Apple M3 vs AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D

Apple M3

The Apple M3 is a system on a chip (SoC) from Apple for notebooks that was introduced in late 2023. It integrates a new 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores with up to 4.06 GHz and 4 efficiency cores running at up to 2.75 GHz. Apple claims that the CPU is up to 20% faster than in the old Apple M2 (3.5 GHz). 

Due to the higher clock speeds and architecture improvements, the processor performance is also significantly better than the M2 in benchmarks (see e.g. Geekbench below) and can keep up with the fastest CPUs in short single-core tests (like the Raptor Lake i9-13950HX).

The M3 also integrates a new graphics adapter with dynamic caching, mesh shading and ray tracing acceleration. According to Apple, it is 20% faster than the GPU in the M2. The chip integrates again 10 GPU cores, but the cheaper variant only offers 8 cores (e.g. in the entry iMac). Furthermore, the GPU only supports 2 displays (an additional 6K60 display to the internal one).

Both GPU and CPU can access the unified memory on the package together. It is still available in 8, 16 and 24 GB variants and offers the same 100 GB/s maximum bandwidth (unlike the Pro models that feature a reduced memory bandwidth). 

The integrated 16-core Neural Engine has also been revised and now offers 18 TOPS peak performance (versus 15.8 TOPS in the M2 but 35 TOPS in the new A17 Pro). The video engine now supports AV1 decoding in hardware. H.264, HEVC and ProRes (RAW) can still be decoded and encoded.

Unfortunately, the integrated wireless network module only supports Wi-Fi 6E (no Wi-Fi 7) and due to the support of only a single external monitor, the chip also has to make do with no Thunderbolt 4 (Thunderbolt 3 / USB 4 support only for up to 40 Gbit/s).

The chip is manufactured on the current 3nm TSMC process (N3B most likely) and contains 25 billion transistors (+25% vs. Apple M2). The 3nm process should also contribute to the excellent efficiency of the chip. Under load, the M3 CPU consumes approximately 20 Watt.

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D

The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D is a high-end desktop processor from the Raphael series with 8 Zen 4 cores and SMT (Simultaneous Multithreading), allowing it to handle up to 16 threads simultaneously. After its announcement in January 2023 at CES in Las Vegas, it was launched in April 2023. Following the launch of the two top models, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D, the third model was introduced, which offers significantly more gaming performance with the 3D V-Cache.

The CPU cores have a base clock of 4.2 GHz and can be boosted up to 5 GHz (single-core turbo). The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D features a CCD with 8 cores, which includes the fast 3D V-Cache. This differs significantly from the two Ryzen 9 models, as they have two CCDs, but only one of them can utilize the 3D V-Cache.

The performance of the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D is consistently good, although its multi-threaded performance suffers a bit due to the eight native compute cores. However, the real strength of the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D lies in gaming performance, where it excels. In tests, we see consistently high gaming performance, even surpassing that of an Intel Core i9-13900K.

In terms of power consumption, the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D aligns with the other two models featuring 3D V-Cache, making the 8-core processor extremely power-efficient. In numbers, this means that the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D is specified with a TDP of up to 120 watts. The PPT (Package Power Tracking) is also rated up to 162 watts. For comparison, an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is specified with 170 watts (TDP) or 230 watts (PPT).