AMD Ryzen 9 3900XT and Ryzen 7 3800XT CPU Review

1. Ryzen 9 3900XT & Ryzen 7 3800XT: Zen 2 Boosted2. All-Core and Boost Operating Frequencies3. Manual Overclocking - 4.6GHz Achieved!4. Testing Methodology5. CPU Tests: Cinebench R20 & Blender6. CPU Tests: 7-Zip Decompression & Compression7. CPU Tests: Handbrake H264 & H2658. Memory Tests: Memory Bandwidth and Latency9. Gaming: Red Dead Redemption 210. Gaming: Shadow of the Tomb Raider11. Gaming: The Division 212. Technical: Power Draw, Efficiency, Temperatures13. Value: Cinebench Performance per £14. Closing Thoughts15. View All Pages

Cinebench R20

Cinebench R20 nT and its heavy all-core load sees the Ryzen 9 3900XT performance basically match that of its non-XT sibling. This is due to the PB2 limitations forcing all-core frequencies to run at the same 4050MHz on both chips. Overclocking the 3900XT adds a solid 10% to its score.

Versus the more expensive 20-thread Core i9-10900K, the stock-clocked, 24-thread Ryzen 9 3900XT is 13.5% quicker.

The Ryzen 7 3800XT is 4% quicker than its 3800X sibling thanks to higher all-core boost frequencies. That lead extends to 6% over the 3700X. Overclocking the 3800XT to 4.6GHz adds 7.5% to its score.

Versus the similarly priced Core i7-10700K eight-core, AMD’s stock-clocked Ryzen 7 3800XT is a little under 5% faster. Both chips also have similar all-core overclocking headroom of around 300-400MHz, so this looks like it may be a close contest.

Blender Classroom Benchmark

The 3900XT again shows basically identical behaviour to the original 3900X in Blender’s heavy all-core load. Overclocking the 12-core chip to 4.45GHz reduces its rendering time by a noteworthy 31 seconds.

Again, we see that AMD’s £500 part comfortably outperforms Intel’s more expensive Core i9-10900K.

The 3800XT shows a marginal but measurable and repeatable lead versus the original 3800X thanks to higher all-core boost clocks. Overclocking to 4.6GHz manages to wipe almost 10% off the 8-core chip’s rendering time.

Versus the identically priced Core i7-10700K, the 3800XT again scores a comfortable all-core rendering victory.

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