Ryzen 7 9800X3D: AMD announces the return of the gaming king

AMD has formalized the imminent arrival of the first Ryzen 9000 processor equipped with 3D V-Cache technology. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is therefore an eight-core Zen 5 processor with SMT technology, clocked at a maximum of 5.2 GHz. It stands out from the other Ryzen 9000s by the presence of 64 MB of additional cache under the CCD which brings together the Zen 5 cores.

3D V-cache technology is back

As a reminder, 3D V-Cache technology consists of the massive addition of cache memory, which games are particularly fond of. AMD adds 64 MB of cache below the CCD, according to the manufacturer's visuals, whereas previously it was located above.

Compared to the Ryzen 7 9700X with the same number of Zen 5 cores, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D has a maximum frequency of 5.2 GHz, a drop of 300 MHz. The TDP is also higher, established at 120 W when the Ryzen 7 9700X is satisfied with a power envelope of 65 W.

The king of gaming?

Thanks to the additional 64 MB of cache, AMD claims performance gaming up 20% on average on around forty titles, compared to the Core Ultra 9 285K, whose gaming skills are not really its strong point, as we have seen. So, in Cyberpunk 2077the Ryzen 7 9800X3D would offer a framerate 59% higher than the Core Ultra 9.

Compared to its predecessor, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, AMD announces an average performance increase of 8%. In Cyberpunk 2077the gain is almost zero, while it reaches almost 26% in Hogwarts Legacy.

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D will be available from November 7, 2024 at a price of $479, or a little more than €529 at today's rate and adding VAT. The Ryzen 7 X3D therefore sees an increase of $20 compared to its predecessor. The gaming performance of Intel's Core Ultra 200 doesn't help make the price of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D particularly attractive.