Single and multithreaded performance benchmarks for AMD's Ryzen 7 1800X, 1700X and 1700 have been leaked and they are very exciting! The Ryzen performance numbers that we're going to be digging into include three multithreaded/multi-core tests and three single-threaded/single-core tests.
| AMD Ryzen CPU | Cores/Threads | Cache | TDP | Cooler | Base | Turbo | XFR | Price | Launch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD Ryzen 7 1800X | 8/16 | 20MB | 95W | N/A | 3.6GHz | 4.0GHz | 4.1GHz | $499 | March 2nd |
| AMD Ryzen 7 1700X | 8/16 | 20MB | 95W | N/A | 3.4GHz | 3.8GHz | 3.9GHz | $399 | March 2nd |
| AMD Ryzen 7 1700 | 8/16 | 20MB | 65W | Wraith Spire | 3.0GHz | 3.7GHz | 3.75GHz | $329 | March 2nd |
| AMD Ryzen 5 1600X | 6/12 | 20MB | TBA | TBA | 3.6GHz | 4.0GHz | TBA | TBA | Q2 2017 |
| AMD Ryzen 5 1500X | 4/8 | 12MB | TBA | TBA | 3.5GHz | 3.7GHz | TBA | TBA | Q2 2017 |
| CPU | Cores/Threads | TDP | Base | Turbo | Turbo 3 | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i7 6950X | 10/20 | 140W | 3.0GHz | 3.5GHz | 4.0GHz | $1650 |
| Intel Core i7 6900K | 8/16 | 140W | 3.2GHz | 3.8GHz | 4.0GHz | $1050 |
| Intel Core i7 6800K | 6/12 | 140W | 3.4GHz | 3.6GHz | 3.8GHz | $410 |
| Intel Core i7 7700K | 4/8 | 91W | 4.2GHz | 3.7GHz | N/A | $340 |
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X, 1700X & 1700 - Multithreaded Performance
Let's start with the multithreaded aspect first. These tests give us a good idea of how well CPUs perform when all of their cores and threads are utilized. A wide array of professional transcoding and content creation suites are designed to take advantage of a high number of cores and threads. Because many productivity workloads are highly threaded, the more cores and threads you have the faster you can get work done generally speaking.
Cinebench R15 - Multi-Threaded Test
The first test we're going to be looking at is Cinebench R15. It's a synthetic benchmark based on MAXON's Cinema 4D suite for 3D content creation. It's synthetic in the sense that the rendered scene isn't part of any real-world project, rather it's one designed by MAXON for the sole purpose of evaluating CPU performance. The Intel CPU results for this comparison weren't part of the leak and have been borrowed from Anandtech.com [BW-E Review, Kaby lake Review]
Intel's 10-core 20-thread 6950X does best here, despite having the lowest clock speeds of the lineup. Which is indicative of how well MAXON's code scales with a high number of cores and threads. AMD's 1800X Ryzen flagship manages to take second place with 1617 points. Which puts it ahead of Intel's fastest 8-core the 6900K by 4.5%. Next we have the 1700X, AMD's middle of the range 8-core. It manages to come right under the 6900K with a nearly identical score.
The 65W 8-core Ryzen 7 1700 scores a very respectable fourteen hundred points. Putting it firmly ahead of its main competition the 6-core 6800K. The highest clocked chip of the bunch, the 7700K, finishes last. Which is to be expected in such a highly threaded workload.
Cinebench R11.5 - Multithreaded Test
Next we have the previous version of the popular 3D rendering benchmark. This version is simpler and doesn't take advantage of some of the newer x86 instruction set extensions. This test reflects performance in more SSE heavy workloads.
Geekbench 3 - Multithreaded Test
The last of the leaked multithreaded tests we have is Geekbench 3 by Primate Labs. Unlike Cinebench, this is a purely synthetic test whose code isn't actually based on any commercial software package out there. The test has been designed to be compatible across multiple platforms and to scale well with the number of cores and threads of any given CPU. The results of the Intel chips in this comparison have been lifted straight from the Geekbench 3 database.
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X, 1700X & 1700 - Single-Threaded Performance
Moving on to the single-threaded side of the performance equation, here we're looking at how well Ryzen stacks up to Intel's Broadwell-E and Kaby Lake in workloads where only one core is doing the work. The majority of every day software in the PC space has a mix of single and multithreaded workloads. A great example is games, some of which are optimized to take advantage of more cores and threads, some rely mainly on one heavy thread and some are somewhere in the middle.
Having a CPU with healthy single-threaded performance ensures that the heaviest of a given game's threads don't become a burden on the graphics pipeline. In other words, you need an adequately fast CPU to make sure your graphics card performs as best as it possibly can. The faster a graphics card is the faster a CPU you will need to keep up with it. With that in mind let's take a look at Ryzen's single-threaded performance.
Cinebench R15 - Multi-Threaded Test
Again we start off our look at single-threaded performance with Cinebench R15, this time running one thread.
Here we see a bit of a shift, because core and thread count is no longer in play. We find that the i7 7700K, which is the highest clocked CPU in the comparison, performs the best. The 1800X comes in second place and the 1700X manages to just eek out a lead over the 6900K. Despite its 65W TDP, the 1700 still performs very well and actually manages to come out ahead of the 6800K. The previous chart-topping 10-core is now dead last.
Cinebench R11.5 - Multithreaded Test
There weren't any Cinebench R11.5 results for the 6950X or the 6900K on Anandtech.com. Which is why neither of the two chips appears in this graph. We took a look at 3rd party results for the Intel CPUs in the comparison and found that even for overlapping SKUs none of the 3rd party results were consistent the Anandtech scores. That's why the 6950X and the 6900K are missing from this graph.
Geekbench 3 - Single-Threaded Test
The last test we have is Geekbench 3, this time running in single-core mode.
Final Thoughts & Takeaways
This is admittedly only a small sample of benchmarks and offers a limited perspective on how Ryzen stacks up to the competition. Although if there's any takeaway from this is that Ryzen has consistently outperformed its significantly more expensive Intel Broadwell-E competition. Intel's current pricing structure isn't sustainable, not with a strong AMD showing in the market. How Intel reacts to this launch will shape the pace of competition in the desktop CPU space for the foreseeable future.
Comments