AMD Ryzen 7 5700X 8-core AM4

The Ryzen 7 5700X is the best AM4 upgrade for the money, period. Cool, fast, and cheap, just bring your own cooler and cross your fingers on shipping.

The 5700X posts a PassMark multi-thread score of 26,574 and a single-thread score of 3,387. That single-thread number lands in the top tier of chips we track, which means snappy everyday use and strong gaming frame rates. Multi-thread is well above average too, making this a legit productivity chip for the price. What surprised us most is how cool this thing runs. The 65W TDP is not marketing fluff. Owners consistently report low temps even with modest air coolers, and that efficiency score of 84.8 out of 100 backs it up. You're getting near-5800X performance without the thermal drama.

The 5700X sits in a weird spot. Against the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, it's not even a fair fight, that chip is newer, faster, and way more expensive. The real comparison is against other AM4 options like the 5600X or 5800X. The 5700X beats the 5600X on core count and multi-threaded work, and it nearly matches the 5800X while running cooler and cheaper. If you're already on AM4, this is the sweet spot. If you're building new, you should be looking at AM5 or Intel's newer platforms instead.

Pricing is all over the map. In the US, we're seeing listings from $160 to $299, and that spread is wild. At the low end, this chip is an absolute steal. At the high end, you're paying too much for last-gen silicon. Newegg has the best US deal right now, so shop there if you're stateside. In Canada, the gap is even wider, from $250 to $450, and again Newegg's listing is the one to grab. If you're paying more than the low end of these ranges, stop and reconsider.

The Ryzen 7 5700X is the CPU you buy when you want to squeeze every last drop out of your AM4 motherboard without melting your power bill. Eight cores, sixteen threads, and a 65W TDP that sips power while still pushing a 4.6GHz boost. It's not the newest chip on the block, but it's one of the smartest purchases for anyone still rocking a B450 or X470 board. The catch? No cooler in the box, and AMD's warranty is a single year, which feels stingy for a chip this good.

If you're building a brand new system from scratch, skip this. AM4 is end-of-life, and you'd be locking yourself into a platform with no future CPU upgrades. Go AM5 with a Ryzen 7000 or 9000 series chip instead. Also skip if you need integrated graphics, the 5700X has none, so you'll need a dedicated GPU.

Buy it if you're on AM4 and want a meaningful upgrade without swapping your motherboard. The 5700X delivers excellent gaming and productivity performance at a low power draw, and at the right price it's one of the best value CPUs we've tested. Just factor in a cooler and hope you don't get a bent-pin unit. For most AM4 owners, this is the chip to get.