s new product – the first is offered for $290, the second can be purchased for $250. At the same time, it should be taken into account that the performance difference between an AMD processor and these chips is minimal and can easily change depending on the platform specifications, that is, depending on whether the platform supports DDR4 or DDR5 memory (in the case of Intel chips). You should also pay attention to the fact that the Ryzen 5 7600X3D does not support traditional overclocking, so it will not be possible to further increase its performance.
Performance in synthetic tests (CineBench R23/R24, Handbrake, 7-Zip, V-Ray 6, Corona 10)
In productivity and work tasks the picture is completely different. Here the Ryzen 5 7600X3D remains far behind the competition, which is not surprising since it is a six-core processor designed primarily for gaming.
Energy efficiency in games
The key advantage of the Ryzen 5 7600X3D is its energy efficiency. It turned out to be the second most energy-efficient chip in games (according to the results of 10 gaming tests) and took first place in energy efficiency for running applications, as well as in frames per second per watt of energy consumption. In these scenarios, the Ryzen 5 7600X3D’s power consumption ranged from 48 to 55 W.
Energy efficiency in applications
FPS per watt of power consumption
According to PC Games Hardware, the Ryzen 5 7600X3D is a leader in terms of energy efficiency, but the chip is disappointing with its cost. In the US, the new product is sold for $299, and in Germany for €329. For this price, you can choose a more universal processor model, and not just a chip for games. The reviewer also points out a trend of rapidly decreasing prices for some AMD processors lately, which may affect this model as well. Then the new product will become more attractive.