AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 2700 vs Intel Core i7-9700KF Comparison

The Intel Core i7-9700KF and AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 2700 are both 8-core desktop processors, yet they deliver nearly identical average benchmark scores despite fundamentally different designs. The data shows a virtual tie in overall performance, with the Intel part averaging 3787 points and the AMD part averaging 3777 points, a delta of only 0.3%. However, the head-to-head benchmark results tell a more one-sided story, with the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 2700 winning all six direct comparisons, albeit by a consistent margin of roughly 7%.

FAQ

Q: Which processor has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Core i7-9700KF has a marginally higher average score of 3787 compared to the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 2700's 3777, a difference of just 0.3%.

Q: How many more threads does the AMD processor have?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 2700 supports 16 threads, exactly double the 8 threads of the Intel Core i7-9700KF, despite both having 8 physical cores.

Q: What is the largest performance gap in the head-to-head tests?

A: The largest deltas are 7.4% in favor of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 2700, seen in both Cinebench R15 multi-core and Cinebench R20 single-core tests.

Q: Which processor has a higher boost clock?

A: The Intel Core i7-9700KF boosts up to 4.90 GHz, which is 0.80 GHz higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 2700's maximum boost of 4.10 GHz.

Q: Do both processors support ECC memory?

A: No, ECC memory support is exclusive to the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 2700; the Intel Core i7-9700KF does not support ECC memory.

Q: What is the production status of each chip?

A: The Intel Core i7-9700KF is marked as end-of-life, while the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 2700 remains an active production part.

Architecture Differences

The architectural split between these two chips is stark. The Intel Core i7-9700KF is built on Intel's Coffee Lake architecture, specifically the Coffee Lake Refresh generation, using a 14 nm process node fabricated by Intel itself. The die size is 180.3 mm². In contrast, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 2700 belongs to the 2000 series, based on the Zen architecture with the Zen+ (Pinnacle Ridge) generation, manufactured on a 12 nm node by GlobalFoundries. The AMD die is larger at 192 mm² and contains 4,800 million transistors.

Threading is the most significant functional divergence. The Intel part provides 8 threads for 8 cores, meaning no simultaneous multithreading. The AMD part doubles the thread count to 16, allowing each core to handle two threads concurrently. This directly impacts multi-threaded workloads, as the benchmark results confirm.

Cache hierarchies also differ. The Intel Core i7-9700KF has 64 KB of L1 and 256 KB of L2 per core, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 2700 offers larger per-core caches: 96 KB L1 and 512 KB L2, plus a larger 16 MB shared L3 pool. Memory bandwidth is rated at 42.7 GB/s for the Intel chip, while no memory bandwidth figure is listed for the AMD part. The AMD chip does support ECC memory, a feature absent on the Intel side.

Clock speeds show Intel's advantage in raw frequency. The i7-9700KF runs at a 3.60 GHz base and 4.90 GHz boost, while the Ryzen 7 PRO 2700 sits at 3.20 GHz base and 4.10 GHz boost. Power envelopes differ as well: the Intel part has a 95 W TDP, while the AMD part is more efficient at 65 W. Both use different sockets (Intel Socket 1151 vs AMD Socket AM4) and both have unlocked multipliers, though the Intel chip is designated as end-of-life while the AMD chip remains active.

Where Each One Wins

Based strictly on the head-to-head benchmark data, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 2700 wins every single comparison. There are zero wins for the Intel Core i7-9700KF across the six tested workloads. The AMD processor's advantage is uniform, ranging from 7.0% to 7.4% depending on the test.

The consistent ~7.3% margin suggests the AMD chip's extra threads provide a steady advantage in multi-core scenarios, but the fact that the single-core tests also favor AMD by 7.0-7.4% is notable. The Intel chip's higher boost clock of 4.90 GHz does not translate into a single-core victory, indicating that the AMD architecture extracts more performance per clock in these specific workloads, or that the benchmark favors the AMD design despite lower frequency.

The only area where the Intel part shows a nominal edge is in the aggregate average benchmark score (3787 vs 3777), which is a statistical artifact of the averaging method rather than a meaningful performance win. For any workload represented by Cinebench R15, R20, or R23 — whether single-threaded or multi-threaded — the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 2700 is the faster chip according to the data.

Specification Differences

The two processors differ on nearly every specification field. Core and thread counts: both have 8 cores, but the Intel has 8 threads while the AMD has 16 threads. Clock speeds: Intel runs at 3.60 GHz base and 4.90 GHz boost, versus AMD's 3.20 GHz base and 4.10 GHz boost. The TDP is 95 W for Intel and 65 W for AMD.

Process technology is 14 nm for Intel (foundry: Intel) and 12 nm for AMD (foundry: GlobalFoundries). Die sizes are 180.3 mm² for Intel and 192 mm² for AMD; the AMD chip lists 4,800 million transistors while the Intel chip has no transistor count listed. Cache sizes differ at every level: L1 is 64 KB per core (Intel) vs 96 KB per core (AMD); L2 is 256 KB per core (Intel) vs 512 KB per core (AMD); L3 is 12 MB shared (Intel) vs 16 MB shared (AMD).

Memory bandwidth is listed as 42.7 GB/s for Intel, with no figure for AMD. ECC memory support is false for Intel and true for AMD. The PCIe specification is Gen 3 with 16 lanes (CPU only) for Intel, while no PCIe data is provided for AMD. Sockets are Intel Socket 1151 vs AMD Socket AM4. Release dates are 2019-01-07 for Intel and 2018-09-18 for AMD. The Intel part has a launch MSRP of $374; no MSRP is listed for the AMD part. Both have unlocked multipliers, but the part numbers differ (SRG16SRFAC for Intel, YD2700BBM88AF for AMD).

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head results are unambiguous: the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 2700 wins all six benchmarks. In Cinebench R15 multi-core, AMD scores 1316 against Intel's 1219, a delta of -7.4% for the Intel part. The single-core R15 test shows AMD at 185 versus Intel's 172, a 7.0% gap.

Moving to Cinebench R20, the AMD advantage persists. The multi-core result is 5484 for AMD versus 5082 for Intel, a delta of -7.3%. The single-core R20 test shows 774 for AMD against 717 for Intel, again a -7.4% difference. These margins are remarkably consistent across both single and multi-threaded workloads.

Cinebench R23 confirms the pattern. The multi-core score is 13059 for AMD and 12100 for Intel, a -7.3% delta. The single-core score is 1843 for AMD versus 1708 for Intel, also -7.3%. Notably, the Intel Core i7-9700KF does have additional Geekbench results not present for the AMD part: a multi-core score of 7620 and a single-core score of 1681. However, since no corresponding Geekbench scores exist for the AMD processor in the data, these cannot be compared directly.

The average benchmark score of 3787 for Intel and 3777 for AMD places both chips at the 56th percentile among all CPUs. The nearest rival data shows the i7-9700KF is 0.3% ahead of the Ryzen 7 PRO 2700 in average score, but also 0.3% behind the Intel Core i7-8086K and 0.9% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 4900H. The Ryzen 7 PRO 2700's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-1245U (0.1% behind), the i7-9700KF (0.3% behind), and the i5-11600T (0.9% ahead). These aggregate figures obscure the fact that the AMD chip wins every direct head-to-head test by a meaningful margin, making it the stronger performer in the specific Cinebench workloads measured.