AMD Ryzen 7 2700 review

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Conclusion

Final Words 

Overall Zen+ is a good step forward with what pretty much is a bit of a die-shrink and tweaking. Ryzen has evolved and matured, it all adds up to lower latency, better memory support, faster base clock, higher turbo bins, the accumulation of it all is what has become Ryzen 2000. It is a very fast threading processor series. Game performance at the lowest resolution, again, Intel wins there but the margin and gap have become smaller. The asking price of 299 USD for this eight-core part is simply put a nice value proposition. With Ryzen 2000 / Zen+ the previous max 3.8~4.0 GHz domain also has been breached. The 12nm Zen+ generation can manage 4.1~4.2 GHz on all cores fine. 

Price and value

Prices are 299 and 329 USD for the Ryzen 7 2700 and Ryzen 7 2700X respectively. Prices in the EU should be fairly equal, however, with VAT differences throughout the region, prices can be higher with the USD/EUR conversion, and VAT. So does the 2600 offer value for money? For that I make use of that simple to use plot, purely based on the Cinebench multi-threaded score matched back to price versus relative multi-core performance:

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In the above a mathematical plot, we take the CB score from CineBench 15. We normalize the value and basically plot how much money it takes to calculate the CB score. All processors are clocked at default frequencies, this plot would look different if you'd math in tweaked clock frequencies and thus get higher CB scores. Also, you need to take the number of CPU cores into account (as in what number of CPU cores is relevant for you). But this is very simple math, have a peek at the chart (the higher a CPU is positioned the better). Value for money wise (Cinebench) shows that any Ryzen 5 2600(X) and Ryzen 2700(X) offers proper value for your money. Granted, and I always state it, this is a fairly subjective chart as it is based on just one test, but it does paint a certain picture. And please do not confuse the chart as to 'what is the better or faster processor'. 

Gaming performance

Previous Ryzen reviews have taught me that it is extremely hard to convince a big part of the guru3d community and reader base that Ryzen is plenty fast for gaming. The new Zen+ processors and the respective platform overall bring a bit more oomph compared to last year's Ryzen. The fact remains, that if you take a Core i7 8700K it will still beat Ryzen in CPU bound gaming situations (low resolutions or extremely high refresh rate where a game is not GPU bound). The difference and gap towards Intel are getting smaller though. Get yourself a nice G.Skill FlareX memory kit at 3200 MHz and you've covered your gaming bases. Keep in mind that a CPU bottleneck always has been far less important compared to a GPU bottleneck, which why I'll keep saying it, that differential is trivial at best. Honestly, with the money you save on this processor compared directly to the cheapest Intel processor you can find, you probably should invest in a faster graphics cards. 


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Ryzen

Cores

Threads

Boost/Base

 Cache

TDP

COOLER

SEP (USD)

Ryzen 7 2700X

8

16

4.3/3.7

20MB

105W

Wraith Prism (LED)

$329

Ryzen 7 2700

8

16

4.1/3.2

20MB

65W

Wraith Spire (LED)

$299

Ryzen 5 2600X

6

12

4.2/3.6

19MB

95W

Wraith Spire

$229

Ryzen 5 2600

6

12

3.9/3.4

19MB

65W

Wraith Stealth

$199


DDR4 Memory

The latest firmware for both the older 300 chipsets series and the new 400 Chipset series including the X470 have matured and is an accumulation of DDR4 memory support that evolved when the original Ryzen series was released. Memory compatibility should not and likely will not be an issue as long as you stick to recently released DIMMs. I'll keep repeating this, but there are some really good Ryzen optimized kits out there. The G.Skill Flare X series at 3200 MHz CL14 is hitting a nice sweet-spot and is 100% stable + optimized for your Ryzen infrastructure. We also tested the new Ryzen Sniper X optimized kit from G.Skill, it runs 3400 MHz straight out of the box and will bring your memory bandwidth in the 50K ranges. However, take my advice:  Flare X at 3200 MHz CL14. Install it, activate the profile in the BIOS, restart ...  and never look back. 

Energy efficiency

It's only an 65 Watt TDP 8-core proc. A full PC at idle will sit in the 50 Watt range with a dedicated graphics card installed (GeForce GTX 1080 / 16 GB memory / SSD and the motherboard). When we stressed the processors with a Prime 1024M run we reached roughly 113 Watts. A threaded CB15 run, reveals close to 135 Watts of power consumption (for the entire PC).


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That certainly is a lot better compared to the X model and even the Gen1 processors. When we game we hover at ~275 Watts, but obviously that factor is dependent on the type of game and graphics card you use of course. So yeah, it's all a notch higher with the 2600X and 2700X and seems a bit better with the non-X models, it's up to you whether or not this is a relevant thing for your purchasing choices. 


The Tweak

The original Ryzen series from 2017 revealed maximum clocks in the ~3900 MHz range on all cores. For Ryzen 2000 / Zen+ you may add roughly 7% on that frequency. In our findings, these processors will reach 4200 MHz. Our Ryzen 7 2700 was able to reach that stable 4150 MHz with air cooling (stock cooler used and that was pushing it). Do not expect performance differences that are miraculous. If you tweak to the maximum, likely ~1.45v is the need for a stable 4.3 GHz on all cores, but that will require high-end heatpipe or liquid cooling.
 


Guru3d-value

 

The conclusion

Honestly, I've been fighting the Ryzen 7 2700 seen from a somewhat mental mindset. The relatively low 3.2 GHz base clock is dimming overall performance when you compare it to the 2700X (3.7 GHz). The second your PC needs and stresses all processor cores, that base clock becomes an issue and is lowering overall performance to meet certain power targets. This actually affects gaming pretty negatively. Here's the thing, the 2700X is a processor rated at a 105 Watt TDP, and today's tested 2700 model at 65 Watt, and 40 Watts less power consumption is quite a difference. Overall it's a lovely processor, but this website serves a gaming and enthusiast crowd, and as such, I very much doubt that the 40 Watt difference is something you'd worry about. Ergo, for 98% of you guys, the 2700X is the way to go. You have no need to further tweak that proc, it has a sweet base clock and 4.3 GHz Turbo. And that sums up this review really, as that is the conundrum I walked into.

Now, not everything is that black and white, as for 299 USD you receive a proper 8-core part with 16 threads with turbos that can reach 4.150 MHz (tweaked) or 4.1 GHz when kept at default frequencies. The base clock, however, is dimmed down at 3200 MHz.  I have this feeling that AMD did all this on purpose. See, with the original Ryzen launch in 2017, everybody jumped on the non X model as they could tweak towards X performance. This round I think AMD keeps that base clock low enough so the X SKUs will be more appealing to get, which is better for their sales. Then again, a cute 8c/16t at a low 65 Watt TDP ain't appalling either eh? Yes, there's nothing wrong with that either. But for the extra 30 bucks, I do recommend a 2700X. Now let me throw in some more confusion; if you are willing to tweak, you certainly can squeeze out that extra all-core performance. And being the exact same processors series, you'll reach 4100~4200 MHz (all cores) on a proper air-cooler, without a doubt. We ended at a stable 4150 MHz on all cores on merely that underprivileged stock cooler. So, here's the thing. If you plan to tweak you'll likely install an expensive cooler to reach that 4200 Mhz right? Then why not stick to the stock cooler, save the 30 bucks you'd spend on a more expensive cooler anyway and get the 2700X? That way all variables are defined and pre-set for you. Less work, same money, same results and a better binned proc.

And there you have it. Only if you really want the low TDP for a small server or an on-all-day PC you'd probably want the 2700, the rest really should be on the lookout for the 2700X as I feel it is well worth the extra 30 bucks. You do need to factor in that for the Ryzen and gaming combo, you need reasonably fast frequency memory, and that is more expensive. Regardless what you how you might feel about my recommendation, for 299 bucks you receive a proper eight-core threading beast that once tweaked will bring you very comfortable performance levels for the money. Lovely value, but I think I have made my point well enough as to what you really should buy, okay?

ATH +++

- Hilbert out

“A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone if it is to keep its edge.”

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