AMD revealed a lot at CES 2023, one of the most exciting unveilings was the announcement of the Ryzen 7000 series non-X CPUs. These CPUs promise to bring high performance at a low power consumption rate. But when it comes to Ryzen 7 7700 vs Ryzen 7 7700X, which is better? We compare them both to find out.

Now Read: Where to buy Ryzen 7 7700X.

In this article, we’re going to outline the differences between the two CPUs and make deductions about performance based on specifications. We don’t have any performance metrics on the 7700 yet, however, but we know enough to make some fairly accurate assumptions.

Without further delay, let’s jump into the specifications.

Ryzen 7 7700 vs Ryzen 7 7700X: Specs

Each of the CPUs on the list today has similar specifications, however, if you take a closer look you will see some differences that will affect CPU performance, and the use case each CPU is destined for.

Here are the specifications of each CPU.

Ryzen 7 7700

Architecture: Zen 4
Core count: 8
Thread count: 16
Base speed: 3.8GHz
Boost speed: 5.3GHz
Cache: 32MB
TDP 65W

As you can see, the specifications are similar to the 7700X, with just the lesser clock speeds on both the base and boost ends, and the much lower TDP. The TDP stands at 65W, pretty good compared to the larger 105W of the 7700X.

Ryzen 7 7700X

Architecture: Zen 4
Core count: 8
Thread count: 16
Base speed: 4.5GHz
Boost speed: 5.4GHz
Cache: 32MB
TDP 105W

The Ryzen 7 7700X is still a mid-range beast, however, it’s hard to ignore the massive power consumption compared to the 7700 non-X. If the 7700 can do the same for less power draw, then it’s going to be hard to sell the 7700X from now on.

Ryzen 7 7700 vs Ryzen 7 7700X: Specification comparison

Here we’ll keep it nice and simple. We’re only going to discuss the specifications that have changed between the two CPUs, as we’re sure that you know how a CPU works by now. If you don’t check out our article on how CPUs work.

With that being said, let us dive in.

CPU core speed

CPU core speed can be split into two categories: CPU base speed and CPU boost speed. These are the differences between them.

CPU core base speed

CPU core base speed is the speed at which a CPU core runs when it’s at, or as close to, 0% load as possible.

The lower the speed, the less power it uses. However, the lower the ideal speed, the longer the CPU takes to spin up to boost speeds. The lower the base speed is set, the more you limit the boost speed. CPUs do not behave the same at different speeds, this is why you can’t have a huge difference between base speed and boost speed.

If all CPUs behaved the same at all speeds, every CPU would have ludicrously low base speeds and as high as possible boost speeds. Sadly this isn’t possible as of right now.

The 7700 has a lower base speed, and that’s good for power consumption and efficiency, however, this means lower performance on the low end. It’s not the end of the world as it’s low-end. Core speeds matter less down here.

CPU core boost speed

CPU core boost speed is the polar opposite of the core base speed, this is the maximum speed that the CPU can operate. Be careful not to get confused with All-core boost speed, as this is the speed your CPU runs at when the load hits or gets close to 100%.

The higher the core boost speed, the more power you consume, but the performance matters here, since most games and applications rely on at least one core boosting, so a slight slip in boost speed can mean some pretty substantial performance losses.

The 7700X has a higher boost speed, meaning it’ll more than likely perform the bets, but it will, however, consume much more power.

Ryzen 7 7700 vs Ryzen 7 7700X: TDP

TDP stands for Thermal Design Power and it’s the maximum amount of thermal energy a component can output, under normal operating conditions.

TDP is noted by AMD as the “Default TDP” meaning this is the TDP of the component before any automatic or manual overclocking or boosting is applied. The TDP can variate 50 – 60W higher during intensive loads. But this is very CPU dependent. We don’t know for sure what the boost TDP of the 7700 is yet.

TDP also gives us an idea of how hot the CPU will run, as CPUs with a higher TDP will always run hotter. We can take this assumption and suggest the 7700 would be better suited to smaller form factor PCs. Low power consumption is ideal in small form factors and so are manageable thermals.

With the 7700, you won’t need to squeeze a beefy CPU cooler into a very limited space to keep it cool. Unlike the 7700X.

Ryzen 7 7700 vs Ryzen 7 7700X: Price

The Ryzen 7 7700 is going to be a little less powerful than the 7700X, and the price should reflect that, luckily, it does.

The Ryzen 7 7700 will release with an MSRP of $329, $60 lower than the MSRP of the 7700X.

Will AMD subject the 7000 “none-X” CPUs to the same price drops as the 7000 series? or will we see AMD re-hike up the price of the 7000 X series CPUs back up to that simply ridiculous MSRP?

Ryzen 7 7700 vs Ryzen 7 7700X: Concluion

The Ryzen 7 7700X is obviously a more powerful processor, it has the base speed, boost speed, and TDP to back it up. But that’s not all she wrote.

Each of the two CPUs on our list today is primarily for different use cases, the 7700 is much more power efficient, so it’s destined for smaller, more power-conscious PCs. The 7700X remains a mid-range monster and continued to do the lords work for mid-range gaming PC.

You should consider the Ryzen 7 7700 for many reasons, however, You can use the lesser price to soften the blow when upgrading to AM5, it’s cheaper to run, and you can save money on cooling solutions.

We’ll have to see the 7700X in action before we make any concrete deductions. But if you want power, go for the 7700X, if you want efficiency, then go for the 7700.

AMD Ryzen 7 7700 vs Ryzen 7 7700X

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