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: +15.7% higher average FPS across 50 shared CPU benchmark tests.
✅Costs $2,871 less on MSRP ($329 MSRP vs $3,200 MSRP).
✅Delivers 418.4% more PassMark for each dollar spent, at 68.2 vs 13.2 PassMark/$ ($329 MSRP vs $3,200 MSRP).
✅Draws 65W instead of 185W, a 120W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark (22,430 vs 42,086).
❌Smaller total L3 cache (32 MB vs 48 MB).
❌Less compelling for workstation-style loads than Xeon Gold 6338N, which brings 32 cores / 64 threads and 64 PCIe lanes.

Xeon Gold 6338N

2021

Why buy it

✅+87.6% higher PassMark.
✅+50% larger total L3 cache (48 MB vs 32 MB).
✅Better for workstations and heavier parallel workloads: 32 cores / 64 threads, plus 64 PCIe lanes vs 24.
✅166.7% more PCIe lanes (64 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 13.2 vs 68.2 PassMark/$ ($3,200 MSRP vs $329 MSRP).
❌184.6% higher power demand at 185W vs 65W.

Ryzen 7 3700X

2019

Xeon Gold 6338N

2021

Why buy it

✅Better for gaming: +15.7% higher average FPS across 50 shared CPU benchmark tests.
✅Costs $2,871 less on MSRP ($329 MSRP vs $3,200 MSRP).
✅Delivers 418.4% more PassMark for each dollar spent, at 68.2 vs 13.2 PassMark/$ ($329 MSRP vs $3,200 MSRP).
✅Draws 65W instead of 185W, a 120W reduction.

Why buy it

✅+87.6% higher PassMark.
✅+50% larger total L3 cache (48 MB vs 32 MB).
✅Better for workstations and heavier parallel workloads: 32 cores / 64 threads, plus 64 PCIe lanes vs 24.
✅166.7% more PCIe lanes (64 vs 24) for storage and expansion-heavy builds.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark (22,430 vs 42,086).
❌Smaller total L3 cache (32 MB vs 48 MB).
❌Less compelling for workstation-style loads than Xeon Gold 6338N, which brings 32 cores / 64 threads and 64 PCIe lanes.

Trade-offs

❌Worse for gaming: lower average FPS than Ryzen 7 3700X across 50 shared CPU benchmark tests.
❌Lower PassMark per dollar, at 13.2 vs 68.2 PassMark/$ ($3,200 MSRP vs $329 MSRP).
❌184.6% higher power demand at 185W vs 65W.

Quick Answers

So, is Ryzen 7 3700X better than Xeon Gold 6338N?

Not in a simple one-size-fits-all way. Xeon Gold 6338N 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 6338N is the better fit. You are getting 87.6% better PassMark, backed by 32 cores and 64 threads. It also carries the larger cache pool with 50% larger total L3 cache (48 MB vs 32 MB).

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

Ryzen 7 3700X is the smarter buy today. Ryzen 7 3700X is $2,871 cheaper on MSRP at $329 MSRP versus $3,200 MSRP, and it gives you a 15.7% average FPS lead across 50 shared CPU game tests in our data. The trade-off is that Xeon Gold 6338N is still stronger for heavier multi-core work with 87.6% better PassMark. It is also 418.4% better value on MSRP (68.2 vs 13.2 PassMark/$), 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?

Xeon Gold 6338N is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting a newer CPU generation (2021 vs 2019), 50% larger total L3 cache (48 MB vs 32 MB), more multi-core headroom with 32 cores / 64 threads instead of 8/16, and AVX-512 support for heavier modern compute workloads. 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

Xeon Gold 6338N Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	Ryzen 7 3700X	Xeon Gold 6338N
1080p
low	200 FPS	185 FPS
medium	163 FPS	149 FPS
high	137 FPS	120 FPS
ultra	110 FPS	94 FPS
1440p
low	156 FPS	154 FPS
medium	121 FPS	120 FPS
high	100 FPS	93 FPS
ultra	80 FPS	74 FPS
4K
low	84 FPS	72 FPS
medium	71 FPS	60 FPS
high	56 FPS	46 FPS
ultra	44 FPS	38 FPS

Open Ryzen 7 3700X Open Xeon Gold 6338N

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	Ryzen 7 3700X	Xeon Gold 6338N
1080p
low	561 FPS	232 FPS
medium	525 FPS	208 FPS
high	428 FPS	172 FPS
ultra	383 FPS	139 FPS
1440p
low	545 FPS	199 FPS
medium	471 FPS	180 FPS
high	394 FPS	154 FPS
ultra	337 FPS	119 FPS
4K
low	350 FPS	124 FPS
medium	304 FPS	114 FPS
high	274 FPS	101 FPS
ultra	242 FPS	81 FPS

Open Ryzen 7 3700X Open Xeon Gold 6338N

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	Ryzen 7 3700X	Xeon Gold 6338N
1080p
low	561 FPS	945 FPS
medium	561 FPS	826 FPS
high	561 FPS	781 FPS
ultra	561 FPS	692 FPS
1440p
low	561 FPS	747 FPS
medium	561 FPS	644 FPS
high	538 FPS	609 FPS
ultra	470 FPS	540 FPS
4K
low	499 FPS	479 FPS
medium	394 FPS	379 FPS
high	343 FPS	337 FPS
ultra	275 FPS	275 FPS

Open Ryzen 7 3700X Open Xeon Gold 6338N

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	Ryzen 7 3700X	Xeon Gold 6338N
1080p
low	561 FPS	893 FPS
medium	561 FPS	811 FPS
high	561 FPS	697 FPS
ultra	561 FPS	599 FPS
1440p
low	561 FPS	701 FPS
medium	561 FPS	615 FPS
high	561 FPS	526 FPS
ultra	555 FPS	450 FPS
4K
low	561 FPS	505 FPS
medium	501 FPS	452 FPS
high	447 FPS	396 FPS
ultra	396 FPS	344 FPS

Open Ryzen 7 3700X Open Xeon Gold 6338N

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Ryzen 7 3700X and Xeon Gold 6338N

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 6338N

The Xeon Gold 6338N is manufactured by Intel. It was released in 2015-01-01. It is based on the Ice Lake-SP (2021) architecture. It features 32 cores and 64 threads. Base frequency is 2.2 GHz, with boost up to 3.5 GHz. L3 cache: 48 MB (total). L2 cache: 1 MB (per core). Built on 10 nm process technology. Socket: LGA4189. Thermal design power (TDP): 185 Watt. Memory support: DDR4-2667. Passmark benchmark score: 42,086 points. Launch price was $800.

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Processing Power

The Ryzen 7 3700X packs 8 cores / 16 threads, while the Xeon Gold 6338N offers 32 cores / 64 threads — the Xeon Gold 6338N has 24 more cores. Boost clocks reach 4.4 GHz on the Ryzen 7 3700X versus 3.5 GHz on the Xeon Gold 6338N — a 22.8% clock advantage for the Ryzen 7 3700X (base: 3.6 GHz vs 2.2 GHz). The Ryzen 7 3700X uses the Matisse (Zen 2) (2019−2020) architecture (7 nm, 12 nm), while the Xeon Gold 6338N uses Ice Lake-SP (2021) (10 nm). In PassMark, the Ryzen 7 3700X scores 22,430 against the Xeon Gold 6338N's 42,086 — a 60.9% lead for the Xeon Gold 6338N. L3 cache: 32 MB on the Ryzen 7 3700X vs 48 MB (total) on the Xeon Gold 6338N.

Feature	Ryzen 7 3700X	Xeon Gold 6338N
Cores / Threads	8 / 16	32 / 64+300%
Boost Clock	4.4 GHz+26%	3.5 GHz
Base Clock	3.6 GHz+64%	2.2 GHz
L3 Cache	32 MB	48 MB (total)+50%
L2 Cache	512K (per core)	1 MB (per core)+100%
Process	7 nm, 12 nm-30%	10 nm
Architecture	Matisse (Zen 2) (2019−2020)	Ice Lake-SP (2021)
PassMark	22,430	42,086+88%

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Memory & Platform

The Ryzen 7 3700X uses the AM4 socket (PCIe 4.0), while the Xeon Gold 6338N uses LGA4189 (PCIe 4.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard. Maximum memory speed reaches DDR4-3200 on the Ryzen 7 3700X versus 2667 on the Xeon Gold 6338N — the Xeon Gold 6338N supports 199.4% faster memory, which can translate to measurable gains in memory-sensitive workloads. The Xeon Gold 6338N supports up to 6144 of RAM compared to 128 GB — 191.8% more capacity for professional workloads. Memory channels: 2 (Ryzen 7 3700X) vs 8 (Xeon Gold 6338N). PCIe lanes: 24 (Ryzen 7 3700X) vs 64 (Xeon Gold 6338N) — the Xeon Gold 6338N offers 40 more lanes for additional GPUs or NVMe drives. Chipset compatibility: AMD 500 series,AMD 400 series,AMD 300 series (Ryzen 7 3700X) and LGA4189 (Xeon Gold 6338N).

Feature	Ryzen 7 3700X	Xeon Gold 6338N
Socket	AM4	LGA4189
PCIe Generation	PCIe 4.0	PCIe 4.0
Max RAM Speed	DDR4-3200	2667+66575%
Max RAM Capacity	128 GB+2184433%	6144
RAM Channels	2	8+300%
ECC Support	Yes	Yes
PCIe Lanes	24	64+167%

🔧

Advanced Features

Virtualization: not specified (Ryzen 7 3700X) / VT-x, VT-d (Xeon Gold 6338N). Direct competitor: Xeon Gold 6338N rivals EPYC 7513.

Feature	Ryzen 7 3700X	Xeon Gold 6338N
Integrated GPU	No	No
IGPU Model	—	None
Unlocked	—	No
AVX-512	—	Yes
Virtualization	—	VT-x, VT-d

💰

Value Analysis

The Ryzen 7 3700X launched at $329 MSRP, while the Xeon Gold 6338N debuted at $3200. On MSRP ($329 vs $3200), the Ryzen 7 3700X is $2871 cheaper. In terms of value on MSRP (PassMark points per dollar), the Ryzen 7 3700X delivers 68.2 pts/$ vs 13.2 pts/$ for the Xeon Gold 6338N — making the Ryzen 7 3700X the 135.3% better value option.