Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsThe 3700x is a Fantastic Chip at its price point
Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2020
Summary:
If you want a mid-range machine that's future proof for at least the next few years, this fits the bill nicely. Get a chip that trades blows with an i9-9900K for $200 less and uses less power doing it. Yes, Intel's higher clock speed will allow it to be faster at certain workloads & games, but it's usually not by much. Regarding gaming, if you're running at 1080p or 1440p and not running a top of the line video card, the difference between the 3700x and 9900K is negligible. For workstation use, it's a no brainer, unless you want to up to a 3900x.
Building computers and keeping up to date with all the latest hardware is my hobby and second job. I was an AMD guy back in the Athlon XP & Athlon 64 days, but once it was Sandy Bridge vs Buldozer, there was basically no reason to go AMD. For years, I built basically nothing but Intel Machines. Ryzen's intro was exciting to me, AMD is now competitive again! But other than a couple of builds for people, I skipped the first 2 generations. Now, Gen 2 chips are cheap, and Gen 3 chips can not only hold there own, but often outperform Intel in many tasks, sometimes even gaming! And even when they loose, it's not by much.
So the 3700x gives great performance for the money, but what about stability and easy of setup? Well, it's nearly as good as Intel. Regarding stability, I'd say their fantastic as long as you avoid AMD Video Card drivers, which are a bit flaky at the moment. But with an Nvidia card, rock stable. Now, I said nearly as good as intel due to the drivers, BIOS updates, and power and voltage situation. For most current intel systems, the platform is so mature that everything generally just works out of the box. No drivers or power plans required, Windows 10 knows what to do with the platform. But with AMD Zen 2, there are potential issues on older chip-sets and not being able to boot without BIOS updates, performance issues with older BIOS updates, etc. On top of that, you really want to get the chip-set drivers & power plans to have the best configuration. None of this is hard, but Intel is already so integrated into Windows 10. But with Ryzen gaining market-share at their current pace, integration and optimization will be there soon.
Most of the time, you want to build a balanced system. Here are my CPU suggestions based on price points (Approximations)
$500 to $800 builds: 1600X AF (Which is basically a 2600X)
$800 to $1300 Builds: 3600
$1200 to $2500 Builds: 3700X
$1800 to $3400 Builds: 3900X
$2500+ Builds: $3950X
My wife and I rebuild our gaming systems this past Holiday season. Here's my latest rig with this chip:
Processor: AMD 3700X
Video Card: Nvidia GTX 1070 (used)
RAM: 32GB G-Skill Dual Channel 3600Mhz CAS16
Motherboard: MSI X570 Carbon (Good For 3800X and below, VRMs may run hot on 3900X and above)
Sound: Sound Blaster Z
SSD: 1GB A-DATA SX8200 Pro & 2x 2TB Crucial (1100 & MX500)
PSU: Seasonic 750W Gold
Case: Fractal Design Define C
CPU Cooler: Noctua DH-15
Fans: 4x 140mm Noctua AF-14 & 1x 120mm Noctua AF-12
Gaming and productivity have been fantastic with no issues. I really want more GPU power, but I'm waiting for the prices to come down for Nvidia or for AMD to get their driver act together. GTX 1070s can be had for under $200 used, and compare well to GTX 1660 Supers (We got ours before this was an option). If you have the money The 2070 S would be my go to. I could have invested the cost of the expensive fans and CPU cooler to a faster video card or 3900x, but having a system that's quiet, cool, and fast is important to me.
Here's to hoping Ryzen continues down this path!
