A first look at an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor confirms that this generation features a new implementation of the 3D V-cache technology. This new AMD processor, to be launched on November 7, is the successor to the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. The latter was a huge success on the AM5 platform, particularly in the gaming segment. To give a few details on this future processor, the 9800X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread CPU. It features 96 MB L3 cache (32 MB L3 64 MB 3D V-Cache), 8 MB L2 cache, a 4.70 GHz base clock and a 5.20 GHz boost clock. The chip will have a TDP of 120 W. The processors will also implement full overclocking support, which was not really the case for the previous generation.
3D V-Cache implementation for improved thermal dissipation
The most important point to emerge from this photo of the Ryzen delid is that the location of the 3D V-Cache, which until now has been above the CCD, has been moved below. This seems to be a choice AMD has made to ensure better heat dissipation and thus higher frequencies. If some people have reservations about these photos, it’s important to bear in mind that copies of the Ryzen 9800X3D have been arriving in editorial offices since the middle of last week.
The real question now concerns the impact of these changes on the processor’s performance. Over the past few days, we’ve seen extremely contrasting estimates of the new AMD. Some leaks mention a 35% gain over the previous generation in certain tests, while others announce much more modest figures of around 6-8%.
New AMD and Intel processors: hectic launches
It’s important to bear in mind something we’ve observed at the editorial office over the whole of 2024 (for the time being). So far, not a single processor launch has gone off without a hitch. First of all, we have suffered from extremely compressed test times, a consequence of the late arrival of processors. A situation we’ve seen everywhere. Secondly, for both AMD and INTEL, manufacturers delivered BIOS updates almost within minutes of their release dates. Finally, the latest Windows updates have not helped matters.
As the icing on the cake, we were also asked to test with a “pre-configured” Windows delivered turnkey. It’s a story we’ll come back to, but one we obviously didn’t accept. All this is to repeat a message we sent out a few days ago: beware of day 1 testing these days.