Conclusion

Final Words 

The new XT SKUs from AMD offer a notch more performance, and they are introduced at the original X model price series. So that's not a bad proposition, the 3800XT is now a top-3 single-threaded performance leader. There's a bit of a challenge with the new XT processors as they produce heat faster then we've seen on the X models. Temperatures at even at idle are a notch higher, and with LCS cooling you're now looking at a 70~75 Degrees C temperature delta under load. The heat buildup under that heatspreader jumps up rather fast; ergo I probably would not recommend a heat pipe cooler for the 3800XT and 3900XT. You need some form of LCS cooling, keep that in mind okay? With LCS, all light go green. That said, overall you're looking at perhaps 5% performance increases at single threads and lower thread count workloads. Once you hit all cores, the performance numbers are more or less the same as the regular X models. Overall though AMD has got an attractive fast CPU here and a proper chipset to go along with it, allowing you to gain more bandwidth on the PCIe Gen 4.0 infrastructure.

Price and value

Gaming performance

Zen2 Matisse based processors make up for a lot of the losses in gaming compared to Intel. Combined with the respective platform, ZEN2 offers far more oomph compared to the previous two generations Ryzen processors. There are mostly wins for Intel; there will be wins for AMD based on competing and price level matched processors. Only the fastest GPUs or lowest resolutions on the globe will show a difference in performance as a CPU is not a bottleneck, your GPU is. Ergo we use that GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (to be able to measure tangible differences). With a mainstream graphics card, it would be a much closer call to make.

DDR4 Memory

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 good Ryzen optimized kits out there. With Ryzen Generation 3 you can go higher in DDR4 clock frequency if you want to. Please check out our latest article on frequency and timings versus the effect of game performance. We advise that up-to 3600 MHz and CL16 you are good to go, after that frequency value a 2:1 divider kick in, and that can have an effect on the Infinity Fabric bandwidth, inter-core CCX bandwidth. We see no reason for faster DDR4 memory anyways, it's expensive and does not bring in added perf, much like what you see on Intel platforms as well. We recommend a 3200 to 3600 MHz CL16 memory kit, and if you can find it cheap enough, go with CL14.

Energy efficiency

These processors are fabbed at 7nm, you may see some exciting energy efficiency, the 105 Watts listed for the 3800XT was not necessarily something we could measure anywhere and thus remains relative. Of course, that all is amazing all by itself. Mind you these are numbers at nominal load. Not your continuous power draw. Overall the 3800XT is idling a bit higher than expected, but that is likely due to the motherboard (extra ICs do use extra power). The load values are excellent. Despite that this processor series runs a notch faster, AMD stays within its Wattage / Voltage and TDP budget. They are merely redistributing voltage and frequency with lower thread counts. 

The conclusion

The 3800XT is plenty fast for everyday workloads and gaming (unless you want to squeeze out every last bit in performance with a super-fast graphics card). That all said and done, will the XT be the more attractive series to purchase? Well, it'll bring an extra bump in performance on single threads and a couple of threads, but not all-core threads. So basically this proc is faster in the lower to mid segment of used threads. There are some offsets here and there but overall in the first two segments. While the extra 5% (differs here and there) is an attractive value, we also see the processor to have to deal with heat build-up faster. This processor ran 75 Degrees C on full load pretty quickly, and that's based on an X63 280mm LCS cooler. Basically, AMD has pushed the max out of the 3800 XT throughout the scope of threads. There wasn't that much left to tweak either, and that's not a bad thing as AMD did the work for you. For gaming, you're good to go as with any graphics card, just not the 1000ones the performance is there unless you want to squeeze out every bit of remaining perf, after QHD and UHD it's just not relevant anymore even to discuss. At 399 USD AMD prices this product the same as they did pricing the 3800X last year and you'll receive a free key for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla as well. Your bill of ownership will rise/ryze slightly higher though, as you will need to purchase a good LCS cooler, that or a super premium Heatpipe based cooler. In the end, the 3800XT is an extra choice you get to opt and purchase, it's listed at the same price as last year's counterpart, and no matter how we look at it, that just isn't a bad deal. This XT is as good as the 3800X, but it is marginally better. It does fly with single-threaded workloads. Would you ever notice the performance difference between the two models in real-world scenarios? We doubt that a little to be perfectly honest, but the effect can be measured. Pick the one with the best price really, that's my advice. But overall, this ZEN2 product is a feisty, capable one, and worthy a Guru3D recommendation.

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