Today, AMD is allowing reviewers to reveal the performance numbers of what could be the hottest and most anticipated PC hardware launch of 2024. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D, priced at $479, is the first processor in its new Zen 5 Ryzen 9000 lineup to feature AMD's 3D V-Cache, an additional portion of cache added to the processor chip, or CCD, that improves performance, in particular in games, increases. However, AMD has even more exciting news as it has made some surprising changes to the 3D V-Cache that could boost performance more than expected, meaning it may be more than just the best gaming processor. We'll take a closer look at this in this Ryzen 7 9800X3D review.

AMD has moved the 3D V-Cache to the bottom of the CCD, meaning it no longer acts as a thermal bottleneck and impedes heat transfer between the cores and the heat spreader. The advantage is that the Ryzen 7 9800X3D can run at much higher frequencies than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, gaining 200MHz in peak boost and a 500MHz higher base frequency.

Not only could this lead to even higher frame rates in games, but also significantly improved performance outside of games in other tasks, which has often resulted in 3D V-cache processors not being the first choice for content creators on the side play.

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Models like the Ryzen 7 5800X3D and 7800X3D are among the most sought-after models for gamers due to their frame rate-boosting 3D V-cache and after disappointing launches of AMD's Ryzen 9000 series and Intel's Core Ultra 200 models. As with the 285K and 245K, many turned to the outdated Ryzen 7 for their new systems 7800X3D back, which led to price increases in recent months.

AMD is expected to release more Ryzen 9000. Today we'll focus on the eight-core Ryzen 7 9800X3D and compare it to other CPUs in gaming and content creation benchmarks.

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D benchmarks

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D test system

A completely up-to-date test system was used, which included Windows 11 24H2, Nvidia driver 566.03 and the latest AMD and Intel drivers. This is installed on a WD Blue SN5000 SSD with other hardware including a Palit Game Rock RTX 4090 graphics card, an MSI MPG X870E Carbon WiFi motherboard, and 32GB of Corsair Vengeance RGB EXPO DDR5 6000 memory.

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D content creation and multi-threaded performance

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D has significantly improved content creation performance, outperforming the Ryzen 7 9700X in many tests thanks to a higher TDP out of the box. In general, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is comparable to Intel's Core i5-14600K, which is by no means a bad thing here, but it also often matches or even exceeds Intel's Core i7-14700K and Core i9-14900K, as well as Intel's newer Core Ultra 9 285K and 245K. which is very worrying for Intel.

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AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D gaming performance

The gaming performance of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D was exceptional, offering a significant lead over the Ryzen 7 7800X3D in many tests and was quite a bit faster than anything Intel has, beating the Core i9-14900K and the Core Ultra 9 285K in both test resolutions wiped the floor. The fact that it was so much faster than its predecessor shows the benefit of the higher frequencies thanks to the moved 3D V-cache.

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D power consumption

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D consumes significantly more power than the Ryzen 7 9700X in default settings, but that's to be expected since the latter has a much lower TDP. This does not reflect the gaming performance, but rather the full load in Cinebench. In games, the 3D V-cache is usually very efficient in terms of the number of frames per second produced per watt.

Conclusions on the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

While the Ryzen 9000 series has been disappointing so far, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is absolutely the processor we've been waiting for, even if it costs closer to $500 than its predecessor. It offers huge performance improvements in content creation. So if you've avoided 3D V-Cache CPUs in the past due to their lower frequencies and lower performance, this is no longer a serious problem. However, this is a problem for Intel as it has traditionally been the best option for CPUs that have been consistently good, offering decent gaming performance and excellent performance in content creation software too.

With the disappointing Core Ultra 200 series, AMD's Ryzen 9000 Zen 5 3D V-Cache models are expected to take huge market share away from Intel, as the company now has a range of processors that are not just entry-level, but offer decent performance outside of gaming as well as devastating performances therein too. The fact that the Ryzen 7 9800X3D was significantly faster than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D in most tests means that while this CPU is cheaper, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D makes a very strong case for itself if you're into one or the other Consider.

The upgrade from the 7800X3D may not be entirely worth it, but if you want the fastest gaming processor on the market that also offers the performance of a modern eight-core processor when creating content, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is a great choice, even if it The retail price is closer to $500 than its predecessor and is unfortunately out of reach for anyone with a $400 CPU limit.

Even more exciting for casual gamers who need more multi-threaded performance is the fact that AMD is expected to launch higher core-count X3D processors in the next few months, with a Ryzen 9 9950X3D the most sought-after processor for at least the next 12 months could be. Luckily, we at least have the Ryzen 7 9800X3D to put on our Christmas shortlist.