JULY 2019 PCWorld 11AMD said it could take around 30
milliseconds for the CPU to ramp up to higher
frequencies. As of the update (and with a
new chipset driver) it’ll take just 1 to 2
milliseconds for the chip to reach its top
speed. These fixes give some games a boost
of 15 percent, while the faster clock ramping
can yield 6-percent improvements.
RYZEN 3000:
FASTER IN GAMING
So what does this all mean? Gaming parity
with Intel’s chips at last, AMD claims. At
Computex AMD actually hinted at what the
new chip could do (go.pcworld.com/hint),
but for E3, it’s breaking out the gourmet
stuff with gaming bumps at 1080p
resolution competitive with Intel’s chips.
Yes, you heard that
right: AMD claims
gaming at 1080p is
competitive with Intel.
The resolution is
important, because at
the original Ryzen
launch (go.pcworld.
com/oryz) fans
complained that testing
at a “low” resolution of
1080p was unrealistic,
unfair, and biased
toward Intel. This was
argued despite the fact
that 1080p gaming is
the most popular resolution among PC
gamers today.
That didn’t change much with the Ryzen 7
2700X either. Gaming, especially at 1080p
resolutions, has long favored Intel’s higher-
clocked Core i7 and Core i9 chips by 15 to
20 percent generally.
If AMD’s claims are to be believed, that
edge is now obliterated. Citing popular
games Call of Duty Black Ops, GTA V, Counter
Strike: Global Operations, PUBG and Rocket
League, AMD said the $399 Ryzen 7 3800X is
basically dead even with the $409 Core
i7-9700K.
And yes, the mighty 8-core Core
i9-9900K, which can boost up to 5GHz, is
dead even with the Ryzen 9 3900X at 1080p
resolution, as you can see from theA new “optimized” scheduler offers up to a 15-percent improvement
in Rocket League, while faster clock ramping can lead to a 6-percent
improvement in PCMark 10’s App launch test.