i7 7700k vs Ryzen 7 2700: Looking to upgrade the CPU in your gaming PC? We have some good news: AMD’s Ryzen 7000 Zen 4 CPUs are expected to deliver significant performance improvements over the previous generation, as well as long-awaited support upgrades for the latest connections.
The Ryzen 7 7700X chip, in particular, appears to be an excellent combination of performance and affordability. However, it competes with the similarly priced Intel Core i7 12700K — a chip from Intel’s 12th-generation Alder Lake series, which was released in late 2021. How do these processors compare, particularly for gamers? Let’s start with what we know.
Performance
The Ryzen 7 7700X, with its new Zen 4 architecture, has eight cores and 16 threads, while the Intel Core i7 12700K has 12 cores and 20 threads. That’s a significant difference right away, and it may appear that the Intel option has a clear advantage in terms of performance. However, additional physical cores aren’t the only thing to think about.
The 7700X is built on the advanced TSMC 5nm process node, which allows for a smaller, denser CPU design that is roughly half the size of the Intel Core i7-1270010nm K’s Intel 7 manufacturing approach. The architecture improves on previous-generation Zen 3 designs by being more efficient and capable of running at higher clock speeds. Despite the core count difference, the Zen 4 CPU should outperform the older, lower-clocked Alder Lake design in real-world performance.
There are currently no third-party benchmarks for any Ryzen 7000 CPUs, but there have been some leaked benchmarks. Those results indicate that the 7700X is roughly equivalent to the 12700K in single-threaded performance, but significantly faster in multi-threaded performance, offering performance previously seen only with the Core i9-12900K.
However, that is only one benchmark, and we will need to see more before making any firm conclusions, particularly regarding gaming benchmarks.
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Processor graphics
AMD Ryzen 7700X and Intel Core i7-12700K both have integrated graphics. This is a significant departure from AMD’s typical CPU designs, which do not include onboard GPUs outside of limited-run APU designs like the 5600G and 5700G. The 7700X will have onboard graphics, but it will be less powerful than AMD’s standard APUs. It’s even been stated that it’s not intended for gaming, though it will almost certainly be capable of something — the question is, what?
The Intel Core i7 12700K includes an Intel UHD Graphics 770 with a base frequency of 300MHz. It’s plenty for esports and indie gaming, so it’ll be interesting to see if AMD’s GPU can compete.
Specs
| Intel Core i7-12700K | Ryzen 7 7700X | |
| Architecture | Alder Lake | Zen 4 |
| Process | 10nm | 5nm |
| Cores/threads | 12 (8P + 4E)/16 | 8/16 |
| Base frequency | 3.60GHz | 4.5GHz |
| Boost frequency | 5.00GHz | 5.4GHz |
| L3 cache | 25MB | 32MB |
| Base power/TDP | 105W | 105W |
| Max boost power/TDP | 190W | 170W (approx) |
We’ll go over these distinctions in greater detail later. Keep in mind that these are AMD’s own figures; we’re still waiting for independent benchmarks, including our own tests, to confirm that everything is correct. Before we can confidently guarantee these specifications, AMD’s statements must be supported by real-world data.
Also, while the Intel chip has 12 cores, only eight of them are Performance cores, with the remaining being Efficient cores. This was a change made by Intel for its 12th-generation chips: Performance cores are larger, faster, and better suited to single-thread performance. Efficient cores are smaller, designed to excel at background tasks, and optimized for multi-core performance. This hybrid approach is one reason why, despite being an older design, the Intel Core i7-12700K chip could provide credible competition for the Ryzen 7 7700X, especially in heavily multi-threaded scenarios.
However, the Zen 4 architecture is newer, and the 7700X has faster clock speeds and more L3 cache, so we’ll have to wait and see what these chips can do in real-world testing before making any firm conclusions about performance.
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Holding pattern
The Ryzen 7700X is likely to be the fastest CPU in this comparison, but we won’t know for sure until we get our hands on it. On paper, it’s the better CPU for the time being, with more feature support and more impressive specifications. However, the 12700K isn’t completely out of the running. It’s still a powerful CPU for gaming and productivity work, and with price cuts ahead of the 13th-generation launch later this year, it could stay competitive for a while.
Pricing and release date
The Intel Core i7-12700K will be released in the fall of 2021, along with the rest of the Alder Lake CPUs. Its suggested retail price is $410, but at the time of writing, it was selling for around $380.
AMD’s Ryzen 7 7700X will cost $399 when it is released on September 27. The question is whether this pricing will remain stable once Intel’s Raptor Lake 13th-generation CPUs are released later this year. Given that the Ryzen 7000 is designed to compete with it as much as Alder Lake, AMD may price its chips more aggressively once Intel’s next-generation line is revealed.
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