New 9800X3D leak: ‘Strong generational boost in games’ is just 8%
AMD's estimates for the performance of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D were just leaked, and they might cause mixed feelings.
Aliver
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
AMD’s best processor for gaming is right around the corner. Through various leaked benchmarks, we’ve already learned that it might disappoint, and today’s leak only serves to confirm that. According to leaked AMD data, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D may offer a subtle improvement in gaming — although it’ll still be better than what most of the Zen 5 lineup has been able to provide.
VideoCardz was able to obtain what appears to be an official marketing description of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. The blurb reveals things like the predicted improvement in instructions per cycle (IPC), gaming, and multi-threaded workloads. It looks like the real deal, but as with any other leak, it’s important to remember that we’ll only learn the full story once we test the CPU ourselves.
According to the leaked blurb, AMD estimates that the 9800X3D will be up to 8% faster in games. Although AMD refers to this as a “strong generational boost,” many expected something better — something more along the lines of the uplift we’ve seen from the 5800X3D to the 7800X3D.
In our own testing, the 7800X3D was up to 26% faster in some games. On average, most reviewers put it at anywhere between 13% to 25% faster, depending on the testing suite. If AMD’s own estimates predict that the 9800X3D will only win out by 8%, I’m not optimistic about reviewers being able to squeeze a lot more performance out of the chip.
VideoCardzThe multi-threaded performance is looking a little better, with a 15% boost compared to the 7800X3D. AMD also reveals that the CPU will support up to DDR5-6000, but the memory overclocking support goes far beyond that, all the way up to DDR5-8000 and above.
The Ryzen 7 9800X3D will work with most AM5 coolers and with all AM5 motherboards, including the latest X870E and X870 boards. The specs are no surprise, given it has eight cores and 16 threads, although the maximum boost clock is lower than some may have expected, maxing out at 5.2GHz. However, leaked benchmarks showed the CPU running up to 5.7GHz, so this could be wrong. I’m more inclined to believe that the benchmarks were inaccurate, though.
Although AMD has yet to confirm that the CPU that’s being released on November 7 is the 9800X3D, every single leak points to it being the first to launch. Even if it’ll end up being a bit of a disappointment, it might still sell well due to the fact that the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is out of stock pretty much everywhere.
Monica is a computing writer at Digital Trends, focusing on PC hardware. Since joining the team in 2021, Monica has written…
AMD’s new CPU could silently replace the Ryzen 7 7800X3D
AMD just expanded its lineup of gaming CPUs, but it's not a Zen 5 chip. Instead, AMD launched a new Zen 4 CPU, the Ryzen 5 7600X3D. Once again a Micro Center exclusive, the CPU could be an interesting budget offering ... if not for the fact that it still costs a pretty penny. Meanwhile, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D seems to be disappearing from the market. What's going on?
The fact that AMD revisited the Zen 4 lineup is not surprising, as it still continues to release Zen 3 chips. It's also not shocking that the Ryzen 5 7600X3D is a Micro Center exclusive, as the Ryzen 5 5600X3D was also only available at that one retailer. In the case of the 7600X3D, though, it'll also be available in Germany through Mindfactory.
I tested the Ryzen 9 9950X against the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, and I was shocked by the results
If we're going strictly by the numbers, the Ryzen 9 9950X is the best processor you can buy. It tops performance charts almost across the board, as you can read in our Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X review. In practice, the CPU isn't as impressive as it could be. Not only does it arrive much more expensive than the competition but AMD is competing with itself when it comes to CPUs like the Ryzen 7 7800X3D.
I expected the Ryzen 7 7800X3D to continue to stay relevant in this new era of Zen 5 CPUs. I didn't, however, expect it to be a flat-out better choice for those looking for the best gaming processor. Although the Ryzen 9 9950X can top productivity charts, AMD's last-gen gaming monster remains the performance king when you're chasing frames.
Specs
I tested AMD’s latest claims about Ryzen 9000, and they don’t hold up
AMD says that gaming performance on Ryzen 9000 is actually better than what you've read. As you can read in our Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X review, AMD's new Zen 5 CPUs are the best processors you can buy when it comes to productivity. Gaming performance, on the other hand, is disappointing.
According to a new blog post from AMD, there are a few reasons why reviewers saw lower gaming performance than expected. Chief among them are the fact that AMD used an unreleased version of Windows 11 -- the 24H2 update, which is available to Windows Insiders -- and that it used an administrator account for its "automated test methodology." In light of that, I downloaded the Windows update, spun up an admin account, and retested the Ryzen 9 9950X. And I'm not seeing what AMD claims at all.
