AMD Ryzen 7 vs Intel Core i7: Which Is The Better Flagship CPU?

AMD Ryzen 7 and Intel Core i7 CPUs from Intel and AMD are some of the best processors you can buy right now. Not only for your day-to-day multitasking but these two CPUs are great choices for gaming, video rendering, 3-D modelling and any task that requires extensive computing power. In the end, it is not only about how good they are but also about your requirements and what is your budget.

Both the processors, AMD Ryzen 7 and Intel Core i7 are flagship top-of-the-line CPUs. And these are rated to deliver best-in-class performance and can handle any tasks that we throw at them. Although these two are somewhat in the higher price range and are mainly for gamers, graphic designers, video editors and professionals who require excellent performance.

Here is a complete comparison between AMD Ryzen 7 vs Intel Core i7 processors.

AMD Ryzen 7 vs Intel Core i7: The Better Flagship CPU?

The thing with Intel Core i7 and AMD Ryzen 7 is that they are almost equally powerful in terms of performance. Here we will make it easier for you to decide the best pick in terms of practical use and how they will fit you better in actual real-life use.

AMD Ryzen 7 vs Intel Core i7: Specifications

AMD took the crown in terms of performance from Intel for a while since they launched their Ryzen 5 series of processors. But with its latest 12th Gen Core i7 processors Intel has brought the battle back to AMD, which is a win-win situation for all PC enthusiasts. This time Intel has more or less decided to copy the design of its CPU cores from Apple and AMD. The “Alder Lake” generation of chips has a hybrid core design that mixes multi-threaded Performance cores and single-threaded efficiency cores into the same chip. 

In this scenario, the performance cores take all the heavier workload that requires to use of multiple threads while the efficiency cores handle all the lightweight tasks. In the table above we have provided, you can see that the Intel Core i7 offers a total of 12 cores of which eight cores are performance cores while the four cores are efficiency cores. On the other hand, the Ryzen 7 chip has a total of 8 cores without any hybrid design.

Despite what Intel claims with its Intel 7 series they are still using the 10nm manufacturing process. While all the latest processors from AMD including the Ryzen 7 5800X are made from the 7nm process. The Intel i7-12700K runs at 125W TDP while the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X runs at a lower 105W TDP. Both processors can be overclocked for maximum performance. While only the Intel i7 series comes with integrated graphics, if you truly are looking for the best performance from these chips you might be better off pairing them with the best graphics cards like Nvidia or AMD.

Also read: Intel Processor: A Complete Buying Guide

AMD Ryzen 7 vs Intel Core i7: Performance

Obviously, both these CPUs are the latest offerings from Intel and AMD so they will offer very impressive performance in both gaming as well as other graphic-intensive tasks such as content creation. Both processors have solid specs on paper. The Ryzen 7 with its octa-core configuration offers a blazing fast clock boost of 3.80GHz while the Intel i7 12700K offers a slightly lower base clock speed of 3.6GHz.

When overclocked both the performance cores of Intel i7 can reach a maximum clock speed of 4.7GHz. The same is what AMD offers when the Ryzen 7 5800X is overclocked. Also, there is another added advantage of the Intel i7 12700K is that it supports Turbo Boost Max 3.0 which hits 5.0GHz in certain single-threaded tasks. 

When it comes to benchmarks the scales tip in favour of Core i7-12700K because of its raw numbers. Both the CPUs perform extremely well in terms of benchmarks but it is the Intel i7 that beats AMD Ryzen 7 5800X by a margin of up to 15-20% better performance. This should not come as a shock because, in many instances, only the Core i5-12600K was enough to match the general performance of the Ryzen 7 5800X. 

Furthermore, for Intel, counting from their latest new hybrid architecture and the new intelligent Thread Director applications, there are a lot of things that work in favour of Core i7 12700k to yield this solid performance. As both the CPUs support overclocking you can obviously get much more from just the benchmark numbers. But in overall performance, Intel is still the favourite pick in comparison between Ryzen 7 vs Intel Core i7. 

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Ryzen 7 vs Intel Core i7: Gaming Performance

Due to the raw power of Core i7-12700k, it offers a much better gaming performance than Ryzen 7 5800X. Moreover, with the latest hybrid core design where the CPU can prioritize tasks to P-core and E-core, it can deliver up to 10% better performance uptick. While the difference between DDR4 and DDR5 is significantly low, at this point for DDR5 we are seeing some impressive performance from Core i7-12700K.

Additionally, the more impressive performance in terms of gaming from the Core i7-12700K is that it comes very close to what the Core i9-12900K offers. It is very impressive since Core i9 processors cost significantly higher. But talking about the 12900K the performance of both is more comparable in terms of P-core since E-core for Core i9 handles background tasks in a much better way.

Also, the Intel Core i7-12700K comes with integrated graphics inside which is the Intel UHD 770. Moreover, the integrated GPU provides a base clock of 300MHz and a boost clock of 1500MHz. So if you do not have a discrete GPU then compared to AMD, the best performance you’ll get from Intel.

Compared to AMD chips the Intel chips also show a significant improvement in power consumption. This is largely due to the new and more efficient architecture that Intel has introduced with the Alder Lake series. It significantly reduces power consumption and improves efficiency for Intel Core i7 processors. But then compared to its Ryzen counterparts the processors still draw more power.

The AMD Ryzen chips have shown a drastic improvement in terms of power efficiency and they are still ahead of any processor in the market in this department. Arguably the Core i7-12700K is significantly better in terms of CPU performance but you will definitely need a processor that is much cooler in terms of heat dissipation. But it is important to point out that the new 12th-generation Intel Core i7 processors are more power-efficient than any of the other processors from Intel from the previous generation.

Below we have the gaming benchmarks for comparing Ryzen 7 vs Intel Core i7:

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AMD Ryzen 7 vs Intel Core i7: Platform and Compatibility

Intel Core i7-12700K supports DDR5 memory modules and the PCIe 5.0 standard. The Ryzen 7 5800X doesn’t support DDR5 but only DDR4 and PCIe 4.0 standards. While this obviously puts Intel ahead and makes it better for the future, none of its advantages offers better outcomes in the immediate future. DDR5 is of no use right now because the new DDR5 kits are very expensive and hard to get your hands on. Also according to the current market, DDR5 needs more time to mature as currently, they don’t offer much significant performance compared to the DDR4 memory standard. 

Also Read: DDR5 RAM Explained? Should You Upgrade?

The same issue is with the PCIe 5.0 standard, until more hardware compatible with it doesn’t show up on the market you can’t take full advantage of Core i7-12700K. Currently, there is negligible hardware in the market that supports PCIe 5.0 so it doesn’t make sense to jump ships from AMD to Intel at the moment. That being said it is better to future-proof your system if your budget allows you to do so. In the case of AMD Ryzen 7, if you want support for DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 you might have to wait at least a year until AMD releases its new line of AM5 platforms. 

Similar to what we mentioned in our previous AMD Ryzen 3 vs Intel Core i3 articles if you want to go with the latest Intel CPUs and build your setup then it might get very costly for you. But with AMD it is a different story. If you choose AMD Ryzen 7 CPUs you can use any of the existing motherboards available in the market but with Intel, you will have to buy the new LGA 1700 motherboards. This is especially because of the newly added DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 support.

Also, you will have to spend more money to get that DDR5 memory and a new LGA 1700 CPU cooler for 12700K. If you are already a user of AMD then upgrading for you might be very easy and inexpensive. But overall it all boils down to your personal preferences and choosing performance over budget. 

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AMD Ryzen 7 vs Intel Core i7: Pricing

If you know the price of the previous-gen 11700K processors then you’ll be happy to know that the new Core i7-12700K has the same price tag of Rs. 41,000. While the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X is priced at around Rs. 32,000 and is readily available and even cheaper compared to Intel. This makes Ryzen a better overall pick when it comes to pricing.

Also, neither of the processors comes bundled with a cooler so you will have to buy one if you don’t already have one. If you are planning to overclock your CPUs then the beefier the cooler the better results you’ll get. Moreover, both these CPUs are readily available in the market so you don’t need to worry about either of them running out of stock. 

AMD Ryzen 7 vs Intel Core i7: Final Verdict

It’s still too soon to say how good Intel Core i7-12700K will turn out compared to AMD Ryzen 7 5800X. But one thing is definitely clear: building a custom PC with Intel will definitely cost more than AMD. But still buying Intel will set you up for many years in the future. As more hardware comes up in the market that supports DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 your system will ultimately provide you with better performance. 

The Ryzen 7 5800X is also a good option to pick up as compared to the Alder Lake series it consumes way less power. Also, it won’t set you back a lot in terms of money when you are building up your system. So it is worth buying the Ryzen 7 5800X if you don’t want to pay a huge cost to build your gaming rig.

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