AMD bolsters value and efficiency with 65W Ryzen 7900, 7700 and 7600 desktop CPUs

Boxed coolers are back!

Ryzen 9 7900

Four chips rolled off the Ryzen 7000 Series line late last year. Equipped with either 105W or 170W TDPs, maximum performance was the main aim of Ryzen 5 7600X through to Ryzen 9 7950X. Building on that momentum, AMD today announces three further Zen 4-based processors armed with energy-efficient, 65W TDPs. Let’s examine them.

Ryzen 7000 Series Desktop Models

ModelCores / ThreadsTDPL3 CacheBase ClockBoost ClockCoolerLaunch MSRP
Ryzen 9 7950X16 / 32170W64MB4.7GHz5.7GHzNo$699
Ryzen 9 7900X12 / 24170W64MB4.7GHz5.6GHzNo$549
Ryzen 9 790012 / 2465W64MB3.7GHz5.4GHzYes$429
Ryzen 7 7700X8 / 16105W32MB4.5GHz5.4GHzNo$399
Ryzen 7 77008 / 1665W32MB3.8GHz5.3GHzYes$329
Ryzen 5 7600X6 / 12105W32MB4.7GHz5.3GHzNo$299
Ryzen 5 76006 / 1265W32MB3.8GHz5.1GHzYes$229

Analysis

First off, Ryzen 9 7900 is effectively a power-limited version of Ryzen 9 7900, dropping from a maximum 170W TDP all the way down to 65W. Other than that headline chop – and it’s a very significant one – the same 12 cores and 24 threads remain. A huge reduction in power means base and boost frequencies are naturally hurt, but as we have seen in our Ryzen 9 7950X at 65W article, general performance is still robust.

Of course, one can opt for a full-fat 7900X and run it at 65W – one would imagine the benchmark numbers ought to come out at similar levels – yet non-X has a couple of tricks up its sleeve. The first is a much lower retail price, dropping from $549 to $429. The real-world implication isn’t that great, however, as 7900X is routinely available for a street price of $465. The second is more meaningful for the 65W TDP, as Ryzen 9 7900 is bundled with an AMD Wraith Prism LED cooler in the box. That’s extra value right there.

Dropping down to Ryzen 7 7700 tells a similar story, though the massaging down to 65W ought to have less of an impact as the X-suffixed model it is readily compared to has only a 105W power budget. Again, there is a decent SRP reduction, from $399 to $329, but as before, 7700X is today available for $345. Like 7900, new 7700 is also bundled with Wraith Prism LED.

Last but not least, and set to counter the growing Intel 13th Gen Core desktop threat at mid-range levels, AMD introduces the $229 Ryzen 5 7600. Equipped with the more basic Wraith Stealth cooler in the box, value is the strongest play as unlike the other two aforementioned X models, regular 7600X remains steadfast at $299.

What’s more, the unlocked nature of AMD AM5 processors means you can probably turn each of these new chips into the X-suffixed counterpart with manual overclocking.

Reviews coming soon, people.