I'm trying to decide between the 7800X3D and the 9800X3D for my gaming PC upgrade. The 7800X3D is around $330, while the 9800X3D costs about $430, so there's a $100 price difference. I currently have a 9070XT paired with a 9600X, and I'm experiencing some bottlenecking in games—my CPU is at 100% utilization while my GPU sits around 90%. I also stream occasionally and don't upgrade often; my last setup was a 3600X with a 1080Ti. I'm wondering if the 9800X3D is worth the extra cash, or if the 7800X3D would be enough to solve my bottlenecking issues. Thanks!
3 Answers
If budget isn't a big deal, go for the 9800X3D! Otherwise, the 7800X3D will save you $100 and really, you won't notice much difference in gaming performance with either one. They both handle games really well. It's a good balance of price and performance depending on what you're comfortable spending.
Ultimately, it all comes down to how much the $100 means to you. For me, the extra cash is worth it for the 9800X3D. It’s simple—if you can afford it without regret, I say go for it!
Right now, neither the 9800X3D nor the 7800X3D should bottleneck any GPU. The performance largely depends on your gaming resolution though. At 4K, they'll perform similarly since it's GPU-intensive. But at 1440p, the 9800X3D is about 7% faster on average. Since you mentioned you play competitive games at 1080p, I’d say either CPU would be fine, but you'll likely get better results with the 9800X3D.
I should've mentioned that I mostly game at 1080p, so thanks for the info!