Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
If you want a powerful processor , you’re able to get a lot for your money at around the $ 400 mark . Both AMD and Intel have stellar options that extend high performance in gaming and productiveness , and that even compete with the very respectable of the ripe that cost one C of dollars more . TheRyzen 7 7800X3Dand Core i7 - 14700 K have lots of cores , tiptop - high clock swiftness , and boatload of hoard . Here ’s how they pile up in a classic head - to - head comparison of the best CPUs under $ 400 .
Pricing and availability
AMD set up the Ryzen 7 7800X3D in April 2023 , just over six month after the debut of therest of the Zen 4 propagation of processors . It debuted with a price tag of $ 450 , though that initially fall to $ 400 , then to around $ 370 , which is the Mary Leontyne Price at most retail merchant at the time of this writing . Stock remain widely useable , despite it being one of the most popular processors available today .
The Core i7 - 14700 K debuted in October 2023 along with the remainder of the initial fourteenth - generation batting order . It had a recommended retail price of $ 410 , which has remained mostly stationary since then , but has issue forth down slightly to just under $ 400 at most retailers at the clock time of this composition . It remains widely available at a compass of retail merchant .
Specs
The Ryzen 7 7800X3D is n’t the unicorn of its generation like the 5800X3D was , but it is for certain a standout . Built on the same chopine as the 7700X , it has a lower clock speed and the same telephone number of CORE , but much more L3 cache . The innovation features a bolted - on additional hoard chip that sit on the die and gives it three times the cache of the 7700X.
Otherwise , it has eight standard Zen 4 cores on a individual - Congress of Racial Equality coordination compound ( CCX ) , unlike the 7900X3D and7950X3D , and a 5GHz boost clock f number .
In comparison , the 14700 K uses the double - architecture design of Intel ’s recent generations , with eight performance cores and 12 efficiency cores . That ’s four more E core than the 13700 K and only four less than the much - more - expensive 14900K. It offers support for a much greater number of simultaneous screw thread than the 7800X3D , and has a notably higher clock velocity for its P cores . Cache is much lower , though , and the TDP difference is stark , with the 14700 K pull importantly more power than the AMD alternative .
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
Performance
We have n’t reviewed the 14700 K directly , but we did give the7800X3D a thorough going - overwhen it first debuted and we are just as impressed today as were then . It is still the best gaming CPU available — and by quite some margin . In our tests against the last - multiplication Intel flagship , the 13900 K ( which has more E cores and a higher clock hurrying than the 14700 K ) , it hold a leading in all games by between 5 % and 15 % depending on the plot .
The 14700 K does n’t have much new to tender in terms of gaming carrying out . It ’s still excellent , but it ’s slower than the 13900 green , and therefore it ’s slower than the 7800X3D. There ’s not alotin it , especially if you ’re game at 1440p or 4K. The 7800X3D is still the faster processor for play , and it is especially upright at elevate 0.1 % lows and avoiding bumble by being extremely responsive with that additional cache .
However , it ’s not a fresh sweep for the AMD darling . The 7800X3D has far fewer cores and supporting threads than the 14700 K and a lower clock speed , so in productivity tasks where those cores can be leveraged , the 14700 K blows the 7800X3D out of the water . As do the Ryzen CPU ’s non - X3D counterparts with more center , like the 7900X and 7950X.
In video recording redaction , transcoding , and rendering , the 14700 K is by far the undecomposed processor , leverage its extra essence to great effect . It ’s also the much better processor for any kind of professional work . you’re able to see this in action inTechPowerUp ’s comprehensive reporting .
It does soak up a lot more power , though . As TechPowerUp ’s coverage highlights , where the 7800X3D draws less than 60W while play , and far less than 100W in demanding productiveness project , the 14700 K regularly pulls over 100W in gaming , and up to 180W at times . In demanding program program , it can go as high as drawing the full 280W of its caloric conception power ( TDP ) . In those scenarios , it pulls more than three sentence the power of the 7800X3D.
That means there will be problems cooling this CPU unless you have a very capable ice chest , and even then , you may need to undervolt it to not attain a thermic gun wall .
Upgrade potential
The 7800X3D might be the best gaming CPU of its contemporaries , but it wo n’t always be the upright gaming CPU ever . If you need to upgrade , you ’ll be able-bodied to just grab the next best mainframe and slot it in with perhaps a BIOS upgrade . That should be the case for several generation , as the AMD CPU is on Socket AM5 , which AMD has drink to support for the next few days at the least , like it did with AM4 .
In comparing , the 14700 K has only one CPU that ’s technically better than it : the 14900K. That only has a slightly mellow clock pep pill and four additional east cores . There ’s barely any difference between them , especially when you overclock the 14700K. This is the last generation on Intel ’s LGA 1700 socket , so upgrading to anything beyond this CPU will require a motherboard overhaul too .
7800X3D vs 14700K: What’s the best CPU?
It calculate on what you want to do with it , and how important you consider the ability to upgrade and office need . For gaming , for low business leader operation , for those on tighter budgets , or for anyone who need to upgrade more cheaply in the future , the 7800X3D is the better CPU by far . It ’s far more effective , delivers better gaming performance , and it will be upgradable through many more generations .
The 14700 K is far dear at productivity project , and it ’s still great for gaming , but it does n’t have many more advantage . It demands an insane amount of power , can easily overheat , and has no real climb path without a full organization overhaul . If you need a young processor for professional workload , definitely consider the Intel option , but if you even dabble in games and need a better all - one shot CPU , the 7800X3D is a smarter buy .
instead , conceive the 14600K. It offers good bang for buck in gaming without being so prone to overheating . Its productivity execution should still beat the 7800X3D , but it wo n’t be able-bodied to keep up in gaming .
