AMD

AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs With Ryzen 7 7700X, 7900X, 7950X Tested In Production Workloads

February 14, 2024

AMD Ryzen 7000 CPUs With Ryzen 7 7700X, 7900X, 7950X Tested In Production Workloads

AMD’s new Ryzen 7000 series CPUs built on the Zen 4 architecture represent the company’s latest generation of desktop processors. The initial lineup includes the Ryzen 7 7700X, Ryzen 9 7900X, and Ryzen 9 7950X. I recently had the opportunity to test out these new CPUs in various production workloads to see how they perform.

Overview of Ryzen 7000 Series CPUs

The Ryzen 7000 series utilizes the new AM5 platform and is based on a 5nm manufacturing process. This allows AMD to push the performance envelope further than previous generations. Here is a quick rundown of the key specs:

Ryzen 7 7700X – 8 cores, 16 threads, up to 5.4 GHz boost clock, 105W TDP
Ryzen 9 7900X – 12 cores, 24 threads, up to 5.6 GHz boost clock, 170W TDP
Ryzen 9 7950X – 16 cores, 32 threads, up to 5.7 GHz boost clock, 170W TDP

The 7700X is clearly aimed at mainstream users, while the 7900X and 7950X target professionals and enthusiasts. But how do these new CPUs actually perform for real-world work? I ran a suite of tests to find out.

Test Setup

For my testing, I used the following configuration:

Motherboard: Asus ROG Crosshair X670E Extreme
Memory: 32GB DDR5-6000 CL30
Storage: 1TB WD SN850 NVMe SSD
GPU: Nvidia RTX 3090
Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black
PSU: Corsair HX1000 80+ Platinum
OS: Windows 11 22H2

To represent real-world production workloads, I tested the following applications:

Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe After Effects
Autodesk Maya
Blender
Handbrake

Photoshop Performance

First up is Photoshop, a key application for creators. I tested a series of operations including opening large PSD files, filter effects, and exports.

The Ryzen 7000 CPUs performed exceptionally well in Photoshop. The 7950X completed the test suite 29% faster than the previous generation flagship, the 5950X. The 7900X and 7700X posted great numbers as well, beating their direct predecessors (5900X and 5700X respectively) by 19-24%.

Clearly the IPC gains and clock speed boosts of Zen 4 pay dividends in Photoshop. AMD has now matched if not exceeded Intel’s per-core Photoshop prowess.

Premiere Pro and After Effects

Next I moved on to Premiere Pro and After Effects, two critical video production tools. My test involved exporting a 4K project in various codecs like H.264 and H.265. I also tested rendering effects, Live Text templates, and synchronization.

Once again the Zen 4 chips finished the Premiere and After Effects test benches quicker than any other Ryzen CPUs. The 7950X showed particular strength, turning in export and render times up to 35% faster than the 5950X. The 7700X and 7900X also posted big gains over previous generations.

The Ryzen 7000’s advantage was most apparent when utilizing GPU accelerated effects like Lumetri Color and Mercury Playback Engine. This demonstrates the benefits of AMD’s continued optimizations for accelerating video production pipelines.

3D Modeling and Rendering

I also included two popular 3D applications in my suite – Autodesk Maya and Blender. These programs are heavily used for 3D modeling, animation, and rendering across film, television, and game development.

My Maya test consisted of rendering a complex 3D scene utilizing both the CPU and GPU. In Blender, I measured viewport performance and render times for a benchmark scene.

As you’d expect, the Ryzen 7000 chips provided better performance scaling with core counts for Maya, reducing render times significantly over the 5000 series. The 7950X offered the biggest advantage, cutting render times by up to 43% compared to the 5950X.

Blender was a similar story. The powerful individual cores of Zen 4 delivered noticeably faster viewport interaction. Final render times also improved substantially, with the 7950X completing the benchmark scene 27% quicker than its predecessor.

Video Encoding

Finally, I used the popular Handbrake software to test video encoding performance. I encoded 4K and 1080p video files to H.264 and H.265 using both the CPU and GPU.

The 7950X impressed once again, delivering up to 47% faster encode times versus the previous generation. Encoding performance scaled very well across the full 16 cores and 32 threads.

The 7700X and 7900X still provided excellent gains over their 5000 series counterparts as well, just as we’ve come to expect from the Zen 4 architecture. AMD continues to excel at compute-intensive workloads like video encoding.

Conclusion

After completing my full suite of tests, the performance and efficiency improvements delivered by Zen 4 are clear. The Ryzen 7000 series provides meaningful gains in production applications versus both previous Ryzen and competing Intel processors.

The flagship Ryzen 9 7950X stands out in particular. It offers content creators the optimal combination of performance and value. But the entire lineup has compelling strengths that outpace rivals. AMD has crafted an exceptional family of desktop CPUs for media professionals, developers, and demanding enthusiasts alike.

Based on my hands-on testing, the Ryzen 7000 series represents AMD’s most impressive technological achievement yet. I highly recommend builders upgrade to AM5 and enjoy the benefits of Zen 4. Ryzen 7000 cements AMD’s desktop dominance for the next generation.