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: +30.9% higher average FPS across 50 shared CPU benchmark tests.
✅Costs $2,283 less on MSRP ($329 MSRP vs $2,612 MSRP).
✅Delivers 638.7% more PassMark for each dollar spent, at 68.2 vs 9.2 PassMark/$ ($329 MSRP vs $2,612 MSRP).
✅Draws 65W instead of 125W, a 60W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark (22,430 vs 24,108).
❌Less compelling for workstation-style loads than Xeon Gold 6138, which brings 20 cores / 40 threads and 48 PCIe lanes.
❌No AVX-512 support for niche heavy compute workloads where it can matter.

Xeon Gold 6138

2017

Why buy it

✅+7.5% higher PassMark.
✅Better for workstations and heavier parallel workloads: 20 cores / 40 threads, plus 48 PCIe lanes vs 24.
✅100% more PCIe lanes (48 vs 24) for storage and expansion-heavy builds.

Trade-offs

❌Worse for gaming: lower average FPS than Ryzen 7 3700X across 50 shared CPU benchmark tests.
❌Lower PassMark per dollar, at 9.2 vs 68.2 PassMark/$ ($2,612 MSRP vs $329 MSRP).
❌92.3% higher power demand at 125W vs 65W.

Ryzen 7 3700X

2019

Xeon Gold 6138

2017

Why buy it

✅Better for gaming: +30.9% higher average FPS across 50 shared CPU benchmark tests.
✅Costs $2,283 less on MSRP ($329 MSRP vs $2,612 MSRP).
✅Delivers 638.7% more PassMark for each dollar spent, at 68.2 vs 9.2 PassMark/$ ($329 MSRP vs $2,612 MSRP).
✅Draws 65W instead of 125W, a 60W reduction.

Why buy it

✅+7.5% higher PassMark.
✅Better for workstations and heavier parallel workloads: 20 cores / 40 threads, plus 48 PCIe lanes vs 24.
✅100% more PCIe lanes (48 vs 24) for storage and expansion-heavy builds.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark (22,430 vs 24,108).
❌Less compelling for workstation-style loads than Xeon Gold 6138, which brings 20 cores / 40 threads and 48 PCIe lanes.
❌No AVX-512 support for niche heavy compute workloads where it can matter.

Trade-offs

❌Worse for gaming: lower average FPS than Ryzen 7 3700X across 50 shared CPU benchmark tests.
❌Lower PassMark per dollar, at 9.2 vs 68.2 PassMark/$ ($2,612 MSRP vs $329 MSRP).
❌92.3% higher power demand at 125W vs 65W.

Quick Answers

So, is Ryzen 7 3700X better than Xeon Gold 6138?

Not in a simple one-size-fits-all way. Xeon Gold 6138 makes more sense for workstation-style multi-core throughput, while Ryzen 7 3700X is the better mainstream desktop choice for gaming, platform cost, and day-to-day practicality.

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

For streaming, content creation, and heavier multitasking, Xeon Gold 6138 is the better fit. You are getting 7.5% better PassMark, backed by 20 cores and 40 threads.

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

Ryzen 7 3700X is the smarter buy today. Ryzen 7 3700X is $2,283 cheaper on MSRP at $329 MSRP versus $2,612 MSRP, and it gives you a 30.9% average FPS lead across 50 shared CPU game tests in our data. The trade-off is that Xeon Gold 6138 is still stronger for heavier multi-core work with 7.5% better PassMark. It is also 638.7% better value on MSRP (68.2 vs 9.2 PassMark/$), so the better CPU is not just faster, it is also the cleaner value play on paper.

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

Ryzen 7 3700X is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting a newer CPU generation (2019 vs 2017). That makes it the safer long-term pick.

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

Xeon Gold 6138 Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	Ryzen 7 3700X	Xeon Gold 6138
1080p
low	200 FPS	186 FPS
medium	163 FPS	151 FPS
high	137 FPS	123 FPS
ultra	110 FPS	96 FPS
1440p
low	156 FPS	146 FPS
medium	121 FPS	115 FPS
high	100 FPS	92 FPS
ultra	80 FPS	72 FPS
4K
low	84 FPS	68 FPS
medium	71 FPS	57 FPS
high	56 FPS	45 FPS
ultra	44 FPS	36 FPS

Open Ryzen 7 3700X Open Xeon Gold 6138

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	Ryzen 7 3700X	Xeon Gold 6138
1080p
low	561 FPS	212 FPS
medium	525 FPS	188 FPS
high	428 FPS	161 FPS
ultra	383 FPS	136 FPS
1440p
low	545 FPS	183 FPS
medium	471 FPS	166 FPS
high	394 FPS	143 FPS
ultra	337 FPS	120 FPS
4K
low	350 FPS	119 FPS
medium	304 FPS	109 FPS
high	274 FPS	99 FPS
ultra	242 FPS	82 FPS

Open Ryzen 7 3700X Open Xeon Gold 6138

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	Ryzen 7 3700X	Xeon Gold 6138
1080p
low	561 FPS	603 FPS
medium	561 FPS	603 FPS
high	561 FPS	603 FPS
ultra	561 FPS	603 FPS
1440p
low	561 FPS	603 FPS
medium	561 FPS	603 FPS
high	538 FPS	573 FPS
ultra	470 FPS	506 FPS
4K
low	499 FPS	455 FPS
medium	394 FPS	357 FPS
high	343 FPS	318 FPS
ultra	275 FPS	259 FPS

Open Ryzen 7 3700X Open Xeon Gold 6138

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	Ryzen 7 3700X	Xeon Gold 6138
1080p
low	561 FPS	603 FPS
medium	561 FPS	603 FPS
high	561 FPS	603 FPS
ultra	561 FPS	563 FPS
1440p
low	561 FPS	603 FPS
medium	561 FPS	587 FPS
high	561 FPS	505 FPS
ultra	555 FPS	433 FPS
4K
low	561 FPS	462 FPS
medium	501 FPS	414 FPS
high	447 FPS	369 FPS
ultra	396 FPS	320 FPS

Open Ryzen 7 3700X Open Xeon Gold 6138

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Ryzen 7 3700X and Xeon Gold 6138

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.

Xeon Gold 6138

The Xeon Gold 6138 is manufactured by Intel. It was released in 25 April 2017 (8 years ago). It is based on the Skylake (server) (2017−2018) architecture. It features 20 cores and 40 threads. Base frequency is 2 GHz, with boost up to 3.7 GHz. L3 cache: 27.5 MB. L2 cache: 20 MB. Built on 14 nm process technology. Socket: LGA3647. Thermal design power (TDP): 125 Watt. Memory support: DDR4-2666. Passmark benchmark score: 24,108 points. Launch price was $2,612.

⚡

Processing Power

The Ryzen 7 3700X packs 8 cores / 16 threads, while the Xeon Gold 6138 offers 20 cores / 40 threads — the Xeon Gold 6138 has 12 more cores. Boost clocks reach 4.4 GHz on the Ryzen 7 3700X versus 3.7 GHz on the Xeon Gold 6138 — a 17.3% clock advantage for the Ryzen 7 3700X (base: 3.6 GHz vs 2 GHz). The Ryzen 7 3700X uses the Matisse (Zen 2) (2019−2020) architecture (7 nm, 12 nm), while the Xeon Gold 6138 uses Skylake (server) (2017−2018) (14 nm). In PassMark, the Ryzen 7 3700X scores 22,430 against the Xeon Gold 6138's 24,108 — a 7.2% lead for the Xeon Gold 6138. L3 cache: 32 MB on the Ryzen 7 3700X vs 27.5 MB on the Xeon Gold 6138.

Feature	Ryzen 7 3700X	Xeon Gold 6138
Cores / Threads	8 / 16	20 / 40+150%
Boost Clock	4.4 GHz+19%	3.7 GHz
Base Clock	3.6 GHz+80%	2 GHz
L3 Cache	32 MB+16%	27.5 MB
L2 Cache	512K (per core)	20 MB+3900%
Process	7 nm, 12 nm-50%	14 nm
Architecture	Matisse (Zen 2) (2019−2020)	Skylake (server) (2017−2018)
PassMark	22,430	24,108+7%
Geekbench 6 Single	—	1,261
Geekbench 6 Multi	—	15,439

🧠

Memory & Platform

The Ryzen 7 3700X uses the AM4 socket (PCIe 4.0), while the Xeon Gold 6138 uses LGA3647 (PCIe 3.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard. Both support up to DDR4-3200 memory speed. The Xeon Gold 6138 supports up to 768 GB of RAM compared to 128 GB — 142.9% more capacity for professional workloads. Memory channels: 2 (Ryzen 7 3700X) vs 6 (Xeon Gold 6138). PCIe lanes: 24 (Ryzen 7 3700X) vs 48 (Xeon Gold 6138) — the Xeon Gold 6138 offers 24 more lanes for additional GPUs or NVMe drives. Chipset compatibility: AMD 500 series,AMD 400 series,AMD 300 series (Ryzen 7 3700X) and C621 (Xeon Gold 6138).

Feature	Ryzen 7 3700X	Xeon Gold 6138
Socket	AM4	LGA3647
PCIe Generation	PCIe 4.0+33%	PCIe 3.0
Max RAM Speed	DDR4-3200	DDR4-2666
Max RAM Capacity	128 GB	768 GB+500%
RAM Channels	2	6+200%
ECC Support	Yes	Yes
PCIe Lanes	24	48+100%

🔧

Advanced Features

Virtualization: not specified (Ryzen 7 3700X) / VT-x, VT-d (Xeon Gold 6138). Primary use case: Xeon Gold 6138 targets Server.

Feature	Ryzen 7 3700X	Xeon Gold 6138
Integrated GPU	No	No
IGPU Model	—	None
Unlocked	—	No
AVX-512	—	Yes
Virtualization	—	VT-x, VT-d
Target Use	—	Server

💰

Value Analysis

The Ryzen 7 3700X launched at $329 MSRP, while the Xeon Gold 6138 debuted at $2612. On MSRP ($329 vs $2612), the Ryzen 7 3700X is $2283 cheaper. In terms of value on MSRP (PassMark points per dollar), the Ryzen 7 3700X delivers 68.2 pts/$ vs 9.2 pts/$ for the Xeon Gold 6138 — making the Ryzen 7 3700X the 152.3% better value option.