Let us begin with our usual caveats. The first is that few ‘home consumer’ orientated applications are optimally multi-threaded enabled. It is getting better, and will continue to do so, but few home users will ever harness the full power of what Intel and AMD are offering in their latest generation of “desktop” line of processors. Furthermore, the number of buyers who do use optimized applications enough to justify picking their processor based on time saved… is only moderate in size. Those that can, have already moved on to ‘true’ workstation class processors.
The second caveat is we are not really the intended target for ‘consumer’ orientated CPUs. Our typical usage patterns / scenarios not only can, but typically do, max out workstation / HEDT / etc. processors. However, this second caveat is starting to become more and more… fluid – with more and more people (including ourselves) realizing that their usage scenarios are now starting to become adequately covered by these new ‘HEDT-lite’ consumer CPUs.
Bluntly stated, the amount of processing power the average consumer has available to them now is beyond overkill. It is blow past the boundaries of sanity and has broken through to plaid. So if you are an average joe or jane sixpack builder… it no longer matters. Pick what ever CPU is in your budget and go from there. It will crush your wants, your needs, and probably even your desires. The same is pretty much true for the prosumer. Pick a 7 or 9 class CPU in whatever color you prefer and get on with life. These days it really is only the high end creator that must concern themselves with minutia. Even then the rule of thumb has always been pick the highest end CPU you can afford (aka “9-class) in your preferred color of Kool-Aid… and get busy earning this tax write-off back.
With all that said, our usual last caveat with the state of the market being ‘the same as it ever was’ no longer applies. Instead of reporting on very little change beyond jockeying for minutia gains in one market or another… a company has finally decided to terminate the unwritten detente the two giants had upheld for many years now.
For many this change will not matter all that much. Once again, no matter which side they choose the average consumer will still be getting happiness inducing levels of performance… they may just end up being a wee bit wasteful of their limited budget. Something to be avoided but not overly concerning either.
For creators things do radically change and the CPU manufacture does start to matter again. Simply put, for the first time in recent memory all but the most demanding of creators no longer need to spend high-end / “9-class” levels of money to gain access to “9-class” levels of performance. They now don’t even have to spend what previous 7-class CPUs demanded. Instead for only a hundred USD more than what a i5 cost back in 2021 buyers get what is pretty much a tweaked/improved/modified Intel Core 9 285K. A “9-class” processor which was inarguably in the top three (four if you separate out the KS variant) highest performance consumer CPUs available in the market. For basically 5-class MSRP.
Thus it really, really… really will come down to what you actually need and what you can justify. On the one hand you have the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and its $299 asking price. On other, one has to climb all the way up the AMD Ryzen price ladder to find its performance equal/better. Namely the Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9950X3D. That is not a thought experiment favorable to AMD. This is because for business users, content creators, CAD/CAM designers, and other professionals who use their system as a tool, and not as an expression of which team that root for, the question invariably boils down to “what does the extra two hundred and fifty dollars or more net me and my workflow?”. For many, the answer is ‘not enough’. For the majority of cases where the Ryzen 9 is superior… the breakeven point is still well past the system replacement date. With very few edge cases where a professional can justify it beyond “just because” or “I want it”. Which are legitimate reasons, but the days of splurging are gone for most. These are the lean times. Lean times where an extra ~250USD in the budget can mean getting more (and/or faster) DDR5 RAM. A second (or third) fast NVMe SSD to act a raw storage. Even being able to fit a higher performance GPU… or even secondary GPU (like a BattleMage) in to the budget. All of which can improve overall production performance more than a slightly faster CPU will. So while they do exist, and only you know your workflow, AMD is going to lose market and mindshare in this corner of the marketplace.
For prosumer enthusiasts the logic is even colder and harsher for AMD. For the cost of one AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D one can buy two Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and still have about hundred dollars left over. All for tiny performance improvement in work and minor to moderate improvement in games. With the latter, improvements may not just be negated but flip the other way if Intel’s BOT software has its way.
Yes. For AMD times are downright looking grim when comes to wooing the PC Gaming crowd in the future like they have in the past. Even if one assumes I-roBOT fails to live up to the hype, and it only works on outliers, the reality is the math is rarely in their favor. The single CCD Ryzen 7 9800X3D usually loses to the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus outside of gaming and barely ekes out a win in most games. All for about ~50 percent increase in cost. This is the best case scenario. The worst is the 9950X3D which can exceed the 270K Plus in and out of games. But only if you AMD every benefit of the doubt you can on asking price and exclude I-BOT entirely from the equation. Something few should feel comfortable doing… as that is one pricey CPU.
Needless to say, Intel’s Plus 7-class CPU is crushing the curve for the high end and destroying everyone’s expectations in the mainstream. So much AMD will need to pivot and significantly lower prices on their Ryzen 9, Ryzen 7 and especially their X3D lest they get stuck with inventory they can no longer move.
Sadly, as we want strong competition, the mainstream market and below is now owned by Intel and their sub two bill Core Ultra 5 250K Plus. AMD Ryzen 5 series? Fuhgeddaboudit. Barring another drop in price the Ryzen 5 9600X is on life support and relegated to uber-budget builds only. Budget builds where ten or twenty dollar savings matters. As for Ryzen 9700X and its ~300 USD asking price. At that price? No. Just… No. There is simply no way to justify the 9700X. For if you do manage to justify a $300 CPU you will immediately end up opting for Team Blue and their Core Ultra 7 270K Plus. A blatantly superior CPU. Thus putting AMD’s entire high-end and mainstream lineup in a serious quandary. One where AMD must respond to the new market reality and drop prices across the board all the way from Ryzen 3 to Ryzen 9 X3D. Drop prices enough that they can compete on value and hope like Hades that I-BOT fails to, even partially, deliver on its future promises.
Needless to say. It is an exciting time for the consumer. Now if Intel would only start making DRR5.. and get back to making NVMe drives again so that we can get some serious downwards pressure on those markets too. That would be great. Until then, some good news is better then none.
