i7-8700K Vs Ryzen 7 3700X [Benchmarks 2023]

I recently got hands-on the MSI RX 5700 XT MECH OC for the review. While at it using the Intel i7 8700k on our standard test bench configuration to test the graphics cards, I decided to spin the card on our newly upgraded AMD test bench and compare the results from two test benches.

This content is purely a performance comparative one and I will not be giving the conclusion of any sort for that matter. Intel i7 8700k was released on 24-Sep-2017 and it is still very much in the business with a base clock of 3.7GHz and a maximum turbo boost of 4.7GHz (single-core). It is a 6-core, 12-threads desktop processor capable of multi-threading with a TDP rating of 95W.

In comparison to that, the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X was released on 7-Jul-2019 and it is an 8-core, 16-thread desktop processor having a TDP rating of 65W. This processor comes from the third generation of the AMD’s ever-popular Ryzen family. It has a base clock of 3.6GHz with a maximum boost clock of 4.4GHz (single core in single-threaded load).

This chip is based on 7nm FinFET as compared to Intel i7 8700k’s 14nm Lithography. Another striking difference is the 12MB cache on the blue side as compared to the 32MB cache from the red camp. Both processors support DDR4 memory system. The AMD CPU comes with Wraith Prism cooler with RGB LED whereas there is no cooling solution bundled in the Intel’s offering as 8700k is an unlocked variant. Pointer though as 3700X is also unlocked!

i7-8700K Vs Ryzen 7 3700X

I am not gonna spill a black ink for the graphics card; check out our review of it by clicking here. I don’t have Intel i7 9700k or i9 9900k for that matter otherwise they would have been already in the results!

i7-8700K Vs Ryzen 7 3700X Testbeds:

Here is the Intel test bench configuration:

Intel i7 8700k
ASUS Strix Z390-E Gaming Motherboard
ASUS ROG Ryujin 360 CPU Cooler
CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB PRO 16GB @ 3200MHz CL16
Lexar NM610 250GB NVMe SSD
CORSAIR AX1200i PSU
Custom Open-Air Test Bench

Here is the AMD test bench configuration:

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
AORUS X570 PRO WIFI
CORSAIR H100i RGB Platinum
CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB PRO 16GB @ 3200MHz CL16
HyperX 120GB SSD
Antec HCP1300
Custom Open-Air Test Bench

I have used the same RAM to remove any performance impacting factor that could have come from using different RAM. My 3600MHz with CL16 kits are stuck in Canada and I am hoping these would reach me in the least time given this pandemic settles down.

Intel i7 8700k has been tested at the following settings:

5.0GHz using 1.30V VCore Manual
Stock settings on Auto
All cores set at a base clock of 3.7GHz using auto voltage and turbo boost disabled

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X was tested at:

Stock settings on PBO
All cores set at a base clock of 3.6GHz using auto voltage and turbo boost disabled
All cores set at a clock of 3.7GHz using auto voltage and turbo boost disabled

I am including the results with i7 8700k overclocked to 5.0GHz as it is the popular way among the blue campers. I have taken a few games and tested them with CPUs locked on their base clocks. Since the Intel chip has a higher base clock as compared to the AMD’s, the AMD CPU was also tested with +100MHz on all cores locked at 3700MHz so that we may have results on the per clock reference.

AMD driver Adrenalin 2020 Edition 20.2.2 was used for all tests. Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) was used to remove the complete traces of the previous installation before installing the drivers.

Monitoring Software:

MSI Afterburner 4.62 was used to monitor and record the FPS for the games without in-built benchmarks.

Synthetic Benchmarks:

Following synthetic benchmarks have been used:

3DMark Fire Strike
3DMark Fire Strike Extreme
3DMark Fire Strike Ultra
3DMark Time Spy
3DMark Time Spy Extreme
Unigine Superposition

Games:

Following games have been benched:

Ashes of the Singularity [DX11, DX12]
Battlefield 1 [DX11, DX12]
Battlefield V (DX11, DX12]
Metro Last Light Redux [DX11]
Metro Exodus [DX11, DX12]
Assassin’s Creed Origin [DX11]
Shadow of the Tomb Raider [DX12]
Grand Theft Auto – V [DX11]
Far Cry 5 – [DX11]
Middle Earth – Shadow of War [DX11]
The Witcher 3 [DX11]
DOOM [Vulkan]
Wolfenstein II The New Colossus [Vulkan]

Synthetic Benchmark:

Let’s start by taking a look at the synthetic benchmark results.

I have included the CPU Score and the overall score. The results are self-explanatory. Aren’t they!

An impressive performance boost from the AMD’s new chip.

A marginal gain from the AMD’s new chip on stock level testing!

Intel i7 8700k vs Ryzen 7 3700x Gaming Performance:

Let’s take a look at the gaming results starting with Assassin’s Creed Origin.

1080P testing is strange but heck even i7 8700k at 5.0GHz could not produce that high a result though! The higher resolution results are in closer proximity.

Ashes of the Singularity – Escalation DX11

Ashes of the Singularity – Escalation DX12

Good to see the AMD is filling the gap and coming closer to the Intel though point here is that the Intel chip in comparison was released in 2017 but still we are getting a comparable performance at a much better price point.

Battlefield1 DX11

Battlefield1 DX12

Battlefield V DX11

Battlefield V DX12

DOOM

A similar performance!

Far Cry 5

Grand Theft Auto – V

Metro Exodus DX11

Metro Exodus DX12

Metro Last Light Redux

Middle Earth Shadow of War

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

The Witcher 3

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Now, it is time to see the results with these CPUs have all cores locked at their base clock and AMD Ryzen 7 3700X at 3700MHz as well.

Synthetic Benchmarks

Following synthetic benchmarks have been used:

3DMark Fire Strike
3DMark Fire Strike Extreme
3DMark Time Spy
Unigine Superposition 1080P Extreme

Games

Following games have been benched:

Metro Exodus [DX11, DX12]
Shadow of the Tomb Raider [DX12]
Far Cry 5 – [DX11]
Wolfenstein II The New Colossus [Vulkan]

I did not have enough time to test all games and benchmarks hence selected a few listed above for this part of the content. Here are the results:

Gaming Performance:

On their respective base clock frequencies, we are seeing a significant performance boost for the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X. Of course, the Intel i9 9900k would have put this in a better perspective.