The 2700 and 2700X are both 8 core CPUs from AMD’s latest 2nd generation Ryzen, but what’s
the difference in performance? I’ve tested some games and run a few CPU benchmarks to
help you pick between them.
Let’s start with the difference in specs.
Both are 8 core 16 thread parts with the same amounts of cache using the 12nm Zen+ architecture.
The main difference is in the clock speeds, where the base clock of the 2700X is 500MHz
higher than the 2700, while the max boost clock of the 2700X is just 200MHz above the
2700, but both processors can also be overclocked too, as we’ll see later. This difference
results in the TDP of the 2700X being a fair bit higher than the 2700.
To see how these differences practically affect games and applications I’ve tested them
both in this system. Both were tested using the Aorus X470 Gaming 7 motherboard with 16gb
of dual channel memory at DDR4-2666, and while I know performance could be further improved
with faster memory that wasn’t what I had available at the time, in any case the same
memory was used so we should be seeing the differences between the CPUs which is the
goal here. For the graphics I’m using my EVGA GTX 1080 FTW2 as again that’s the best
one I’ve got available.
I’ve also used the stock cooler that comes with each CPU, as I’ve found them to be
pretty good for stock coolers, and figure many people will probably end up using them,
so the 2700X was tested using the Wraith Prism while the 2700 was tested with the Wraith
Spire.
With that in mind let’s check out the games first, followed by CPU specific benchmarks
afterwards. I’ve tested all games at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K resolutions, however this means
I haven’t been able to test as many games as I usually would.
Starting with Far Cry 5 with the built in benchmark at 1080p we’re getting really
nice results at all setting levels, with the 2700X being quite a bit ahead here, around
13% better at ultra settings or 12% at low. Stepping up to 1440p there’s a little decrease
in all frame rates, but not too bad yet. The difference between the two CPUs starts getting
close together here, just under 5% of an improvement at ultra settings and a 6% boost at low. Going
right up to 4K there are almost no differences in average frame rates between the two as
the GPU takes over most of the work, the 1% lows are still a fair bit higher with the
better CPU though.
CS:GO runs well on basically anything, and again really nice results here at 1080p, with
a 15% improvement at max settings on the 2700X, but this increases to a 24% improvement at
minimum settings. Moving up to 1440p the frame rates don’t drop too much here, but at ultra
settings now the 2700X is giving us just under a 10% boost, while at low this has dropped
to a 20% improvement. The differences at 4K are much smaller, just a 5% improvement at
max settings and a 11% boost at the lowest settings.
Ghost Recon was tested with the built in benchmark, and at 1080p we’re not actually seeing much
of a difference between the two CPUs, the results are already extremely close together
here, the GPU was maxed out in all tests so I’m guessing it was the bottleneck in this
particular game, so just goes to show that it really varies depending on the game too.
Moving up to 1440p the results are about the same, very close together with an extremely
small edge to the 2700X but just a few frames per second. 4K in this game is pretty rough,
the frame rates drop quite a lot compared to the other resolutions but again they’re
still very close together with the 2700 only just behind the X.
In Watchdogs 2 at 1080p there was just a 4% improvement at ultra settings with the 2700X
and a slightly bigger 6% improvement at low settings. Moving up to 1440p the frame rates
at the lower settings didn’t really drop down that far from 1080p, the difference was
much larger in the 1440p results, and at low settings the increase dropped a little to
5% of an improvement on the 2700X now. Going to 4K drops things quite a bit, but the frame
rates with either CPU are very close together here regardless of setting level, perhaps
a slight edge in the 1% lows to the 2700X but otherwise they’re not too different
here.
As expected as we step the resolution up there’s less of a gap between the two CPUs as the
1080 graphics card becomes the bottleneck, so there is a larger difference at 1080p and
generally at lower setting levels for the same reason. If you’re planning on gaming
at high resolutions realistically the choice of CPU is less of a factor, but if you’re
playing at 1080p then the 2700X could make more sense.
To be honest I could have tested better games to show CPU differences, I was planning on
doing more testing with the 2700X but my time with it was limited and I didn’t get to
testing the rest, so I only had the data for the games shown. For the same reason I also
didn’t get the chance to test overclocking in the games.
Now let’s check out the CPU specific benchmarks, I was able to test at both stock speeds and
while overclocked here. Keep in mind that overclock speeds will vary between each CPU
based on the silicon lottery so the results aren’t guaranteed, I was able to get my
2700X to 4.25GHz at 1.4 volts using the stock wraith Prism cooler, while the 2700 was tested
at 4.0GHz at 1.4 volts using the stock Wraith Spire cooler.
Starting out with Cinebench we’re seeing poorer single core performance when applying
the manual overclock as single core boosts will go higher than this, but we’re seeing
nice improvements on the 2700 multicore result, it’s really closed in on the 2700X.
7-Zip was used to test compression and decompression speeds, and again the overclocked 2700 is
able to catch up to the stock 2700X, while the overclocked 2700X puts it just in the
lead.
Veracrypt was used to test AES encryption and decryption speeds, and we’re actually
seeing slightly better performance prior to the overclocks in this particular workload,
and the results are fairly close together anyway.
Handbrake was used to convert a 4K video to 1080p, and then a separate 1080p file to 720p.
Yet again the overclocked 2700 is closing the gap between itself and the 2700X, although
the 2700X is just a little ahead with its superior overclock.
The Corona benchmark uses the CPU to render a scene, and fairly similar results to what
we’ve already seen, overclocking the 2700 closes the gap between it and the 2700X although
the 2700X is still ahead in all tests.
These are the results in Geekbench 4, similar to before where the overclocked 2700 has caught
up to the stock 2700X, but the 2700X while overclocked pushes it just further ahead.
The Passmark 9 results saw the same pattern again, so I won’t bother talking about them
any further.
In general with the overclock on the 2700 we’re getting a larger improvement compared
to the 2700X, as the 2700X already has fairly high clock speeds, but we’re able to push
the 2700 quite close to it too and in many cases get better results than with the stock
2700X, but it will really depend on the overclock each chip is able to sustain. Although I didn’t
have time to test games while overclocked I suspect the difference would become much
closer together with the 2700 overclocked.
Unfortunately temperature testing was not completed with the 2700X, again due to time
constraints, so I wasn’t able to compare the Wraith Spire and Prism coolers, although
that would have been interesting.
So overall the 2700X is coming out ahead as expected with its higher clock speeds, but
is it worth buying over the 2700? Looking at the prices, here in Australia the 2700
goes for $379 AUD while the 2700X goes for $469 AUD, a $90 AUD difference.
In the US the 2700 goes for $290 USD while the 2700X goes for $320 USD, so only a $30
USD difference there, much closer together at just a 10% increase. In the games tested
at times we are seeing more than 10% of an improvement, more commonly at the lower resolutions
anyway, so it could be worth going for the 2700X if you just plan on leaving it at stock,
but as discussed at higher resolutions the difference shrinks quite a bit. The 2700 looks
like a pretty good deal if you’re planning to overclock it to say 4GHz for instance,
which as shown should get you just a bit less than the 2700X.
Personally if I had that US pricing available I’d probably just spend the little extra
for the 2700X, but either are realistically pretty good options as we’ve seen. Unfortunately
I’m in Australia so have that bigger price gap, which makes the 2700 seem like a better
deal, at least in terms of price to performance. Let me know which of these two CPUs you would
pick and why down in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe for future tech videos
like this one.