In brief: A series of leaked slides detailing AMD's near-term roadmap have hit the web and point to the imminent launch of three new non-X desktop CPUs. The trio of chips include the Ryzen 9 7900, the Ryzen 7 7700 and the Ryzen 5 7600.
The Ryzen 9 7900 is said to feature 12 cores / 24 threads, 76MB of cache and boasts clock speeds up to 5.4GHz. The Ryzen 7 7700, meanwhile, will pack eight cores / 16 threads, 40MB of cache and speeds of up to 5.3GHz while the Ryzen 5 7600 reportedly carries six cores / 12 threads, 38MB of cache and clocks of up to 5.1GHz. Base clock speeds were not referenced in the leaked slides.
In another slide, AMD compared the Ryzen 9 7900 to its own Ryzen 9 5900X across a series of games and creator-focused benchmarks. The new chip came out on top in every test presented, by as much as 31 percent in DOTA 2 and up to 48 percent in Corona Renderer.
Pricing is listed at $429, $329 and $229, respectively, and all three feature a TDP rating of 65 watts.
Over on Newegg, you can currently pick up similar X-based chips for $463.99, $346.98 and $248.99, meaning you would save $34.99, $17.98 or $19.99 by going with the non-X variant (based on the MSRPs in the slides). Launch is reportedly set for January 10, 2023, which is just a couple of days after CES.
Given the meager price differences, there is not a ton of incentive to go with a non-X chip unless you are really looking to keep power consumption (and thus, temperatures) down and have zero interest in overclocking. Personally, I'd spring for an X variant and offset the extra cost by going with a cheaper case or a slightly lower-tier motherboard that leaves off some bells and whistles I might not need.
Speaking of, CES 2023 officially kicks off on January 5 and runs through January 8 in Las Vegas. With any luck, AMD, Intel and a host of other hardware makers will have plenty of news to share starting next week.