The 7700X is the AM5 chip nobody's talking about anymore, and that's exactly why it's still worth buying

Published Aug 18, 2026, 4:31 PM EDT Hamlin has been in the tech field for over nine years. Since 2017, his work has appeared on MakeUseOf, Android Police, OSXDaily, Beebom, and more. He served as the Senior Editor at Valnet's MakeUseOf for over two years before joining XDA. He uses a high-end gaming rig for desktop use and a MacBook for traveling, but dislikes some of the quirks of macOS. You're more likely to catch him at the gym or on a flight than anywhere else. AMD's launch of the 7700X3D this year reminded me of a CPU that launched almost four years ago: the standard Ryzen 7 7700X. I'm sure many of you have forgotten about it too, because I rarely see it in benchmark charts or Reddit discussions anymore. After all, AMD has given us far more exciting CPUs to talk about in the last few years, from the 7800X3D to the 9850X3D, and even the dual-cache, dual-CCD 9950X3D2 recently. Of course, compared to these CPUs, the 7700X just seems boring. It doesn't have 3D V-Cache, and the architecture is already two generations old. And unlike the 5800X3D, which AMD relaunched recently, it never really earned that legendary status that keeps people talking about it years after launch. But that same under-the-radar status also makes it one of the best AM5 CPUs you can buy for gaming today from a pure value perspective. The 7700X is a steal at its current price Its age and lack of hype are doing more for its value than anything else Without a doubt, price is the biggest reason why I'd still consider a 7700X today. Back in 2022, AMD wanted $399 for it, and if you look at early reviews, that's one of the biggest complaints you'll see. It wasn't a bad CPU by any means, but it was hard to justify when the 7600X cost $100 less. Fast-forward to 2026, and you can find the 7700X for under $250. In fact, at the time of writing, I found it for just $235 at Best Buy. Now compare that to the 5800X3D, which AMD relaunched for $349, and you can immediately see the value proposition I'm talking about. Sure, it doesn't have the 3D V-Cache, but the 7700X still outperforms the 5800X3D in gaming benchmarks. At that point, it's more about whether you want to splurge on the AM5 upgrade, especially with RAM prices where they are today. That said, if you're building a new PC anyway, you're better off staying away from AM4, because there's practically no upgrade path left. Choosing the 7700X gives you the option of a drop-in upgrade down the line, especially with AMD extending AM5 support through 2029. AMD Ryzen 7 7700X $235 $399 Save $164 Cores 8 Threads 16 Base Clock Speed 4.5GHz The Ryzen 7700X is a much better deal now than it was four years ago. It doesn't have the 3D V-Cache, but it still holds its own against newer CPUs in gaming. It's fast enough that your GPU will matter more You don't need an X3D chip for a high-end gaming PC Credit: Hardware Unboxed Keep in mind that CPU benchmarks are done at 1080p for a reason. Reviewers usually pair CPUs with the fastest GPUs available at the time to force a CPU bottleneck and expose as much performance difference as possible. Realistically, most gamers with mid-range and high-end PCs are gaming at 1440p or 4K. At these resolutions, those differences shrink dramatically because the GPU is doing most of the work. So, unless you have something like the RTX 4090 or 5090, you're not going to see as much of a difference between the 7700X and the 7700X3D. Even at 1080p, the 7700X is still one of the fastest non-X3D Ryzen CPUs for gaming. The newer 9700X and 9950X barely edge out the 7700X in gaming benchmarks. Even the 7700X3D, which costs almost a hundred bucks more, is only about 7% faster than the 7700X. And remember, we're talking about best-case scenarios here. At 1440p or 4K, you're paying for a gap that doesn't make a meaningful difference. Regardless, if you're buying a 7700X, chances are you're eyeing a GPU like the RX 9070XT or RTX 5070Ti rather than a flagship. With GPUs in that class, I'd be more worried about a GPU bottleneck than a CPU bottleneck. X3D CPUs are simply better for high refresh rate gaming But the 7700X shows how overrated the 5800X3D is unless you're already on AM4 There's no doubt that newer X3D CPUs like the 7800X3D, 9800X3D, and even the 7700X3D are better choices if you want the best frame rate possible. For competitive gamers with 360Hz and 480Hz monitors, it's an easy choice. That extra L3 cache can make a huge difference when games become CPU-bound at these frame rates, as the CPU doesn't need to access slower system RAM nearly as often. Beyond average FPS, you also get better 1% lows and more consistent frame times for a smoother gaming experience. That said, it's not really fair to compare the four-year-old 7700X with newer X3D chips that cost considerably more. The comparison that makes a lot more sense to me is the 5800X3D, which AMD brought back this year. You're pretty much paying over $100 more for an older X3D chip that's actually slower than the 7700X on average. Sure, it makes all the sense in the world if you're still on AM4 and don't want to shell out hundreds of dollars on a new DDR5 kit. Still, if you're building a PC from scratch today, you're locking yourself into an outdated platform by choosing the 5800X3D. Newer is better, but not from a value standpoint I'm not going to pretend the 7700X is better than the AM5 CPUs available today. Of course, if money isn't a concern, you can just get the 9850X3D and call it a day. But if you want to save money in a market where everything seems to be getting more expensive, the 7700X sits in a great spot. At around $235, you're getting an 8-core CPU that's still comparable to the newer 9700X, without sacrificing the upgrade path just to save a few bucks. All in all, for anyone building an AM5 PC today, the 7700X is much easier for me to recommend than it ever was at its $399 launch price.