AMD’s Ryzen 7000X3D processors are now available (in theory), so we’re seeing some big discounts on previously-released options that bring them into newfound relevance. Such is the case with the Ryzen 7 7700X, the middle child of the Zen 4 lineup and an absolutely beastly performer when it comes to gaming thanks to its full-fat eight-core, one-CCD design. This chip launched at $399 but is now $100 cheaper thanks to a discount code at Newegg, where you can pick up the 7700X for $298.99 when you use code BTSCP2655 at the checkout.
The Ryzen 7700X is an unusual CPU because it can actually outperform the bigger Ryzen 7000 processors, like the 7900X and 7950X, in scenarios where the latency penalty from data travelling amongst multiple chiplets (CCDs) overrides the performance benefits of the extra threads those chiplets provide. Over at Digital Foundry, we saw this behaviour in games like Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, Flight Simulator 2020, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
That makes the 7700X the best value Ryzen 7000 processor for gaming by a good margin, and even with the release of the 7900X3D and 7950X3D that remains true.
Elsewhere, it’s a good mid-range processor for daily tasks, whether that’s programming, content creation or something else. Eight cores and sixteen threads is sufficient for most tasks, and the excellent single-core speed that Ryzen provides will speed up the majority of thread-naive workloads. The chip is also cool and efficient, thanks to the 5nm process used, and doesn’t require a massive cooler, super-fast RAM or high-end motherboard to work well.
In any case, $298.99 is a great price for this level of hardware, and if you can find some cheap DDR5 RAM (ideally DDR5-6000 but DDR5-4800 is fine) and a cheap X670/B650 motherboard, you could be on to a super-fast and reasonably future-proof system.
Got any questions? Refer to our best gaming CPUs guide or ask me in the comments. Cheers!
Will Judd
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