Earlier this month at Computex, AMD provided us a glimpse of the latest Ryzen 9000 series CPUs, including a list of key specifications for each announced model. One of which is the Ryzen 7 9700X, this generation’s mid-range 8-core processor, which can sometimes be seen as a bit of an in-betweener. We had similar feelings about the 7700X when we reviewed it, but at least the newer model will be less power-hungry – or will it?
News that the 9700X may have some last-minute specification changes, particularly a boost in TDP, may sound like a great thing for some, but we were kind of looking forward to a budget-friendly 8-core processor with a low 65W TDP.
Ryzen 7 9700X may increase from 65W to 120W TDP
It comes as a surprise to hear that AMD may be reconsidering the exact specs for the 9700X this late into production – especially since they’ve already announced it on the big stage. According to Wccftech, AMD might re-spec the 9700X to a higher 120W TDP to help it outperform the existing (and highly popular) 7800X3D. This would be a change from the 65W first advertised during the 9000 series announcement, assumedly providing more power to allow for higher clock speeds.
Looking back to the 7000 series, the 7700X featured a 105W TDP, which was a sizeable increase from the 5700X’s 65W. The return to 65W for the 8-core 9000 series chip felt like a promising move for users who want 8-core productivity performance that’s easy to keep cool in their budget system.
Worth the increase?
As we alluded to above, the 65W TDP is a tempting specification for lower-end systems, especially if you want to save some cash on a cheaper CPU cooler. We’re yet to see how this could affect performance if AMD does indeed go ahead with the increased wattage requirement. An increase from 65W to 120W would put it at the same level as the 9900X, a chip that higher-level productivity users will likely snap up over the 9700X in many cases anyway.
On the bright side, these changes could make the 9700X feel a more viable option for some users, rather than feeling like it bridges a gap. It would leave the 9600X as the only 65W chip, and we’re sure the entry-level model will again be a popular pick for gamers. Either way, it’s a strange last-minute change in our eyes; we’d be happier with a lower-power 65W chip that efficiently provides a couple of extra cores.
