AMD is the company behind some of the best microprocessors of all time, and most definitely some of the best microprocessors in recent times. If you own a high-end PC, there’s a good chance that it is powered by an AMD Ryzen processor — of which the Ryzen 7 3700x was an iconic addition when it was released on July 7th, 2019. However, since its launch, there’s one question that’s been bugging all its users and admirers — does Ryzen 7 3700x have integrated graphics?
Graphics are perhaps the most vital part of any PC experience, and a good graphics card can make a significant difference to a gaming or normal browsing experience on a PC. A graphics processing unit (GPU) is the component that supports and enables the video output capability of a computer, and without an integrated card in the motherboard, you would have to invest a hefty amount in buying a dedicated graphics card.
Before we try to answer our main question, let us understand what an integrated graphics card is and how it can be a vital part of your PC build. If you’re just looking for the answer to whether a Ryzen 7 3700x has integrated graphics, go down to the “Does Ryzen 7 3700x Have Integrated Graphics?” section for your answer.
What Is An Integrated Graphics Card?
An Integrated Graphics Card can be simply explained to be a graphics card inside the CPU. Unlike a dedicated graphics card, an integrated graphics card is not a separate component of the PC build. Integrated graphics cards are usually found in budget and mainstream PCs, and are typically suited for people who do not require a robust graphic card for their needs. Integrated graphics cards are not as capable as dedicated graphics cards and thus are not recommended for intense gaming, artistic design, professional video editing, or any other heavy use cases.
Uses of Integrated Graphics
There are several uses for integrated graphics, making them a useful addition to your CPU. Some of the ideal use cases and benefits of integrated graphics include:
- Performing everyday tasks (browsing the internet, checking social media, reading the news, etc.)
- They do not heat the computers as much as a dedicated GPU might (but long gaming can still cause heat problems, so you can try investing in some CPU coolers)
- Have less battery consumption than a dedicated graphics card
- Much cheaper than a dedicated graphics card
Overall, integrated graphics cards are great for new gamers as they’re cheap and don’t require any external parts. You can also use them for light video editing, 2D gaming, or other general purposes such as internet browsing.
Why is an Integrated Graphics Card important?
So why are we even discussing integrated graphics cards? Are they so important that you won’t be able to run your computer? Actually, yes.
Any system PC derives its video output capability from these integrated or dedicated graphics cards. Motherboards completely lack an onboard graphics processing chip, so they need either an integrated or a dedicated graphics card to function. The video output ports that you’ll find attached on the back of the I/O panel of your motherboard are actually powered by the CPU’s integrated GPU.
In short, HDMI, VGA, DVI, or any other ports present on your motherboard are useless without a GPU — whether it’s integrated or external. So, if you want to see anything on your computer, you have to have a GPU present. Having an integrated GPU just allows you to do this without having to attach an external GPU.
Does Ryzen 7 3700x Have Integrated Graphics?
Now the million-dollar question — Does Ryzen 7 3700x Have Integrated Graphics?
Unfortunately, Ryzen 7 3700x is one of the few AMD CPUs that doesn’t have an Integrated Graphics Card. It is part of the ‘X’ suffix series by AMD that do not feature any integrated GPUs. Other AMD CPUs like AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, AMD Ryzen 5 3500, AMD Ryzen 7 3600XT, etc. are like this too. This is due to their strong performance, and target customer of a heavy gamer who would likely need a powerful, dedicated GPU. With this absence of an integrated CPU and the heavy gaming target customer, PC builds including the Ryzen 7 3700x will likely require a dedicated CPU Cooler for a Ryzen 7 3700x build.
Which AMD Ryzen Processors have Integrated Graphics?
If you are a fan of AMD CPUs and want to make one of them a part of your PC building setup, then there is the ‘G’ Suffix from RX Vega Series for you. The AMD CPUs with a ‘G’ Suffix feature an integrated GPU, and these GPUs are often dubbed APUs or accelerated processing units.
Here is a list of all AMD CPUs that have an integrated GPU:
Series | CPU | iGPU |
Ryzen 2000 Series | Ryzen 3 2200G | RX Vega 8(2000 Series) |
Ryzen 5 3400G | RX Vega 11(2000 Series) | |
Ryzen 3000 Series | Ryzen 3 3200G | RX Vega 8(3000 Series) |
Ryzen 5 3400G | RX Vega 11(3000 Series) | |
Ryzen 3000 Series | Ryzen 3 4300 | RX Vega 6(4000 Series) |
Ryzen 3 4350 | RX Vega 6(4000 Series) | |
Ryzen 5 4600G | RX Vega 7(4000 Series) | |
Ryzen 5 4650G | RX Vega 7(4000 Series) | |
Ryzen 7 4700G | RX Vega 8(4000 Series) | |
Ryzen 7 4750G | RX Vega 8(4000 Series) | |
Ryzen 5000 Series | Ryzen 3 5300G | RX Vega 6(5000 Series) |
Ryzen 5 5600G | RX Vega 7(5000 Series) | |
Ryzen 7 5700G | RX Vega 8(5000 Series) |
Are Integrated Graphics Good?
Inherently, what decides whether an integrated graphics card is good, is the type of usage you have. There is no right answer to whether an integrated graphics card is good, only an answer to whether an integrated graphics card is good for you. If you are just going to do light tasks with your PC such as browsing the internet or surfing social media, you can efficiently work with just an integrated graphics card. But, if you plan on doing some high-end gaming with heavy graphics, it is better to rely on a dedicated graphics card.
The performance offered by integrated graphics in terms of professional gaming is pretty disappointing. This is because you will be pushing these high-performance games into a little CPU that does not have enough space to insert the extra transistors you require, with the GPU almost being an after-thought for the CPU manufacturer.
Does Ryzen offer Better Integrated Graphics than its competitors?
AMD processors are known for their impressive Radeon processor graphics cards, however, AMD has been losing quite a lot of market share over the last few years to NVidia and Intel. AMD has been established as a reliable processor maker as well as a reliable GPU maker, however, doing the right research to ensure the integrated GPU meets your needs is important.
How Good Are The Ryzen integrated GPUs In Graphics Performance?
Of course, not all integrated GPUs can be grouped together in terms of performance as they have different builds. Depending on the type of GPU that your computer has, the difference in performance can be drastic.
To get a gist of what type of performance each Ryzen GPU offers, you can check out this performance chart compiled using notebookcheck.com. But keep one thing in mind: although some of these GPUs have the same name across generations, their performance isn’t necessarily the same.
GPU | Performance Rating* |
Vega 3(R2000/3000) | 6.7 |
Intel UHD 630 | 6.7 |
Vega 6(R2000/3000) | 9.4 |
Vega 8(R2000/3000) | 10.8 |
Vega 11(R2000/3000) | 13.1 |
Vega 6(R4000/5000) | 13.6 |
Vega 7(R4000) | 14.2 |
Vega 8(R4000) | 15.2 |
Vega 8(R5000) | 21.6 |
Conclusion
Long story short, the Ryzen 7 3700x does not have integrated graphics. While this might be disappointing for some AMD fans, do not be disheartened! AMD has several Ryzen Processors that do feature integrated graphics cards for you to use. But if you still want this particular CPU to be a part of the PC system, you can always invest in a dedicated graphics card for your setup.
Choose your graphics card wisely and continue gaming!
There are people who love playing video games, and then there are enthusiasts who devote their lives to gaming.
Corey has been playing games since The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy III were still young.
Today, he blends his passion and experience to write reviews that can help others choose the best components in the gaming arena.