New reports revealed that the upcoming AMD Ryzen 7 1700X will deliver the same performance as Intel's high-end Core i7-6900K at a fraction of its price. This is purportedly the reason why Intel is now increasingly invoking its Core i7-8700 in its recent promotional push.
The latest leak largely came from WCCF Tech, which was able to use the new AMD processor and promptly tested it via CPU Mark. The results are particularly remarkable, showing the chip nipping at the heels of the more expensive Intel processors. It also confirmed a previous review released early this year and is aligned with reports that it has demolished the Intel's Core i7-6700K back in December.
AMD Ryzen Performance
Its overall performance is only 4 percent and 9 percent behind the i7-5960X and i7-6900K, respectively. In comparison with its 8-core FX-8350 sibling, the Ryzen 7 1700X is also said to be 37 percent faster.
Now, the breakdown of the performance average is a bit more interesting and shows what Ryzen is really capable of in relation to those of the competition's.
Testing Single-Thread Mode
In the single-threaded test, which is considered the most important benchmark so far, Ryzen obliterated Intel's 5960X and 6800K. Best of all, its performance is within spitting distance of the 6900K, trailing one of Intel's latest and greatest by mere 3 percentage points.
Ryzen's posted performance against the 6900K is particularly surprising for observers mainly because the latter already has its turbo up to 4.0 GHz in the single thread mode through the processor's Turbo Boost 3.0. Ryzen has reportedly performed at 3.8 GHz Turbo frequency.
AMD Ryzen vs. Intel's Greatest
WCCF Tech's CPU Mark test included integer math, floating point performance, prime numbers, encryption, and SSE performance, among others. Out of the eight benchmarks, Ryzen was able to demolish all of its Intel competitors, including the top-of-the-line Broadwell-E i7 6900K, in five tests. It also ran faster than the i7 5960X in six out of eight tests.
Now, you will probably say that all this is well and good. Ryzen can hold its own when going toe-to-toe with its Intel rivals. The performance is on par and the competition should be about close.
That would be true until you hear about the pricing. Intel's Haswell-E i7 5960X retails for $999 while the Broadwell-E i7 6900K is getting sold for $1,099.
On the other hand, there is the AMD Ryzen 7 1700X, which is said to have an astonishing $389 price tag. What is even more incredible is the fact that the processor is categorized mid- to high-tier in the Ryzen range. AMD has two higher-end processors above it: the Ryzen 7 1800 Pro and the AMD Ryzen 7 1800X. The former still does not have any pricing but it could be slightly lower than the $499 announced price for the 1800X.
Intel is now aggressively promoting its 8th-generation processors, breaking its tick-tock method for their launch in the second half of this year. The surprising Ryzen leak should now tell you why.
