AMD has revealed the release date of the highly-anticipated Ryzen 7000X3D series of gaming processors, and they’re launching a little later than expected.
Three new processors are expected in the coming months. Both of the higher-end models, the Ryzen 9 7900X3D and the 7950X3D are launching on February 28, contrary to previous reports that stated a release on Valentine’s Day. The former will cost you $599 while the latter has a $699 price tag.
The third processor, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, is a little cheaper at $449, but it won’t launch until April 6. It’s unknown why AMD is releasing the 7800X3D much later, though it could be because the company wants to prioritize the Ryzen 9 CPUs instead.
While these price tags are undoubtedly high, you'll get your money’s worth.
Top of the line model
The new Ryzen 7000X3D family will kick things off with the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, a 16-core 32-thread CPU with a base clock speed of 4.2 GHz. That clock speed can be boosted to run at a maximum of 5.7GHz. Additionally, it will come with a 144MB cache and a TDP (thermal design power) of 120W so the processor may run a little hot. Be sure you have a good cooling system if you decide to pick this one up.
All things considered, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D sounds like it's poised to compete with the Intel Core i9-13900K, which came out in October 2022.
What may set the 7950X3D apart from Intel’s latest offering is support for AMD’s proprietary 3D V-Cache technology. The purpose of this tech is to significantly boost gaming performance by adding extra memory “on top of the compute cores of a processor.” Without running any benchmark tests, we don’t know exactly how much of a boost V-Cache will add to the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, especially when compared to other AMD processors. However, considering how impressed we were with the Ryzen 9 5950X3D, AMD’s first CPU sporting 3D V-Cache, we have high hopes for this one.
To give you an idea, a report from Tom’s Hardware shows Horizon Zero Dawn running 24 percent faster on the 7950X3D when compared to Intel’s i9 13900K at 1920x1080 resolution. This information comes from AMD’s own benchmark tests, however, so take it with a grain of salt.
Still powerful
The other two CPUs share the same TDP of 120W and support for AMD’s 3D V-cache as the 7950X3D. However, everything else is slightly different.
The Ryzen 9 7900X3D comes with a 12-core 24-thread CPU with a base clock speed of 4.4 GHz, which means it’s a tiny bit faster. The boosted speed tops out at 5.6 GHz and sports a 140MB cache. As for the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, you’re looking at an eight-core, 16-thread CPU with a clock speed of 4.2 GHz (5.0 GHz boosted) and a 104MB cache.
The war between AMD and Intel continues to heat up as both companies push the boundaries of gaming PCs. It’ll be interesting to see what the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is capable of. Considering that it’s the cheapest of the trio, there's a good chance PC gamers will gravitate towards that model instead of 7950X3D when building a new computer.
If you don’t know to build your own rig or don't feel like it, be sure to check out TechRadar’s recently updated list of the best pre-built gaming PCs of 2023.
