Ryzen 7 2700X vs Core i5-9400F

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

On our gaming index the Ryzen 7 2700X scores 38 and the Core i5-9400F scores 36, about 6% faster for gaming. That gap is small and mostly shows up at 1080p with a very fast graphics card.

The Ryzen 7 2700X has 8 cores and 16 threads, and the Core i5-9400F has 6 cores and 6 threads. The extra cores of the Ryzen 7 2700X help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 4.3 GHz and 4.1 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Ryzen 7 2700X uses the AM4 socket and the Core i5-9400F uses LGA1151, so they need different motherboards, and often different memory. When you compare prices, count the board as well as the chip.

Rated power is 105 W for the first and 65 W for the second. That difference changes the cooler you need, and it shows up in heat and noise.

At launch the Ryzen 7 2700X cost $329 and the Core i5-9400F $182, which gives 11.6 and 19.8 points of gaming performance per $100. Today's prices will differ.

Which graphics cards each one can feed, and which to buy

At 1080p the Ryzen 7 2700X can feed a card up to the Radeon RX 6750 XT before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core i5-9400F reaches the Arc B580. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Ryzen 7 2700X if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Core i5-9400F if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.