How Does AMD's 7950X3D Compare With Intel's 12700?

Core i7 12700

Intel Core i7-12700 12 Core 2.10 GHz Processor Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link

This article compares AMD's Ryzen 9 7950X3D with Intel's Core i7 12700 desktop CPUs, exploring which is better for the use cases listed below. We compare each CPU's attributes rather than benchmarks to help you determine which features are most important when selecting a CPU.

• Gaming - the latest graphics-intense games
• General Apps - web browsing, streaming, and office applications
• Professional Tools - 2D and 3D graphics tools, video editors, compilers, and engineering tools

Gaming on the Ryzen 9 7950X3D vs. Core i7 12700

Best Feature Motherboard

ASUS ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link

Runner-Up Motherboard

GIGABYTE X670E AORUS Master Motherboard Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link

Best Feature Motherboard

GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS Master Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link

Best Value Motherboard

GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS Elite AX DDR4 Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link

While a good GPU is critical for gaming performance, your CPU will also have a significant impact. If the CPU is too slow, it can be a bottleneck for your GPU, which can reduce your framerate or cause stuttering. The most important CPU capabilities for gaming are single-core max boost frequency and the number of cores. A high base frequency is also critical for inadequately cooled CPUs.

Depending on the game, the CPU will often handle tasks including scene management, gameplay logic, physics calculations, and asset loading.

Having multiple CPU cores can improve performance with games that utilize them. However, developers cannot split up every task to take advantage of a growing number of cores. Most modern games don't benefit from having more than 6–8 cores. Game performance will experience diminishing returns as you add more CPU cores.

General Apps on the Ryzen 9 7950X3D vs. Core i7 12700

Core i7 12700

Intel Core i7-12700 12 Core 2.10 GHz Processor Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link

If you're only planning to stream shows, use office apps, or browse the internet, you won't need a top-end CPU to get good performance. The most important CPU capability for general app usage is the single-core max boost frequency. A high base frequency is also helpful for inadequately cooled CPUs.

Browsers depend on your CPU to quickly load pages and video content and manage multiple browser tabs. Higher single-core boost frequencies can speed up page load times.

Office and web applications are typically single-threaded, so running a single application won't take advantage of a many-core CPU.

The more cores a CPU has, the more applications you can run simultaneously without noticing a performance impact.

Office and web applications rarely max out the CPU for long periods. These applications can use boost speeds when a burst of processing power is needed, returning to the more efficient base frequencies afterward.

Professional Tools on the Ryzen 9 7950X3D vs. Core i7 12700

Core i7 12700

Intel Core i7-12700 12 Core 2.10 GHz Processor Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link

Video editors, 2D and 3D graphics tools, software compilers, and engineering tools require high-performing CPUs.

Professional tools are often well optimized to use many cores. CPU cores allow tools to parallelize processing tasks. Increasing the number of cores can divide the time required to process a task if the tool has good multi-threading support.

To maximize performance with professional tools, you'll want to use a CPU with a high boost frequency and many CPU cores. Good heat dissipation is needed to maintain boost frequencies for extended periods.

While graphics applications use your GPU for some rendering tasks, most calculations and data operations are still dependent on your CPU.

Considerations When Choosing a CPU

AMD's Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPUs have 16 cores.

Intel's Core i7-12700 CPUs have 8 Performance (P) cores and 4 Efficiency (E) cores for a total of 12 cores.

Increased core counts can improve the performance of games and professional tools that use them. Most modern games don't benefit from having more than 6–8 cores. Even general apps can benefit from many cores when numerous applications are open simultaneously. Web browsers don't significantly take advantage of multiple cores when loading a single page. However, more CPU cores can improve performance when running demanding web apps in multiple windows.

Intel's 12th generation and newer CPUs have performance (P) cores and efficiency (E) cores. The P cores are comparable to previous generation cores. E cores are focused on adding additional threads in an energy-efficient manner. They take up much less room on the CPU and generate less heat. However, their smaller cache and minimal interconnect capabilities make them more appropriate for offloading background tasks.

The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D has a 4.2 GHz base frequency and supports a 5.7 GHz single-core max boost frequency.

The Intel Core i7-12700's 8 Performance cores have a 2.10 GHz base frequency and support a 4.80 GHz max turbo boost frequency.

Single-core performance is essential for some games, as many don't take full advantage of multiple cores. Professional tools depend on high single and multi-core boost frequencies to maximize their processing speed.

Boost frequencies are only achieved under ideal circumstances. The safest strategy for consistent gaming performance with a basic cooler is to get a processor with a higher base clock speed. However, with adequate cooling, you may be able to maintain speeds near the max boost frequency.

Check out my article, Choosing the Best CPU Cooler for AMD's Ryzen 9 7950X3D, for recommended coolers that can maintain these boost frequencies on the 7950X3D.

Check out my article, Choosing the Best CPU Cooler for Intel's Core i7-12700, for recommended coolers that can maintain these boost frequencies on the 12700.

The 7950X3D CPU's fastest supported DDR memory type is DDR5, with a max stock speed of 5200 MHz.

The 12700 CPU's fastest supported DDR memory type is DDR5, with a max stock speed of 4800 MHz.

You can exceed these stock speeds officially supported by CPUs when overclocking memory, such as with an XMP profile. Motherboard specifications will indicate their supported overclocked-memory speeds. To be able to overclock DDR memory, your motherboard chipset needs to support memory overclocking.

Faster PC memory can improve game and professional tool performance by reducing the time it takes to perform calculations and data operations.

Using the quickest RAM may not have as much of an impact as upgrading your CPU and graphics card or adding more RAM.

Learn more about DDR in DDR4 vs. DDR5? Which You Should Buy.

Learn about our recommended RAM for the 7950X3D in Best RAM for the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU.

Learn about our recommended RAM for the 12700 in Choosing the Best RAM for Intel's Core i7-12700 CPU.

The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D has an L3 cache capacity of 128 MB.

The Intel Core i7-12700 has an L3 cache capacity of 25 MB.

A CPU's cache is a small amount of memory, close to the CPU cores, containing recently used data. An L3 cache capacity of at least 20 MB is ideal for games and professional tool performance.

Games and professional tool performance can improve as cache size increases, as it can reduce delays when retrieving commonly used assets from memory. While nearly any task will use a CPU's cache, a large cache becomes less impactful for general PC usage, such as browsing webpages.

Remember that cache sizes often increase with core counts, so if you want to increase your L3 cache, you may need to get a CPU with more cores.

The 7950X3D supports overclocking.

The 12700 does not support overclocking.

Overclocking is mainly relevant for PC gamers who want to maximize their game framerates. CPU overclocking increases frequencies past their default limits. Excellent heat dissipation via fans or another solution is required to maintain system stability while overclocking.

Professional tools can benefit from overclocked frequencies. However, overclocking may introduce some possibility of system instability, which may be less acceptable in business scenarios.

Best Liquid Cooler

CORSAIR iCUE H150i ELITE LCD Liquid CPU Cooler Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link

Best Air Cooler

Noctua NH-D15, Premium CPU Cooler Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link

Recommended Motherboards for the Ryzen 9 7950X3D

• Our recommended feature-rich motherboard to pair with the Ryzen 9 7950X3D: ASUS ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link
  • PCIe 5.0 support
  • X670E chipset
  • One 2.5 Gb Ethernet port
  • Four NVMe M.2 slots and Four SATA 6 Gb/s ports
  • Wi-Fi 6E provides fast connections to a Wi-Fi router.
  • Bluetooth 5.2 support
  • USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 offers 20 Gbps USB speeds and 12 USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports
  • Check the latest price of the ASUS ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming Motherboard on Amazon (affiliate link).

• Our recommended runner-up motherboard to pair with the Ryzen 9 7950X3D: GIGABYTE X670E AORUS Master Motherboard Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link
  • PCIe 5.0 support
  • X670E chipset
  • One 2.5 Gb Ethernet port
  • Four NVMe M.2 slots and Six SATA 6 Gb/s ports
  • Bluetooth 5.3 support
  • USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 offers 20 Gbps USB speeds
  • Check the latest price of the GIGABYTE X670E AORUS Master Motherboard on Amazon (affiliate link).

• Our recommended value motherboard to pair with the Ryzen 9 7950X3D: GIGABYTE X670 AORUS Elite AX Motherboard Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link
  • PCIe 4.0 for graphics
  • X670 chipset
  • One 2.5 Gb Ethernet port
  • Four NVMe M.2 slots and Four SATA 6 Gb/s ports. PCIe 5.0 speeds for one of the M.2 slots
  • Bluetooth 5.2 support
  • USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 offers 20 Gbps USB speeds
  • Check the latest price of the GIGABYTE X670 AORUS Elite AX Motherboard on Amazon (affiliate link).

Recommended Motherboards for the Core i7-12700

• Our recommended DDR5 motherboard to pair with the Core i7-12700 is Gigabyte's Z690 AORUS Master: GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS Master Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link
  • PCIe 5.0 support
  • It supports up to 128 GB of DDR5 memory (DDR5 provides the fastest memory speeds)!
  • 10 Gbps Ethernet port is faster than any home Internet speed available with tons of room to spare for file transfers.
  • Wi-Fi 6E makes it easy to reach the fastest speeds and future-proof your Wi-Fi system.
  • Bluetooth 5.2 is great for streaming music to Bluetooth headphones.
  • Four x4 NVMe M.2 slots, which is fantastic! Three of these run at PCIe 4.0 speeds, and one at PCIe 3.0 speeds.
  • USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 offers 20 Gbps USB speeds!
  • Check the latest price of the GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS Master on Amazon (affiliate link).

• Our recommended DDR4 motherboard to pair with the Core i7-12700 is Gigabyte's Z690 AORUS Elite AX DDR4: GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS Elite AX DDR4 Check Price on Amazon Amazon Affiliate Link
  • PCIe 5.0 support
  • It supports up to 128 GB of DDR4 memory!
  • 2.5 Gb Ethernet port is faster than most home Internet speeds with room to spare for file transfers.
  • Wi-Fi 6
  • Bluetooth 5.2 is great for streaming music to Bluetooth headphones.
  • Four x4 NVMe M.2 slots, which is fantastic! All four of these run at PCIe 4.0 speeds.
  • USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 offers 20 Gbps USB speeds!
  • Check the latest price of the GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS Elite AX DDR4 on Amazon (affiliate link).

Learn More About the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D

• Which Chipsets Work With AMD's Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU?
• Choosing the Best Power Supply for AMD's Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU
• Choosing the Best Motherboard for AMD's Ryzen 9 7950X3D
• Is the Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU Good for Gaming?
• Best RAM for the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU
• Choosing the Best CPU Cooler for AMD's Ryzen 9 7950X3D
• What Is the TDP of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU?
• How Many Cores Do AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPUs Have?

Learn More About the Intel Core i7 12700

• Which Chipsets Work With Intel's Core i7-12700 CPU?
• Choosing the Best CPU Cooler for Intel's Core i7-12700
• Choosing the Best Power Supply for Intel's Core i7-12700
• Is the Core i7-12700 CPU Good for Gaming?
• Choosing the Best RAM for Intel's Core i7-12700 CPU
• Choosing the Best Motherboard for Intel's Core i7-12700
• How Many Cores Do Intel Core i7-12700 CPUs Have?
• What Is the TDP of the Core i7-12700 CPU?

You can find detailed 12700 specifications on Intel's site.