AMD announced the Ryzen 7000 “non-X” CPUs at CES 2023, these new CPUs are said to bring unparalleled efficiency to the table without sacrificing too much performance. With that being said, when it comes to the Ryzen 9 7900 vs Ryzen 9 7900X, which is better?

Now Read: Ryzen 9 7900 where to buy.

in this article, we’re going to analyze the similarities and differences between the two CPUs and make deductions on performance based on that. Unfortunately, we don’t have any performance details for the 7900 right now, but we can make an educated guess.

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

Ryzen 9 7900 vs Ryzen 9 7900X: Specs

Each of the CPUs on the block today has fairly similar specifications, and because of this, you might be tricked into thinking that they would perform exactly the same. This is, however, not the case, As we will explain.

Here are the specifications of both the 7900 and 7900X.

Ryzen 9 7900

Architecture: Zen 4
Core count: 12
Thread count: 24
Base speed: 3.7GHz
Boost speed: 5.4GHz
Cache: 64MB
TDP 65W

The specs may look normal at first glance until you see the incredibly low TDP considering the specifications of the CPU. The efficiency of the Zen 4 core really working its magic here.

Ryzen 9 7900X

Architecture: Zen 4
Core count: 12
Thread count: 24
Base speed: 4.7GHz
Boost speed: 5.6GHz
Cache: 64MB
TDP 170W

As we can see, the 7900X is a power hog, drinking a full 170W at default. It’s still an incredible list of specifications, however. Nobody is debating the power of the 7900X.

Ryzen 9 7900 vs Ryzen 9 7900X: Specification comparison

For the sake of ease, we’re only going to cover the stuff that’s different between the two CPUs here today. We’re sure you know what a CPU is and how it works, but if not, you can check out our: How does a CPU work, article.

With that being said, let’s dive in.

CPU core speed

CPU core speed is split into two categories, we have base speed, and boost speed. Here are the differences between the two.

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 core speed, the longer it takes to spin up to boost speeds. The lower the base speed is set, the more you limit the boost speed. There can’t be too much of a gap between the base and boost speeds, as CPUs do not behave the same at all speeds.

If all CPUs behaved the same at all speeds, every CPU would have a base speed of 1GHz and a boost speed of 6GHz. But sadly, this cannot be achieved just now.

The 7900 has a lower base speed, making it more efficient in the low end of computing, but also slightly slower. However, as this is the low end, it matters less.

CPU core boost speed

The CPU core boost speed is the exact polar opposite of the core base speed, this is the maximum speed that a single CPU core inside the CPU can operate. Not to be confused with All-core boost speed, this is the speed the CPU runs at when the load hits or gets close to, 100%.

The 7900X has a higher boost speed, making it faster. However, it also consumes much more power when boosting. So we’ll have to see how well the 7900 performs to make any deductions on whether or not the performance loss is worth it.

TDP

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

The TDP described by AMD is the Default TDP, that’s before any overclocking or automatic boosting occurs. The real TDP will be roughly 50 – 60W higher when boosting. Although your results may vary, and without testing the 7900, we won’t know for sure.

TDP also gives us an idea of how hot the CPU is going to run, with a higher TDP CPU running much hotter than lower ones. We can use this data to assume that the 7900 runs much cooler than the X, so we’d want to use this CPU in small form factor PCs for example. A place in which we might not have ample room for large cooling solutions.

Ryzen 9 7900 vs Ryzen 9 7900X: Price

The Ryzen 9 7900 isn’t going to be as powerful as the 7900X, but the price reflects that, as it should.

The MSRP for the Ryzen 9 7900 is $429. A huge discount on the price of the 7900X, which stood at $549 when launched. We have seen AMD slash prices of the Ryzen 7000 X CPUs, so will we see the non-X experience the same slash? Or will AMD use this as an opportunity to jack up the prices of the X series again?

Ryzen 9 7900 vs Ryzen 9 7900X: Conclusion

The Ryzen 9 7900X is clearly a more powerful CPU, it has a higher base speed, boost speed, and more TDP to play with than the 7900. But that’s not what you wanted to know, is it?

You wanted to know why, why you should choose the 7900 over the 7900X. Okay, we’ll tell you.

The 7900 is much cheaper than the 7900X, lessening the sting of upgrading to AM5. You also get a much more power-efficient CPU, keeping temps and the cost f running the thing down. You’ll also have to spend less on keeping it cool, as the 7900 won’t require a drastic cooling solution, as is required by the 7900X.

AMD Ryzen 9 7900 vs Ryzen 9 7900X

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