AMD’s Ryzen 7 9800X3D is official, and it shakes things up in a big way
After a long string of rumors and speculation, AMD has finally confirmed that the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is arriving next week. Here are the details.
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Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
We all knew it was coming. A string of rumors over the past several months has pointed to AMD releasing the Ryzen 7 9800X3D on November 7, but the company itself just confirmed the new CPU. It’s looking for a spot among the best processors, packing 3D V-Cache on top of an eight-core Zen 5 CPU in order to improve gaming performance.
True to rumors we’ve seen this week, AMD is pricing the CPU at $479, which is nearly $30 more expensive than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. AMD claims that the new chip provides an average gaming increase of 8% over the last-gen CPU, and 20% faster gaming performance compared to Intel’s recent Core Ultra 9 285K. In addition, AMD says that minimum frame rates are up, with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D improving 1% lows in The Last of Us Part One by 31%.
AMDAMD is using its second generation of 3D V-Cache, which comes with a pretty big change. Instead of stacking the cache on top of the processor, the cache is now a single die that sits below the processor. This, according to AMD, helps keep the cores cooler on the processor, allowing the CPU to hit a 5.2GHz maximum boost clock speed. This change also allows AMD to open up overclocking. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the first 3D V-Cache processor that’s fully unlocked for overclocking.
That’s the major change this time around. Outside of using the new Zen 5 architecture, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is largely the same as its last-gen counterpart. It comes with a total of 104MB of cache, along with eight cores and 16 threads. It also has the same 120-watt thermal design power (TDP), though as we saw with the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, there’s a good chance the CPU will run below that power limit while gaming.
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Excited to announce the next chapter in gaming greatness! The world’s best gaming processor, the @AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is here to power our community to new heights. Let’s level up together! 🚀🎮 pic.twitter.com/2ykzt6UeFc
— Jack Huynh (@JackMHuynh) October 31, 2024
It might not be as efficient, however. By placing the cache below the CPU, AMD is able to more effectively cool the cores, and therefore, push them harder. That calls for more power. That’s especially true if you dive into fully overclocking the CPU, which up to this point has only been an option through AMD’s Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) on 3D V-Cache processors.
As is always the case with prerelease benchmarks, we’ll have to wait until we can strap the Ryzen 7 9800X3D in the test bench to see how it truly performs. An 8% uplift in gaming performance is promising, however, especially considering that the Ryzen 7 7800X3D has remained uncontested in gaming, even in the face of the Core Ultra 9 285K and Ryzen 9 9950X.
Jacob Roach is the lead reporter for PC hardware at Digital Trends. In addition to covering the latest PC components, from…
AMD’s Ryzen 7 9800X3D may not give Intel any breathing room
The competition between Intel Arrow Lake and AMD Zen 5 hasn't been as fierce as usual, with both lineups delivering small gen-to-gen improvements. However, it seems that AMD may soon add a staple to its list of the best processors, and the CPU might be announced at the worst possible time for Intel. I'm talking about the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which now has a rumored release date alongside some performance benchmarks.
The release date speculation was initially shared on Bilibili, but the user has since deleted their post. However, the discussion continued on Chiphell forums, spilling the beans on both the official announcement date and the possible release date.
The Ryzen 7 7800X3D is sold out everywhere — here’s what to buy instead
There's no doubt about it -- the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is the best gaming CPU you can buy. And if you're building a high-end gaming PC, it's the CPU you should look out for. There's just one problem: Over the past several weeks, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D has slowly faded from store shelves, and now, it's almost impossible to find in stock.
You can technically find it through third-party sellers, but you'll pay up for the CPU -- prices range from $500 to $700, while the CPU was selling for under $350 just a couple of months ago. With AMD reportedly clearing the shelves for the upcoming Ryzen 7 9800X3D, it may be a few months before the last-gen CPU comes back for a reasonable price. Thankfully, there are some other great CPUs you can buy right now.
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New Ryzen 7 9800X3D leak: ‘This legend is unbeatable’
AMD may have just released its new Zen 5 lineup less than two months ago, but the processor that all gamers are waiting for is definitely the Ryzen 7 9800X3D -- and it seems to be a lot closer than we thought. A few days after an initial report that the 9800X3D would launch this year, another leak reaffirmed this by sharing promotional material about the CPU. It really looks like AMD is banking on the 9800X3D to be the best processor of the year. This isn't the only sign of an imminent launch.
A leaked slide comes from Moore's Law Is Dead, who also cited his own anonymous sources as he talked about the CPU. Before we dive in, remember that all of this has yet to be confirmed by AMD, although the promotional material certainly looks legitimate.
