AMD Ryzen 7 5700X vs Ryzen 7 3700X – which is better?

Comparing the two entry-level Ryzen 7 CPUs - specs, price and performance - to determine whether the upgrade is worth your time and money.

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Wanting find out what to choose from between the 5700X vs 3700X? AMD has released some of the best CPUs on the market in recent years and these two are certainly no exception to that, even though they’re not the newest kids on the block in 2024. These two CPUs differ vastly on paper. When it launched, the Ryzen 7 5700X was designed to be the sucessor to the 3700X. But how do they both fare stacked up against each other? And is the 5700X worth the upgrade?

We have tested many CPUs, including the the latest Intel 14th Gen. You can read our Intel i9-14900K review to see how Team Blue’s latest chipset stacks up. If you’re short on time and want to know what AMD CPU to choose from between the 5700X vs 3700X, we would definitely opt for the 5700X over the older model. If you’d like to know more about AM5 or Zen 4, make sure to check out our best CPUs for gaming in 2024.

AMD 5700X vs AMD 3700X

AMD 5700X

AMD Ryzen 7 5700X

Speed

3.4 GHz / 4.6 GHz

Core (Threads)

8 (16)

Socket

AM4

TDP

65W

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Pros

• Good gaming performance
• AM4 compatible
• Unlocked for overclocking
• Low default TDP

Cons

• Requires CPU cooler

The Ryzen 7 5700X replaced the Ryzen 7 3700X and, when it launched, offered a big step up in performance. It still falls behind the 5800X in this range, which is as expected for this mid-range entry into the series, but the differences are marginal. For the price, you’re getting eight cores, 16 threads and a decent boost clock speed of up to 4.6GHZ. Even in 2024, that performance is not to be sniffed at. In essence, the Ryzen 7 5700X can still be paired with many of today’s GPUs, but we wouldn’t recommend them for the more powerful Nvidia Geforce RTX 4000 Series entries, the RT 4080 and RTX 4090. Instead, check out our best CPU for RTX 4090 and the best CPU for RTX 4080. Here are the specifications for the Ryzen 7 5700X: 

AMD 3700X

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X

Speed

3.6GHz/ 4.4GHz

Core (Threads)

8/16

Socket

AM4

TDP

95W

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Pros

• Decent clock speed
• Far cheaper than it was
• Fine for 1080p gaming

Cons

• Older tech and may run into issues with more powerful GPUs

The Ryzen 7 3700X, meanwhile, was one of the best value CPUs back when it was released on July 7 2019. It was leaps and bounds above the 2700X in terms of performance, power efficiency and value for money and went head-to-head with Intel’s 9700K. A large part of the innovation was thanks to its Zen2 architecture, which offered a 15% inrease in performance on the previous Zen+ variation. The manufacturing process was also cut down to 7nm for even greater efficiency. In this comparison, though, it falls short of the more modern 5700X. Despite also having eight cores, and a similar 16 threads, the boost clock is slower at 4.4GHz – but more on that later. Here are the specifications for the Ryzen 7 5700X: 

5700X vs 3700X: Head to head 

Both CPUs on the list have the same count of 8 cores and 16 threads, however in Cinebench tests online, and our own testing, the 5700X is definitely the faster CPU, especially when it comes to multi-core performance. The difference, however, isn’t huge, so if you’re gaming at 1080p resolution and looking to upgrade, jumping from a 3700X to a 5700X may not be worth it.

Elsewhere, as highlighted earlier, the Ryxen 7 5700X also has a higher core boost speed of 4.6GHz. This means that it’ll perform more cycles per second and ultimately be faster than its predecessor. That’s fine on paper, but unless you’re multi-tasking, this may not be noticeable. Add to the mix a slightly higher cache capacity at 36MB compared to the 3700X’s 32, and the 5700X starts to pull away. The good news is that both CPUs fit in the AM4 socket, so you won’t need to change your motherboard if you want to upgrade.

During benchmark tests, the Ryxen 7 5700X was the clear winner for us here, with its higher cache and core speed making it the ideal CPU of choice. This CPU is targeted at gamers, so you may want to upgrade to a CPU with a few more cores and threads if you want to get into content creation. For light video editing and rendering, the 5700X will still more than do the trick. The only plus point right now for opting for a 3700X would be the price – with the CPU now a fraction of what it used to cost at launch.

Final word 

In the head to head, we would opt for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X over the 3700X. The extra cache and boost speed gives the 5700X a competitive edge in most heavy gaming and light workstation tasks. A full eight cores supporting SMT to equal 16 logical processors is the ultimate gaming sweet spot. If you’re looking to upgrade your rig, make sure to check out the best AMD APUs for gaming.