Intel Core i7-7700k versus AMD Ryzen 1700X 14 Game CPU Showdown
Final Thoughts and Conclusions
In this article, we focused entirely on gaming using the new AMD Balanced power plan. Of the 14 games we tested, many of the tests the AMD Ryzen 1700X was able to hold it’s own against the Intel Core i7-7700K. There were times where the AMD Ryzen fell behind the Intel i7 by as much as 10%. However, the inverse is also true, sometimes the AMD Ryzen 1700X took the lead over the Intel i7.
On average there was between 1FPS and 5FPS difference between the two test systems across most of the games we took a look at. The one outlier was FarCry 4, where at 1080P where the Intel i7-7700k had a commanding lead with 24FPS! That’s a huge difference, just to verify that difference, we actually tested that game a few extra times. Likewise, in this round of testing, Grand Theft Auto V received nearly even results between the two test systems, again we tested this extra times. In both cases, the results were the same no matter how many times we tested it. If you run at 2560×1440 or higher, the difference between the two systems are negligable between the two systems.
The AMD Ryzen Balanced power plan looks to be a good optimization released by AMD. If AMD can keep up these types of improvements while working with game developers, then it’s very possible that AMD has made a successful return to the high-end processor market and will provide some good competition to Intel.
A couple of things to keep in mind when looking at either test system. The Intel Core i7 system is pretty stable as it has been around for a while and built on familiar architecture. The AMD Ryzen system is based on very new architecture and there are some things to overcome. AMD and Gigabyte are both working hard to resolve those issues quickly.
The next consideration is pricing. The Intel Core i7-7700K can be purchased for $339.99 with free shipping, while the AMD Ryzen 7 1700X costs a little more at $384.00 with free shipping. Pricing for motherboards will range in price, the two that we included here is the ASUS STRIX Z270G Gaming that runs $199.99 with free shipping, which is pretty close in price to the Gigabyte AX370-Gaming 5 motherboard found online for $195.99 with free shipping. Both use dual-channel DDR4 memory kits and the rest of the system build would be priced the same.
Legit Bottom Line: If gaming is the main reason you are looking at building a new system, the AMD Ryzen 7 1700X stands up to the Intel i7-7700K in nearly every game we tested. This shows that either processor will work great in a gaming system. The AMD Ryzen 7 1700X though, has the added bonus of the extra cores/threads allowing you to do more multitasking while gaming, especially when it comes to doing things that can take advantage of the extra cores and threads.