The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the latest entry in the critically acclaimed, long-running Zelda series. It's set in a massive open world that's far bigger than any Zelda game before it, packed with distinct locations to explore and enemies to defeat.
With the game scheduled to release on March 3 for both Nintendo Switch and Wii U, we've compiled our full review and our most important features and gameplay videos detailing everything you need to know about this fascinating new entry in The Legend of Zelda series. Be sure to check back often as we update this article with additional articles and videos.
The Review
"No matter how gorgeous its environments are, how clever its enemies are, and how tricky its puzzles get, the fact that Breath of the Wild continues to surprise you with newfound rules and possibilities after dozens of hours is by far its most valuable quality. It's a game that allows you to feel gradually more and more empowered yet simultaneously manages to retain a sense of challenge and mystery--which, together, creates a steady, consistent feeling of gratification throughout the entire experience. Breath of the Wild is a defining moment for The Legend of Zelda series, and the most impressive game Nintendo has ever created."--Peter Brown [Full review]
Flying Guardians Gameplay--Watch as Link does his best to avoid being spotted by the flying guardians in this The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild gameplay.
Early Weapons and Armor Gameplay--Check out some of the cool armor and weapons you can get in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
First 17 Minutes on Nintendo Switch--Watch the first 17 minutes of the Switch version of the game where we explore the Grand Plateau full of enemies and dungeons.
Battlefield 1's first expansion, They Shall Not Pass, arrives on March 14 (for some), Electronic Arts announced today. The publisher also put out a cinematic new trailer for the add-on, showing off the French army and the new France-set maps, weapons, and vehicles that are included in the add-on.
They Shall Not Pass also comes with two new Operations, as well as the new Frontlines mode.
They Shall Not Pass will be available on March 14 for people who own the $50 Battlefield 1 Premium Pass before being made available for everyone to buy two weeks later, on March 28.
Three more expansions are coming to Battlefield 1: In the Name of the Tsar, Turning Tides, and Apocalypse. You can get all of these with the Premium pass. Release dates have not been announced, but you can find out everything we know about them here in our previous coverage.
Following a series of teases over the last two weeks, Blizzard has finally unveiled the newest addition to Overwatch's roster: Orisa
Orisa is a Tank-class character whose "gameplay is engineered around protection." Her weapon is the Fusion Driver, an automatic cannon that deals constant damage but slows her movement speed. The alternate fire is Halt, which launches a charge that she can detonate to slow enemies and pull them towards the explosion.
Her abilities include Fortify, which reduces the damage she takes and makes her immune to "action-impairing effects;" and Protective Barrier, a stationary barrier that can be deployed to block enemy attacks. Her Ultimate is Supercharger, which launches a device that buffs damage done by any teammates in its line of sight. The device itself can be destroyed by enemies.
You can try out Orisa now on the PC version's public test realm. A date for her release in the live game has not been announced. You can see all of her skins in the gallery below, along with a story trailer further below.
Teases for Orisa began last week. Through a series of posts, most in the guise of faux news coverage, we learned about Efi Oladele, an 11-year-old scientist with apparent plans to build whatever was to become the new character. Subsequent teases were tied to in-game changes, including a pretty significant one to the attacking team's spawn room on Numbani.
Prior to all of this, director Jeff Kaplan said that the next character was "not who you think it is." This was seemingly meant to deny that it would be Doomfist, who is believed by many to be a future character. Actor Terry Crews has actively campaigned to voice him if and when he becomes a character.
Separately from the new character, a new patch arrived for Overwatch this week that adds a server browser and significant balance changes, particularly for Bastion.
Ubisoft today outlined its post-launch plans for Ghost Recon: Wildlands today, which includes paid content through a DLC pass and free updates.
The DLC pass comes with two "major" expansions, as well as a one "special mission that call[s] on players to take on enemies that only experienced Ghosts are able to handle." Season pass-owners will get to play the new expansions one week before everyone else can buy them.
People who buy the pass also get new outfits and weapons, as well as a permanent 5 percent XP boost and a "single-use short XP booster" that offers +50 percent XP bonus for the player and +25 percent XP bonus for everyone in their squad for a period of two hours.
Here is a full rundown of what's in the DLC pass, as written by Ubisoft:
One week early access to two major expansions:
Narco Road: Players will infiltrate a gang of smugglers and take part in crazy races and challenges to earn their infamous leader's trust and destroy them from the inside. Gamers will be able to meet new bosses and travel the wildlands in new vehicles.
Fallen Ghosts: During an evacuation mission, the Ghosts' chopper is shot down and the squad will need to adapt as they're tracked down by an elite group of ruthless mercenaries. Players will fight a new powerful enemy, learn new skills and unlock weapons to complete their mission.
The Unidad Conspiracy missions: Players will work to break down and destabilize the alliance between Santa Blanca and Unidad in the Media Luna province.
The Peruvian Connection pack: Players will be able to play through the Peruvian Connection mission as well as receive seven gear patches
Faction themed equipment packs
Rebellion Ghost Pack: Players can don an outfit inspired by the brave Katari 26 rebels. They will also unlock a unique AK-47 equipped with a bigger magazine and customized with unique engraving work.
Unidad Ghost Pack: Players dominate enemies with an Unidad outfit so they can attack Unidad camps dressed just like one of them. They will also unlock a unique Unidad LMG weapon, customized with the colors of Unidad, and equipped with a red dot scope and a larger magazine.
Santa Blanca Ghost Pack: With a Santa Blanca-inspired outfit, players can mimic their style without joining their ranks. This pack also unlocks the Santa Blanca golden M1911, customized with engravings and the mark of the cartel, for players to unleash chaos on the cartel.
Exclusive vehicle: Bolivian Minibus
Digital content
Permanent +5% XP booster for the player
Single-use short XP booster: +50% XP for the player and +25% XP for other players in the session, expires two hours from time of use.
In terms of free post-release content, Ubisoft will add head-to-head multiplayer to Wildlands after release. This will be in the form of a 4v4 mode. More details will be announced later.
In other news, the Wildlands betas attracted 6.8 million players, setting a new record for Ubisoft. The game launches in full this coming Tuesday, March 7.
The new Wolverine movie Logan is receiving a lot of praise from critics, but how will the franchise's first-ever R-rated movie do at the box office? According to tracking estimates posted by The Hollywood Reporter, the film could make $65 million in the US for the March 3-5 weekend, taking in a further $100 million from international markets over the same span of time.
Logan may benefit from an expanded availability in theaters. According to THR, it's playing in 2,071 theaters in the US this weekend, which is the most for any R-rated movie ever domestically.
Here is a rundown of how the previous X-Men/Wolverine installments fared in the US for their opening weekends, with figures pulled from Box Office Mojo:
X-Men (2000) -- $54.5 million
X 2 (2003) -- $86 million
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) -- $103 million
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) -- $85 million
X-Men: First Class (2011) -- $55 million
The Wolverine (2013) -- $53 million
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) -- $91 million
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) -- $66 million
We will report back with official box office numbers this weekend when they come in. Keep checking back with GameSpot for the latest.
GameSpot's Logan review praised it for being brutal and grim, featuring outstanding performances by Jackman and Stewart.
"Logan continually subverts your expectations, but in its impactful ending, it still somehow feels like the only way the movie--and Wolverine's long journey--could end," GameSpot critic Randolph Ramsay said. "This is a film that elevates its genre, succeeding precisely because it's different, and because it strives to be the Wolverine movie fans have always wanted to see. Logan is a must-watch, and is not only a wonderful superhero movie, but a wonderful movie in its own right."
If you already own any of these games digitally on Xbox 360, they should show up automatically in your Xbox One game library. If not, you can buy them on your Xbox One or through the links below.
[Updated March 2 with Dead Rising 2: Case Zero, Dead Rising 2: Case West, Meet the Robinsons, and Cars 2]
The Xbox One's backwards compatibility feature, introduced in November 2015, lets you play Xbox 360 games on the new console. But what games are available? We've now rounded them all up--and we'll continue to update this post as new games are made available.
Pokemon Go developer Niantic Labs has shared an update on the game's much-anticipated trading feature. Product manager Tatsuo Nomura told Polygon that trading will not be done through the internet. Players will need to be physically close to swap creatures, though a specific distance has not been revealed. Trading has not even been officially announced for the game yet.
"You shouldn't be able to exchange your Pokemon with someone who is 100 miles away from you. ... The person needs to be in your proximity," Nomura explained.
"We don't want to just have that be an online game that you can just exchange virtually," Nomura said.
Trading is a huge part of the Pokemon experience, in video games and through the card game. Niantic Labs is still developing the feature for Pokemon Go, and it sounds like the studio won't rush it.
"We're still trying to come up with an answer [to trading] that makes sense so it doesn't kill the game," Nomura said, adding that the feature is penciled in for 2017. "If we fail this, we can easily kill the game."
Back in January, Nintendo announced that the Switch would not be region locked, allowing you to import and play games from other countries. You'll also be able to access the eShop from other regions, although there are some caveats that may limit the ability's usefulness.
With the day-one update live, Switch users can now access the eShop, add friends (using friend codes, unfortunately), and more. This has led to the discovery that you can sign into the eShop from other regions--including Japan, where there are traditionally numerous games released that never make it overseas. Nintendo confirmed with GameSpot that this is intended functionality, and not the result of some kind of loophole.
The process is fairly simple: You make a profile on the system and connect it to a new Nintendo Account account that is set to the region whose eShop you want to access.
Logging into this profile on the system and going to the eShop then shows you games from that market. Should you make a Japanese account, it'll let you get certain things not available in North America or Europe currently, such as Puyo Puyo Tetris and New Frontier Days: Founding Pioneers, according to Eurogamer.
However, you reportedly can't purchase games from other regions with a debit or credit card from a different country. It's possible that purchasing prepaid cards will be a workaround for this, but that remains unconfirmed for now.
Despite this, it is possible to download free demos from other regions, letting you grab Japan's Puyo Puyo Tetris demo, for instance. Journalist Chris Kohler noted on Twitter that some Japanese games may even feature English text options. Update: NeoGAF member Cheesemeister has provided a list of languages supported in games on the Japanese eShop.
As suspected, Microsoft will not release a new Halo first-person shooter or Gears of War game this year. Appearing on the latest IGN Unlocked podcast, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said 2017 will be an "interesting" year because the focus this year will instead be on other games.
Spencer said he is "incredibly proud" of 2017's Xbox lineup, adding that, "It's going to be an interesting year for us because we don't have Gears, we don't have a Halo first-person shooter game."
Some notable Microsoft-published games coming this year include Crackdown 3, State of Decay 2, and Sea of Thieves. Spencer also teased, "Maybe there's some things that we haven't talked about yet."
Also during the podcast, Spencer discussed Project Scorpio, which launches this holiday, specifically talking about the graphical quality that it will deliver.
"I am very confident in the quality that I've seen from the games that we're launching and how they look on Scorpio," he said. "When people see games on Scorpio, for those that are close to the detail, they're going to see a demonstrable difference between that and the games that they're playing now--on any console. I know that content has to be the thing that we use to demonstrate the capability of the box."
Project Scorpio's launch will be unlike a traditional console release, in that it's a mid-generation hardware update instead of a full generation leap like Xbox 360 to Xbox One. Every game and accessory for Xbox One will work on Project Scorpio, with developers able to take advantage of the new console's beefed up horsepower to deliver better-looking games.
The Matt Damon monster movie The Great Wall is expected to lose more than $75 million, according to sources speaking to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Great Wall made around $36.5 million at the US box office, with $266 million coming from international sources for a total worldwide haul of $302 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
That's a lot of money, but it's far less than what investors anticipated for what THR says is the largest-ever movie co-production between US and Chinese film companies.
Universal funded 25 percent of The Great Wall's $150 million production budget, with Legendary Entertainment, China Film Group, and Le Vision Pictures making up the rest. The marketing budget for the movie was estimated to be at least $80 million.
Universal Pictures, one of the movie's producers, will itself lose $10 million on the action film, the report said.
The Great Wall will make more money when it comes to home video. THR said it could bring in $20 million from digital/Blu-ray/DVD in the US and up to $40 million from international markets. Additionally, it could bring in as much as $30 million from TV rights, the report said.
The Great Wall was directed by Zhang Yimou (House of Flying Daggers) and also starred Willem Dafoe and Pedro Pascal.
The CPU market has been relatively noncompetitive for the past few years, but AMD is bouncing back into competition against Intel with its Ryzen series of central processing units (CPUs). Ryzen is based on AMD's new Zen architecture and uses the company's new AM4 socket type. This is the direct successor to AMD's AM3 and AM3+ socket types, which launched in 2009 and 2011, respectively. The last consumer-level CPUs from AMD were with its FX line and the Piledriver architecture, which released in 2012.
The Ryzen 7 family is AMD's high-end CPU line, all equipped with eight-cores and 16 threads. We're specifically reviewing the highest-end 1800X model here. It runs at a base clock speed of 3.6 GHz and a boost clock of 4.0 GHz. At $499 USD, the Ryzen 7 1800X is aimed at those who are in the market for a CPU that's competent for gaming, but built to handle multi-core tasks like video production and streaming. It aims to represent a blend of professional use-case scenarios with relative consumer affordability. The buzzword associated with this growing market is "prosumer." The 1800X is also significantly cheaper than Intel's eight-core i7-6900K ($1,049 USD) and the company's leading 10-core i7-6950X ($1,649), and priced just above the six-core i7-6800K ($409), all of which are from Intel's 14nm Broadwell-E architecture.
AMD's new Zen architecture adopts the 14nm FinFET technology which is much more power efficient compared to the previous Piledriver architecture's 32nm SOI manufacturing process. The thermal power design (TDP)--aka power draw--of the Ryzen 7 1800X is 95W, and can ramp up the wattage to the AM4 limit of 128W under an "all cores boost" heavy load case, which it does automatically when there's enough thermal headroom.
Socket AM4 is also introduced along with Ryzen CPUs, which will feature six different chipset options. The X370, B350, X300 (for small form factor) chipsets will allow for unlocked overclocking on any of the Ryzen CPUs. The following are the details for all the chipsets:
Chipset
USB (3.1 G2, 3.1 G1, 2.0)
SATA
DDR4 DIMM Slots
PCIe Lanes
PCIe Slots
Overclocking
X370
2, 6, 6
4
4
8, Gen 2
2
Unlocked
B350
2, 2, 6
2
4
6, Gen 2
1
Unlocked
A320
1, 2, 6
TBA
TBA
4, Gen 2
1
Locked
X300 (SFF)
TBA
2
2
TBA
2
Unlocked
A/B300 (SFF)
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
1
Locked
A single Zen CPU Complex (CCX) contains four cores, eight threads, 64Kb L1 instruction and data caches, 512KB dedicated L2 cache per core, and an 8MB L3 cache shared among all CPU cores. Zen-based products can feature multiple CCXs, and in the case of Ryzen 7, two CCXs are on the processor.
Along with the new Zen platform, AMD introduces new technologies such as SenseMI, XFR, Precision Boost, and the AMD Ryzen Master software. SenseMI detects and reads the CPU's behavior and allows Precision Boost to work, which varies core clock speed in increments of 25 MHz on the fly. XFR (only available on X-branded Ryzen CPUs) recognizes how efficient your cooling solution is and ramps up clock speeds beyond the boost level, if enabled. Lastly, the AMD Ryzen Master software is an application that allows users to control clock speed, voltages, and monitor CPU activity.
Methodology
Test Bench
Our test bench for the Ryzen 7 1800X consists of the Gigabyte AX370 Gaming 5 motherboard for socket AM4 CPUs, 16GB (2x8GB) of Corsair Vengence DDR4 3000MHz dual-channel RAM, and a Noctua NH-U12S CPU cooler. To keep things as consistent as possible with our previous CPU tests, we stuck with a reference Nvidia GTX 980 as our graphics card. We were also equipped with a 700-watt NZXT power supply and a Western Digital Blue SATA solid-state drive. Here is a chart for the specs of the systems used in our tests:
CPU
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X
Intel Core i7-6950X
Intel Core i7-5960X
Intel Core i7-7700K
Intel Core i7-6700K
Motherboard
Gigabyte AX370 Gaming 5
Asus Strix X99 Gaming
Asus Strix X99 Gaming
Gigabyte GA-170X-Gaming 7
Gigabyte GA-170X-Gaming 7
RAM
Corsair Vengeance 3000MHz
Corsair Vengeance 2133MHz
Corsair Vengeance 2133MHz
Corsair Vengeance 2133MHz
Corsair Vengeance 2133MHz
GPU
GeForce GTX 980
GeForce GTX 980
GeForce GTX 980
GeForce GTX 980
GeForce GTX 980
SSD
WD Blue 960GB
Corsair Force LS 240GB
Corsair Force LS 240GB
Seagate 600 Series 240GB
Seagate 600 Series 240GB
CPUCooler
Noctua NH-U12S (Air)
Corsair H115i
Corsair H115i
NZXT Kraken X61
NZXT Kraken X61
Case
NZXT H340
Corsair Carbide 600C
Corsair Carbide 600C
NZXT H440
NZXT H440
PowerSupply
NZXT 700W
Corsair RM850X
Corsair RM850X
NZXT 1200W
NZXT 1200W
All systems ran on Microsoft Windows 10 operating system.
Approach
All the results used in our charts for this review are based on numbers produced by GameSpot. Tests were conducted and recorded internally across all CPUs. The majority of our benchmarks are focused on stressing the CPU for both single and multicore performance. In this review, we found it relevant to use our numbers from our previous tests with the Intel Core i7-6700K, 7700K, 5960X, and 6950X for comparative purposes. Here are the specifications of each CPU:
CPU
Cores, Threads
Base Clock Speed
Boost Clock Speed
Chipset
TDP
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X
8 cores, 16 threads
3.6 GHz
4.0 GHz
X370
95W
Intel Core i7-6950X
10 cores, 20 threads
3.0 GHz
3.5 GHz
X99
140W
Intel Core i7-5960X
8 cores, 16 threads
3.0 GHz
3.5 GHz
X99
140W
Intel Core i7-7700K
4 cores, 8 threads
4.2 GHz
4.5 GHz
Z170
91W
Intel Core i7-6700K
4 cores, 8 threads
4.0 GHz
4.2 GHz
Z170
91W
Benchmark Results
Blender
Blender is an open-source 3D graphics and animation program that really stresses multi-core CPUs. Just like our previous tests, we used the "flying squirrel" 3D model to render in Blender. Per our results, the 1800X was outperformed by the 7700K by four percent. This would indicate that Blender doesn't need more than four cores to run efficiently, backed up by the slower performance of the 5960X. The 6950X does come out on top, however. This could be due in-part to Broadwell-E's Max Turbo Boost feature.
Cinebench R15
Cinebench R15 is a 3D animation benchmark that really makes the most of CPU cores. We see the 6700K and 7700K lag significantly behind while the eight and ten core CPUs exhibit substantial improvement. Considering the price of the 1800X, Cinebench shows it to contend with the more expensive ten-core 6950X by being 13.5 percent slower. The 1800X zooms past the 7700K by performing 39 percent faster.
GeekBench 3.0 Multicore 64-bit
GeekBench 3.0 is a synthetic benchmark that scores CPU power. The 1800X has an impressive showing in the multicore test, coming within one percent of the 6950X. It also leaps well ahead of the 5960X by nearly 25 percent, showing the advantage of its two extra cores.
GeekBench 3.0 Single-Core 64-bit
As expected, the 7700K and 6700K shine in this test with their more robust individual cores. However, the 1800X makes a significant statement of single-core efficiency by jumping well ahead of the 6950X with its higher clock speeds.
PCMark 8 Creative Accelerated
PCMark 8 is a multi-step test that simulates real-world scenarios like video conferencing, web browsing, and photo editing. This is one case where Ryzen leaps ahead of all the other intel processors by performing nearly four percent faster than the four-core and and ten core CPUs. Having extra cores doesn't lead to a clear advantage in this test, but the efficiency of the 1800X shows it's well-suited for everyday applications.
Since we've used data from previous benchmarks, the anomaly between the 6700K outperforming the 7700K persists. The test was done twice at that time and the results remained the same.
3DMark 11 Extreme Physics Score (1080p)
3DMark 11 is a synthetic DirectX 11 benchmark tool that gives users an idea of how a system will perform in games. With the Extreme test, we only took the physics score to see how our CPUs handled complex physics calculations. While the 1800X leads the four-core i7s by nearly eight percent, the eight and ten-core Intel CPUs exhibit a substantial lead.
3DMark 11 Performance (720p)
By running the 720p 3DMark 11 test, we get a larger picture while leaning more on the CPU. Our Ryzen 7 1800X beats out the 6700K by about 17 percent, but still trails the 7700K by about four percent and the 6950X by ten percent. The takeaway is that this benchmark isn't intended to take full advantage of additional cores.
POV-RAY 3.7
Persistence of Vision Raytracer (POV-RAY) is a free benchmark that tests a system's ray tracing capability. The results show that extra cores make for a distinct advantage in ray tracing. We see the 1800X well ahead of the four and eight-core Intel CPUs, but just behind the ten-core 6950X.
POV-RAY 3.7 (Single-Core)
The single-core results breakdown as expected, with the 6700K and 7700K showing better individual core performance. The 6950X does edge out the 1800X in this case by a little over five percent, however.
X264 pass 1
The Tech ARP X264 benchmark is one of the most demanding CPU tests, which consists of two passes in a single run to simulate video encoding. Core count is a significant advantage in X264 and it shows with the 1800X, 5960X, and 6950X speeding ahead of the four-core i7 CPUs.
X264 pass 2
The advantage of core count becomes more clear when things get more intense in the second pass of X264. The 1800X trails just behind the ten-core 6950X by around seven percent, and overtakes the eight-core 5960X by about 16 percent. The 7700K and 6700K lag behind and proves that video encoding is best done with more cores.
7-Zip
7-Zip is one of the most common compression and decompression tools available. These tasks rely heavily on the CPU and clearly takes advantage of extra CPU cores. In this case, we see the 1800X in a virtual tie with the 5960X while the 6950X speeds past both.
Star Swarm Stress Test (Low at 1080p)
The Star Swarm Stress Test is a real-time tech demo from Oxide games, co-developers of the RTS Ashes of the Singularity. Testing at low settings shifts the emphasis from the GPU to the CPU, and this particular test is partial to extra cores. However, the 1800X doesn't react well to the benchmark compared to the Intel CPUs. It trails behind the 6700K by about six percent and the rest by about 23 percent. The 6950X and 5960X do show a distinct advantage over the four-core i7 CPUs, though.
Star Swarm Stress Test (Extreme at 1080p)
The 1800X still struggles to keep up with the Intel CPUs, even dipping below 60 FPS when we bump the settings up to extreme quality. Extra cores still exhibit a substantial benefit among the Intel CPUs, so it's curious to see the 1800X come up short.
BioShock Infinite (Low at 1080p)
We continue to see the 1800X significantly lag behind when we move to the Bioshock Infinite benchmark tool. While all Intel CPUs put out 300+ FPS at low quality settings, the 1800X averages just above 200 FPS. The 6950X leads the performance pack a bit, but the 6700K and 7700K aren't far behind.
BioShock Infinite (Max at 1080p)
Again, the 1800X comes in last place among the CPUs we tested. With Bioshock Infinite at maximum settings, the faster individual cores of the 6700K and 7700K prove to be more suited for in-game performance.
SteamVR
The Steam VR performance test is a benchmark tool to see if your system is ready for VR applications. AMD's 1800X makes a bounces back by coming out on top, slightly outperforming all the Intel CPUs. The results between the Intel CPUs would tell us more cores aren't necessary, but the 1800X would say otherwise. AMD attributes its VR performance to efficient single-threads.
Temperatures and Overclocking
Peak temperatures of the Ryzen 7 1800X were recorded during the X264 stress test since it is demanding multi-threaded nature make it a great worst-case scenario. With our Noctua air cooler, the peak core temperature was 74 degrees Celsius under load, which is a reasonable CPU temperature. This also means we had room for overclocking.
Keep in mind that the Ryzen 7 1800X will bounce between its 3.6GHz stock clock and 4.0GHz boost clock on its own, based on operating temperature and workload.
Using AMD's own Ryzen Master software, we were able to hit a stable 4.1GHz overclock with 1.45 volts while running X264. Peak load temperatures reached 82 degrees Celsius and the overclock returned modest results; around four percent for X264 Pass 1 and about six percent for X264 Pass 2.
A more robust cooling solution and further tinkering may yield better overclocking results, which is worth exploring in future testing.
Conclusion
The bottom line is that the Ryzen 7 1800X makes the most sense for users that need more than a CPU for gaming, those who are considered "prosumers." The performance for multicore applications is impressive for its $499 price tag, which increases accessibility for those who need more power for video production and image rendering.
The 1800X isn't intended for those with only gaming on their mind, as most games benefit more from individual core speed. However, we're curious as to why it substantially underperforms in our two game tests. Further in-game tests may or may not tell a different story, but future BIOS updates could help. Our 3DMark 11 and Steam VR benchmarks do show promise for Ryzen's in-game performance, though. Regardless, the 1800X is one of the best bang-for-the-buck CPUs when it comes to applications--video encoding, image rendering, compression/decompression--that utilize more than four cores.
We plan to expand our in-game benchmark tests as we dig deep into the performance of the Ryzen 7 1700X and 1700 CPUs. Stay tuned for our breakdown of the new line of AMD processors.
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