PassMark CPU Mark evaluates processor speed through complex mathematical computations. It provides a reliable metric to compare multi-core performance, where higher scores indicate faster processing for multitasking, gaming, and heavy workloads.

Head-to-Head Verdict, Benchmarks, Value & Long-Term Outlook

This comparison brings together gaming FPS, productivity performance, platform differences, power efficiency, pricing context, and upgrade path so you can see which CPU actually makes more sense.

Ryzen 7 3700X

2019

Why buy it

✅Better for gaming: +9.5% higher average FPS across 40 shared CPU benchmark tests.
✅+100% larger total L3 cache (32 MB vs 16 MB).
✅50% more PCIe lanes (24 vs 16) for storage and expansion-heavy builds.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark (22,430 vs 23,300).
❌Launch MSRP is still $329 MSRP, while Ryzen 9 5980HX mostly shows up through inconsistent older-market listings.
❌44.4% higher power demand at 65W vs 45W.
❌No integrated graphics, while Ryzen 9 5980HX can still boot and troubleshoot without a discrete GPU.

Ryzen 9 5980HX

2021

Why buy it

✅+3.9% higher PassMark.
✅Draws 45W instead of 65W, a 20W reduction.
✅Integrated graphics onboard with Radeon Graphics (8CU), while Ryzen 7 3700X needs a discrete GPU.

Trade-offs

❌Worse for gaming: lower average FPS than Ryzen 7 3700X across 40 shared CPU benchmark tests.
❌Smaller total L3 cache (16 MB vs 32 MB).

Ryzen 7 3700X

2019

Ryzen 9 5980HX

2021

Why buy it

✅Better for gaming: +9.5% higher average FPS across 40 shared CPU benchmark tests.
✅+100% larger total L3 cache (32 MB vs 16 MB).
✅50% more PCIe lanes (24 vs 16) for storage and expansion-heavy builds.

Why buy it

✅+3.9% higher PassMark.
✅Draws 45W instead of 65W, a 20W reduction.
✅Integrated graphics onboard with Radeon Graphics (8CU), while Ryzen 7 3700X needs a discrete GPU.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark (22,430 vs 23,300).
❌Launch MSRP is still $329 MSRP, while Ryzen 9 5980HX mostly shows up through inconsistent older-market listings.
❌44.4% higher power demand at 65W vs 45W.
❌No integrated graphics, while Ryzen 9 5980HX can still boot and troubleshoot without a discrete GPU.

Trade-offs

❌Worse for gaming: lower average FPS than Ryzen 7 3700X across 40 shared CPU benchmark tests.
❌Smaller total L3 cache (16 MB vs 32 MB).

Quick Answers

So, is Ryzen 9 5980HX better than Ryzen 7 3700X?

It depends on what matters more to you. For gaming, Ryzen 7 3700X is ahead with a 9.5% average FPS lead across 40 shared CPU game tests in our data. For rendering, compiling, streaming, and heavier multitasking, Ryzen 9 5980HX pulls ahead with 3.9% better PassMark. Ryzen 7 3700X also has the bigger cache pool with 100% larger total L3 cache (32 MB vs 16 MB).

Which one is better for streaming, content creation, and heavy multitasking?

For streaming, content creation, and heavier multitasking, Ryzen 9 5980HX is the better fit. You are getting 3.9% better PassMark, backed by 8 cores and 16 threads.

Which one is the smarter buy today, not just the cheaper CPU?

Ryzen 9 5980HX is still the faster CPU overall, but Ryzen 7 3700X makes more sense if price matters more than absolute performance. Ryzen 9 5980HX is at an unclear MSRP at unclear MSRP versus $329 MSRP, and it gives you 3.9% better PassMark. The trade-off is that Ryzen 7 3700X is still the better pure gaming CPU with a 9.5% average FPS lead across 40 shared CPU game tests in our data. Ryzen 7 3700X is also 100.0% better value on MSRP (68.2 vs 0.0 PassMark/$), which is why it is easier to justify for price-conscious builds on paper.

Which one is more future-proof for 2026 and beyond?

Ryzen 9 5980HX is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting a newer CPU generation (2021 vs 2019) and more multi-core headroom with 8 cores / 16 threads instead of 8/16. That extra compute headroom should age better as games, background tasks, and creator workloads get heavier.

Games Benchmarks

Paired with RTX 4090

To accurately isolate CPU performance, all benchmarks below use an NVIDIA RTX 4090 as the reference GPU. This eliminates GPU-side bottlenecks and highlights pure processing throughput differences between the CPUs.

Note: Real-world results may vary based on your actual GPU. CPU performance impact is more visible in processing-intensive titles and high-refresh-rate gaming scenarios.

Ryzen 7 3700X Benchmark Check

Ryzen 9 5980HX Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	Ryzen 7 3700X	Ryzen 9 5980HX
1080p
low	200 FPS	260 FPS
medium	163 FPS	239 FPS
high	137 FPS	201 FPS
ultra	110 FPS	170 FPS
1440p
low	156 FPS	231 FPS
medium	121 FPS	192 FPS
high	100 FPS	156 FPS
ultra	80 FPS	136 FPS
4K
low	84 FPS	159 FPS
medium	71 FPS	134 FPS
high	56 FPS	103 FPS
ultra	44 FPS	91 FPS

Open Ryzen 7 3700X Open Ryzen 9 5980HX

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	Ryzen 7 3700X	Ryzen 9 5980HX
1080p
low	561 FPS	428 FPS
medium	525 FPS	356 FPS
high	428 FPS	308 FPS
ultra	383 FPS	273 FPS
1440p
low	545 FPS	357 FPS
medium	471 FPS	312 FPS
high	394 FPS	276 FPS
ultra	337 FPS	236 FPS
4K
low	350 FPS	245 FPS
medium	304 FPS	220 FPS
high	274 FPS	207 FPS
ultra	242 FPS	180 FPS

Open Ryzen 7 3700X Open Ryzen 9 5980HX

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	Ryzen 7 3700X	Ryzen 9 5980HX
1080p
low	561 FPS	582 FPS
medium	561 FPS	582 FPS
high	561 FPS	576 FPS
ultra	561 FPS	472 FPS
1440p
low	561 FPS	582 FPS
medium	561 FPS	532 FPS
high	538 FPS	451 FPS
ultra	470 FPS	372 FPS
4K
low	499 FPS	456 FPS
medium	394 FPS	396 FPS
high	343 FPS	347 FPS
ultra	275 FPS	282 FPS

Open Ryzen 7 3700X Open Ryzen 9 5980HX

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	Ryzen 7 3700X	Ryzen 9 5980HX
1080p
low	561 FPS	582 FPS
medium	561 FPS	582 FPS
high	561 FPS	582 FPS
ultra	561 FPS	582 FPS
1440p
low	561 FPS	582 FPS
medium	561 FPS	582 FPS
high	561 FPS	554 FPS
ultra	555 FPS	475 FPS
4K
low	561 FPS	511 FPS
medium	501 FPS	460 FPS
high	447 FPS	405 FPS
ultra	396 FPS	348 FPS

Open Ryzen 7 3700X Open Ryzen 9 5980HX

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Ryzen 7 3700X and Ryzen 9 5980HX

Ryzen 7 3700X

The Ryzen 7 3700X is manufactured by AMD. It was released in 7 July 2019 (6 years ago). It is based on the Matisse (Zen 2) (2019−2020) architecture. It features 8 cores and 16 threads. Base frequency is 3.6 GHz, with boost up to 4.4 GHz. L3 cache: 32 MB. L2 cache: 512K (per core). Built on 7 nm, 12 nm process technology. Socket: AM4. Thermal design power (TDP): 65 Watt. Memory support: DDR4 Dual-channel. Passmark benchmark score: 22,430 points. Launch price was $329.

Ryzen 9 5980HX

The Ryzen 9 5980HX is manufactured by AMD. It was released in 12 January 2021 (4 years ago). It is based on the Cezanne-HX (Zen 3) (2021) architecture. It features 8 cores and 16 threads. Base frequency is 3.3 GHz, with boost up to 4.8 GHz. L3 cache: 16 MB (total). L2 cache: 512 kB (per core). Built on 7 nm process technology. Socket: FP6. Thermal design power (TDP): 45 Watt. Memory support: DDR4. Passmark benchmark score: 23,300 points. Launch price was $299.

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Processing Power

Both the Ryzen 7 3700X and Ryzen 9 5980HX share an identical 8-core/16-thread configuration. Boost clocks reach 4.4 GHz on the Ryzen 7 3700X versus 4.8 GHz on the Ryzen 9 5980HX — a 8.7% clock advantage for the Ryzen 9 5980HX (base: 3.6 GHz vs 3.3 GHz). The Ryzen 7 3700X uses the Matisse (Zen 2) (2019−2020) architecture (7 nm, 12 nm), while the Ryzen 9 5980HX uses Cezanne-HX (Zen 3) (2021) (7 nm). In PassMark, the Ryzen 7 3700X scores 22,430 against the Ryzen 9 5980HX's 23,300 — a 3.8% lead for the Ryzen 9 5980HX. L3 cache: 32 MB on the Ryzen 7 3700X vs 16 MB (total) on the Ryzen 9 5980HX.

Feature	Ryzen 7 3700X	Ryzen 9 5980HX
Cores / Threads	8 / 16	8 / 16
Boost Clock	4.4 GHz	4.8 GHz+9%
Base Clock	3.6 GHz+9%	3.3 GHz
L3 Cache	32 MB+100%	16 MB (total)
L2 Cache	512K (per core)	512 kB (per core)
Process	7 nm, 12 nm	7 nm
Architecture	Matisse (Zen 2) (2019−2020)	Cezanne-HX (Zen 3) (2021)
PassMark	22,430	23,300+4%

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Memory & Platform

The Ryzen 7 3700X uses the AM4 socket (PCIe 4.0), while the Ryzen 9 5980HX uses FP6 (PCIe 3.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard. Both support up to DDR4-3200 memory speed. The Ryzen 7 3700X supports up to 128 GB of RAM compared to 64 GB — 66.7% more capacity for professional workloads. Both feature 2-channel memory with ECC support. PCIe lanes: 24 (Ryzen 7 3700X) vs 16 (Ryzen 9 5980HX) — the Ryzen 7 3700X offers 8 more lanes for additional GPUs or NVMe drives.

Feature	Ryzen 7 3700X	Ryzen 9 5980HX
Socket	AM4	FP6
PCIe Generation	PCIe 4.0+33%	PCIe 3.0
Max RAM Speed	DDR4-3200	LPDDR4-4266
Max RAM Capacity	128 GB+100%	64 GB
RAM Channels	2	2
ECC Support	Yes	No
PCIe Lanes	24+50%	16

🔧

Advanced Features

Virtualization: not specified (Ryzen 7 3700X) / AMD-V (Ryzen 9 5980HX). The Ryzen 9 5980HX includes integrated graphics (Radeon Graphics (8CU)), while the Ryzen 7 3700X requires a dedicated GPU. Primary use case: Ryzen 9 5980HX targets Mobile High-End.