At present, AMD is not doing very well (or at least, not as well as Intel) on RAM support with its Ryzen 9000 processors. Indeed, the latter are (officially) content with memory frequencies of up to 5600 MT/s by default. But things could well change with the future Ryzen 7 9850X3D, as a BIOS capture shows the CPU running with memory clocked at 9800 MT/s.
Ryzen 7 9850X3D: the CPU grinding with 9800 MT/s RAM!
As a reminder, with this CPU, AMD plans to launch a new reference equipped with eight cores and sixteen threads. In terms of cache memory, we’re talking about a CPU with 96 MB of L3, 32 MB integrated in the CCD and a further 64 MB integrated via a 3D V-Cache matrix. As for frequency, it’s now known: 5.6 GHz in turbo mode, i.e. 400 MHz more than the original 9800X3D.
However, this model could be accompanied by improved RAM support. Nothing official yet, but a screenshot shows the CPU mounted with memory running at 9800 MT/s. Behind this, AMD could, like Intel, improve memory support with its CPUs. This would enable the Reds to natively accept higher-frequency RAM, since the native support for Ryzen 9000s is 5600 MT/s, in accordance with the JEDEC specification.
From now on, the Reds are likely to face competition from Intel, since the Arrow Lake Refresh, scheduled for early 2026, should come with native DDR5 support at 7200 MT/s. Beware, however, as CUDIMM modules equipped with a CKD will be required to apply such frequencies.
Let’s not dream too much…
But that’s in an ideal world. In reality, we don’t expect the Reds to change their BMI (memory controller). So, to take such a frequency in this way seems rather unlikely. What’s more, we don’t have the context around this capture. These figures could have been captured as part of an overclocking session. In that case, it doesn’t reflect reality – well, not that of lambda users who simply activate the XMP/EXPO, when they do.
