The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D stands as the fastest gaming processor available, delivering an impressive performance leap that surpasses Intel’s competing chips by a significant margin. While its $480 price tag positions it in the premium category, it’s a worthwhile consideration for gamers seeking top-tier power, even if more balanced options exist for productivity-focused tasks.
What is the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D?
The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D truly deserves its title as the new king in the world of gaming CPUs. Featuring an optimized Zen 5 architecture, second-generation 3D V-Cache technology, and a TDP of 120W, this CPU is more than capable of unlocking its full potential. It shines not only in the gaming world but also in various professional tasks.
With the 3D V-Cache technology, AMD has created “masterpieces” in the CPU world, consistently holding the crown for gaming CPUs for years since the launch of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D. Despite being introduced as a latecomer when the Zen 3 architecture and AM4 platform were nearing their end, this CPU model still maintained dominance. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D remained at the top even as higher-end models like the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X and AMD Ryzen 7 7900X were launched. This success continued until the next generation of X3D CPUs arrived.
The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D marks a significant leap forward, with the 3D V-Cache technology making its appearance much earlier in the AMD Ryzen 9000 Series, just a few months after the initial launch of the mainstream CPUs. The release was even more surprising to gamers, as it came ahead of some rumors suggesting these CPUs would only be revealed at CES 2025 in Las Vegas.
What Makes the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Stand Out?
New gaming technologies and increasingly powerful graphics cards have created a bottleneck issue for modern CPUs, as they struggle to process the large amounts of data required by GPUs. AMD’s 3D V-Cache memory technology offers a hardware solution to minimize this bottleneck.
However, this technology is not a cure-all. For instance, stacked memory chips consume more power, generate more heat, and reduce the overall thermal performance of the chip. As a result, CPUs with this tech generally operate at slightly lower clock speeds compared to their non-V-Cache counterparts, reducing their pure processing power for general tasks.
To address this, AMD has introduced the second-generation 3D V-Cache in the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which features a dedicated layer containing 64MB of L3 cache directly connected to the processor’s silicon via modern packaging technology. This optimization improves thermal management, allowing the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D to achieve a base clock of 4.7GHz and a boost clock of 5.2GHz, which is 500MHz and 200MHz higher, respectively, compared to the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, the reigning CPU king in the gaming world.
Additionally, CPUs based on the Zen 5 architecture come with larger L1 cache than their Zen 4 counterparts, offering significant performance improvements for the Ryzen 7 9800X3D over its predecessor. The 9800X3D is built on TSMC’s 4nm process and, unlike previous generations, has a TDP of 120W, higher than the 105W of the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. This increase in power allows the 9800X3D to fully utilize its capabilities, maintaining higher clock speeds for extended periods.
Test Configuration:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
- Motherboard: X870E Aorus Master
- Memory: Trident Z5 Neo RGB DDR5-6000 (16GBx2)
- Cooler: Corsair H100i ELITE LCD Display
- GPU: AMD RX 7900GRE
Benchmark tests show that the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D outperforms the standard Ryzen 7 models by a significant margin, even coming close to the performance of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X, despite having fewer cores. In the 3DMark Firestrike test, which simulates DirectX11 gaming workloads, the 9800X3D scored 39,313 points in Physics, outperforming the Ryzen 7 9700X by 9.1% and the Ryzen 7 7800X3D by 23.5%. Similarly, in 3DMark Time Spy, the 9800X3D scored 14,805 points, surpassing the Ryzen 7 9700X by 19% and the Ryzen 7 7800X3D by 18.5%.
In the Cinebench R23 test, the Zen 5 architecture shines with a single-core score of 2,083, 21% higher than the Zen 4’s 1,719. With multi-core tests, the 9800X3D, thanks to its 120W TDP, reached 22,606 points, 15% higher than the base Ryzen 7 model running at 65W TDP.
Gaming Performance
Although comparisons with the Ryzen 7 7800X3D were not directly available, tests with AMD Ryzen 7 8700G show a substantial reduction in bottlenecks when paired with the AMD RX 7900GRE GPU at 1080p in various games. For example, in Horizon Zero Dawn, the new AMD CPU had less than a 5% difference between CPU and GPU performance, compared to 37.5% for the Ryzen 7 8700G.
In Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, the CPU and GPU response times were nearly identical, with a 7ms response time at the highest settings—one of the toughest tests for CPU-to-GPU bottlenecking at 1080p. On the other hand, the Ryzen 7 8700G showed a 25% discrepancy in CPU and GPU times, struggling to keep up with the GPU’s power.
In demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D allows gamers to experience the game at 4K resolution with Ray Tracing in Overdrive mode, maintaining 22fps, and using AMD Fluid Motion Frames 2 and FidelityFX Super Resolution to boost frame rates beyond 60fps. Similarly, in Total War Saga: Troy, a CPU-heavy game, the 9800X3D delivers a significant FPS boost compared to other CPUs.
Conclusion
Overall, the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D stands as the new king of gaming CPUs, with remarkable advancements in Zen 5 architecture and second-generation 3D V-Cache technology. Its 120W TDP allows it to perform with minimal bottlenecking, even at 1080p resolutions with mid-to-high-end GPUs. This CPU outshines the Ryzen 7 9700X and competes directly with the Ryzen 9 9900X in demanding workloads, making it an excellent choice for gamers and professionals alike.
Update:
AMD has just launched the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, priced competitively at $480 USD. This new addition to the Ryzen lineup is designed to offer impressive performance with AMD’s advanced 3D V-Cache technology, aimed at boosting gaming and multitasking capabilities. Positioned as a powerful option for high-end users, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D provides excellent value, balancing top-tier performance with a price point that makes it accessible for gamers and professionals alike. This release showcases AMD’s continued commitment to delivering high-performance processors at attractive prices, further fueling competition in the CPU market.
