AMD announced the Ryzen 7 9800X3D on October 31, 2024, with availability starting November 7, 2024. Priced at $479, it features the new “Zen 5” architecture and 2nd Gen AMD 3D V-Cache technology, offering up to an 8% gaming performance improvement over its predecessor, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D (priced at $449 at launch).
At stock settings, the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D boasts eight cores, 16 threads, a base clock of 4.7GHz, and a boost clock of 5.2GHz. The 2nd Gen 3D V-Cache — now located under rather than on top of the CPU die, which improves heat transfer from the core — allows users to enable Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO), making the 9800X3D the first overclockable X3D processor. This helps overcome a key limitation of first-generation 3D V-Cache processors, which was a significant reduction in clock speeds compared with standard Ryzen parts. This means the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is ideal for both gaming and productivity tasks that depend on low memory latency and higher clock speeds. It makes this processor a compelling upgrade for existing Ryzen 7 5800X3D users and a suitable solution for those demanding even more performance than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D can deliver.
In this review, we’ll cover the key features of AMD’s flagship gaming processor, its advancements over the previous generation, and its gaming performance, and conclude with advice for the vendor.
The Zen 5 Architecture and the AMD Ryzen 9000 Series Desktop Processors
AMD’s Zen 5 architecture introduces significant enhancements in terms of energy efficiency, performance, and computational capabilities — particularly for machine learning and AI workloads — thanks to full-width (rather than half-width, double-pumped) AVX-512 and VNNI support. According to AMD, it achieves a notable 16% improvement in IPC across 13 common desktop workloads over the previous generation Zen 4–based CPUs. The Zen 5 core complex die (CCD), which now uses TSMC’s 4nm process, offers substantial power reductions. At standard thermal design power (TDP) points (65W, 105W, 170W), AMD reports an average 22% increase in performance per watt.
The New 800 Series AM5 Platforms
The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is supported by the AM5 platform. AMD has committed to supporting the AM5 socket through at least 2027 and potentially beyond, ensuring long-term compatibility with future Ryzen processors and making it a reliable choice for upgraders.
The AMD 800 series chipsets — the X870E, X870, X850, and X840 — introduce AMD’s latest motherboards. The X870 and X870E motherboards feature USB4 and support PCIe Gen5 for both x16 graphics and SSDs, setting them apart from the competition. The main difference between the X870 and X870E lies in the number of I/O lanes, such as SATA and total PCIe lanes.
The X870 and X870E motherboards are optimized for overclocking and can achieve DDR5-8000 speeds and beyond, depending on the hardware. However, AMD does not support the new CUDIMM standard for higher-clocked DDR5 DIMMs in either the Ryzen 7000 or Ryzen 9000 series platforms — and this is an area where the 3D V-Cache of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D can help drive performance for memory-intensive workloads or games.
2nd Gen AMD 3D V-Cache Technology
With Ryzen 7 9800X3D, AMD is introducing the 2nd Gen AMD 3D V-Cache technology. The key improvement lies in the cache’s location. Previously, the 3D V-Cache was layered on top of the Zen 3 cores (in the Ryzen 7 5800X3D) and Zen 4 cores (in the Ryzen 7000X3D processors) and required additional structural silicon to provide support for physical stability. However, in the Zen 5–based Ryzen 7 9800X3D, this cache is now placed below the processor cores, and is a single piece of silicon for simplified design and manufacturing.
This change allows the Zen 5 CCD to be directly in contact with the integrated heat spreader (IHS) and the cooling solution mounted on top of it, resulting in better heat transfer and higher sustained clock speeds, which lead to better performance.
Consequently, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D features a 500MHz faster base clock and a 200MHz faster maximum boost clock compared with the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. Additionally, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is fully overclockable, with the same clock and voltage limits as standard Ryzen 9000 processors.
The Test Platform
Hardware components for the test PC used in this review include the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor, the base model AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX graphics card, an ASRock X870E Taichi motherboard, and a G.SKILL Trident Z5 Neo 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5-6000 CL28 memory kit. The Windows 11 main drive was a 1TB Samsung 990 PRO NVMe Gen4 solid state drive and a Thermaltake View 71 Tempered Glass Full Tower case was used.
An ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III 420 water cooler was installed for the processor, which was paired with a be quiet! STRAIGHT POWER 11 Platinum 850W power supply. For QHD tests, 34″ Dell Gaming S3422DWG monitor — a Quad-HD 3440×1440 display with a 144Hz refresh rate, FreeSync, 10-bit colors, and high dynamic range support — was used, while for 4K testing, a 48″ LG OLED48CX5LC 120Hz monitor was used.
The reviewers used the motherboards’ default settings, set the memory profile to EXPO 6000, and made sure that Smart Access Memory was enabled. No special tuning, optimization, or overclock was carried out for the tests.
Gaming Performance
The following tests were carried out using the built-in benchmark utility for each game.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Far Cry 6, and The Callisto Protocol
In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Far Cry 6, and The Callisto Protocol, the 9800X3D delivers 107, 134, and 205 frames per second (FPS) on average respectively, at the highest settings, with ray tracing set to Ultra and FSR set to Quality, at 1440p resolution at 120Hz.
For Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the 9800X3D delivers 86 FPS at 4K.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020
While QHD and 4K gaming may be GPU limited in some scenarios compared with 1080p resolutions — typically used for esports titles, where the CPU is the limiting factor — a number of games are heavily CPU dependent, such as Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (MFS2020). When settings are dialed to Ultra at 4K native resolution and with a terrain Level of Detail (LoD) of 400, the GPU is underutilized most of the time, with the CPU being the limiting factor in the test.
For this game, we also tested the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, with the original top-mounted 3D V-Cache architecture, with the same settings. It was often unable to sustain its rated maximum boost clocks of 4.5GHz in this game and managed only 24 FPS, with a 1% low of 20 FPS. Meanwhile, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D was able to boost all cores to 5.2GHz and maintain those speeds at stock settings. As a result, it achieved 58 FPS in MFS2020, with a 1% low of 35 FPS. This 140% increase in performance shows the potential performance uplift for owners of the AM4-based Ryzen 7 5800X3D of an upgrade to AM5 and the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, with its improved thermals and higher sustained clock speeds for a much-improved gaming experience.
Upgrading from Older Platforms
Upgrading to the 9800X3D involves not just the cost of the CPU but also potentially a new motherboard and RAM, especially if you’re moving from an older platform such as the Ryzen 7 5800X3D or the Ryzen 9 5900X (which we reviewed four years ago). Many users might consider skipping the platform upgrade to allocate their budgets toward a higher-end GPU, particularly in high-resolution display scenarios where the GPU is the bottleneck.
To gauge performance improvements, we tested both platforms.
Both processors were overclocked using Precision Boost Overdrive for the following tests.
In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the two platforms achieved almost identical average frames per second. However, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D rendered 52% more frames on average (334 versus 220), though it was bottlenecked by the GPU.
In Far Cry 6, there was a 28% increase in average FPS. Finally, in The Callisto Protocol, the average frames per second were 13% higher. This indicates that even at 1440p, there is a double-digit benefit from upgrading from the 5800X3D, despite having four extra cores, when playing modern and optimized games.
From a performance improvement point of view, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D makes much sense for those that have a platform that is two or more generations old, such as the Ryzen 5000 series. The performance improvement is substantial and with the modest power demand of 120W, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D can run on many cost-effective AM5 motherboards that support overclocking, including previous-generation B650 and X670/X670E motherboards. DDR5 memory support has increased in capacity per DIMM, and RAM has dropped substantially in price. With the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, many issues around memory latency and bandwidth are effectively masked by the 3D V-Cache, allowing cheaper but larger-capacity memory to be used.
The upgrade argument for a user of the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is perhaps less clear since the performance uplift is not as large, and the cost of the new CPU is not insignificant. The Ryzen 7 7800X3D remains popular and its street price is at or above the RRP, so users wishing to upgrade will most likely find a willing market for their used CPUs, helping to justify the upgrade.
Overclocking
We enabled Precision Boost Overdrive, which remains the best method for overclocking while maintaining optimal power efficiency. It’s important to note that PBO is an advanced overclocking feature and may void the warranty, according to AMD. In the BIOS, under the Advanced settings, we set the limits to “Motherboard” and adjusted the CPU Boost Clock override to “+200MHz.” We incrementally adjusted the Curve Optimizer, starting at -10 and achieving stability at -35 on all cores, verified through Cinebench 2024 testing.
With the ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III 420 AIO cooler in our first 9800X3D system, we reached a frequency of 5.2GHz on all eight cores under a 10-minute full load in Cinebench 2024. PBO enabled us to hit 5.4GHz, with a maximum temperature of 84C and power consumption of 140W. This resulted in an 12% improvement in our Cinebench 2024 score (from 1234 to 1381).
Besides overclocking manually in the motherboard’s BIOS, users can also use the Ryzen Master tool to fine-tune performance. This flexibility allows advanced users and overclocking enthusiasts to fully explore and enjoy the capabilities of this chip.
Final Words and Conclusion
The first generation of AMD’s 3D V-Cache technology was a welcome addition to the Zen 3 and Zen 4 architectures, propelling certain processor SKUs to the top of gaming performance charts. However, it had limitations in terms of clock speed and thermal performance. The second generation, designed for Zen 5, builds on the previous generation’s advantages, being placed beneath the core complex die to improve heat transfer, which helps sustain high-clock performance. AMD’s commitment to innovation and rapid execution is clearly paying off.
While there is a strong focus on gaming performance, the high core speeds of the 9800X3D, especially across an all performance cores, make it suitable for entry-level to midrange productivity tasks, from office applications to photo editing and light rendering. It is also well-suited for CAD/CAM applications, such as using SolidWorks for 3D printing. This processor offers great value for professionals by day and gamers by night.
The suggested price for the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is $479, compared with the initial price of $449 for the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D. Keeping the price below $500 and only 7% higher than its predecessor is a competitive move by AMD, ensuring this chip remains mainstream and popular despite being a flagship product.
The 3D V-Cache technology also helps compensate for system RAM speed and overall latency. Although Socket AM5 motherboards are interoperable with CUDIMMs at reduced data rates in bypass mode, it would be beneficial for AMD to enhance its memory controller in future generations of chips, to support anticipated speeds beyond 8,000 MT/s. Furthermore, improving the Infinity Fabric clock speeds would help in keeping pace with these rapidly increasing memory clock speeds.