Finally we have concrete news rather than rumors to report about AMD’s highly anticipated Ryzen 9000X3D processor range, which is expected to include the likes of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. The new range, which features game frame rate-boosting 3D V-Cache will arrive on November 7th.
Sadly, that’s all we know. Specifications are still unknown as are prices and we also don’t know which models will arrive first or if they’ll arrive all at once, however we have a good idea about these and other points thanks to various leaks and rumors. It’s also worth mentioning that alongside the announcement about its Ryzen 9000X3D processors, AMD has also slashed prices of current Ryzen 9000 CPUs.
There’s up to $50 off its latest models that launched only a latter of weeks ago and the price cuts already appear to have been applied both in the US and in Europe. The biggest cut hit the Ryzen 9 9950X, which sees $50 slashed off its launch price.
Getting back to the 3D V-Cache models, and the latest leak from motherboard manufacturer MaxSun seems to suggest only the Ryzen 7 9800X3D will arrive at launch on November 7th, given no other models were mentioned in its CPU support list. This could mean a length wait for other expected models such as the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D. Rumors a few weeks ago put the Ryzen 9000X3D range at a January launch to coincide with the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. That may still be the case for other models, but today we know that at least one model will arrive on November 7th and if AMD wants to steal Intel’s thunder from its Core Ultra 200 series, offering up a Ryzen 7 9800X3D is a good way to do that.
Intel’s new CPUs are already known not to offer significant gains over the 14th Gen models in games, focussing instead on multi-threaded performance and power efficiency. This leaves the door wide open for AMD to claim the 2024 gaming crown with its Ryzen 9000X3D models. There are still some significant unknowns however.
Firstly, we don’t know the specifications or pricing of any of the 3D V-Cache models, which are usually priced significantly higher than standard models. We also don’t know how large the gap will be between its standard models and Ryzen 9000 3D V-Cache models outside of games, with rumors pointing to an even smaller gap than previous generations.
The most important unknown, though, is how much extra performance they will offer in games compared to the likes of the Ryzen 7 7800 X3D. Given that the Ryzen 9000 series so far has offered little extra grunt compared to the Ryzen 7000 series, there aren’t too many knobs to tweak to get more performance with the 3D V-Cache models either and most of the specifications including the amount of 3D V-Cache is expected to stay the same too. The next week or two will prove extremely interesting to gamers and PC enthusiasts.
I’ll be reviewing the new processors when they arrive so follow me here on Forbes using the blue button below, Facebook or YouTube to get the latest news and reviews.