AMD Ryzen 7 2700

The AMD Ryzen 7 2700 does not only present a cost-efficient price for gamers who are budget-conscious, but it is also great for enthusiasts and overclockers who do not have enough cash to purchase flagship parts. The improvements and developments in manufacturing the processor can be seen in its decreased heat and power. Also, AMD was able to improve the processor’s performance compared to the much earlier generations.

AMD's made decent progress in the space of a year, working on its weakness in single-threaded performance and 1080p gaming while continuing to push its advantage in multi-threaded performance.

It’s the same old story. AMD’s latest chips are great value for certain tasks but less so for others. You get masses of multi-thread performance, but single-thread and gaming performance trails Intel’s rival processors a little.

AMD's first-generation "non-X" Ryzen processors were universally hailed as budget champions. That changes with the company's 2000-series CPUs, though. Its Ryzen 7 2700 is only $30 cheaper than the 2700X. Given a choice between them, we'd rather have the flagship's great performance and capable bundled cooler for a few dollars more.

Is there any reason to buy an Intel CPU now that the AMD Ryzen 2700 and 2600 are out? Or even reason to get the X variants (2700X & 2600X)?

Though not as powerful as the X lineup, the Ryzen 5 2600 and Ryzen 7 2700 make for great additions to the already stellar Ryzen range of CPU’s.

For the desktop PC gamer, the higher TDP X models are still the go-to for gaming and general performance though. They’re a little faster, and a little more expensive, but you get what you pay for. However, if heat and power are a big concern to you, and they are for a lot of people, these perform pretty darn close for less money, with a lot lower heat and power usage that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Ultimately, the only real contender is AMD's own Ryzen 7 2700X, which if our samples are anything to go by, might overclock further and offers much better stock speed performance and a better cooler. It's otherwise a great CPU for the cash, especially if you want to build a low-power system or one that's limited to low-profile coolers with eight cores - more than you can get with Intel at this TDP, where those cores are also locked in terms of speed.

So, here's the thing. If you plan to tweak you'll likely install an expensive cooler to reach that 4200 Mhz right? Then why not stick to the stock cooler, save the 30 bucks you'd spend on a more expensive cooler anyway and get the 2700X? That way all variables are defined and pre-set for you. Less work, same money, same results and a better binned proc.

Overall, there's no huge reason to recommend the Ryzen 7 2700 over the 2700X other than energy efficiency, and we recommend not choosing this chip in pursuit of a $30 saving if what you want is nearly the same out-of-the-box performance. The 2700X is faster, has a better cooler, and is the overall better product. If you're purely into gaming, then Intel's 8th generation Core processor family is still ahead in gaming performance, and the i7-8700 looks like the better choice at this price.