AMD Courts Gamers At Computex With New X3D CPUs, GPUs, And EXPO ULL RAM
"New" X3D Processors For Gamers
Kicking off the news is the official launch of the Ryzen 7 5800X3D 10th Anniversary Edition, which arrives at e-tail on June 25, 2026, with a suggested e-tail price of $349. Fundamentally, this is the same silicon as the original release, but AMD is packaging it with a Carbice Ice Pad carbon nanotube thermal pad to optimize cooling over middling thermal pastes.
The company is positioning this chip as the ultimate upgrade path for users still holding onto older AM4 motherboards, dubbing it the best Socket AM4 gaming CPU. The value proposition here is actually quite interesting; with the ongoing RAMageddon causing extreme DDR5 memory shortages and skyrocketing prices, it makes practical sense to give gamers a reason to stay on their existing DDR4 platforms for a while longer.
That's a bit of a trend with these announcements, as AMD also revealed the Ryzen 7 7700X3D, slated for a July 16 launch at $329. Under the hood, this processor is essentially a Ryzen 7 7800X3D that with a 200 MHz cut to its base clock and a significant 500 MHz chop off its boost clock. Honestly, it's a slightly dubious value proposition out of the gate, as the full-fat 7800X3D has come very close to this $329 price point in the past, and the significantly faster Ryzen 7 9800X3D isn't much more and fits in the same socket.
Ultimately, like with any product, its success will depend heavily on where street pricing actually settles. It still should offer fantastic gaming performance and likely superior to anything that doesn't also have "X3D" at the end of its product name. Alongside the new CPU, AMD confirmed that Socket AM5 support will continue through 2029. This is good news for AM5 users, but it does functionally guarantee that AMD desktop platforms will not see DDR6 memory until 2030 at the earliest.
AMD EXPO Gets A Low Latency Update
Memory performance is clearly a focus for AMD this year, as evidenced by the introduction of EXPO Ultra Low Latency (ULL). While technical specifics like target latencies and clocks are still under wraps, AMD describes the feature as an automatic overclocking technology that will be available soon from the usual suspects, like G.SKILL, Teamgroup, Kingston, Adata XPG, and Klevv (among others).
The performance claims are certainly attention-grabbing, with AMD citing up to 13 percent better average frame rates and 15 percent better one-percent lows on a Ryzen 7 9700X when compared to standard JEDEC memory. However, the gains shrink to a modest 4 percent in both metrics when compared to standard EXPO profiles. It's pretty exciting to see this; memory tuning can make a huge difference in gaming performance. However, given the current state of RAM pricing, it's unfortunate that AMD is making this announcement right now. Hopefully the shortage abates sooner than later so we can get some of this stuff on the bench.
The Radeon RX 9070 GRE Comes Stateside
On the graphics front, AMD re-introduced the Radeon RX 9070 GRE, an intriguing but potentially tough sell in the current market. This card is a cut-down version of the non-XT Radeon RX 9070, featuring 48 compute units instead of 56 and a 25 percent reduction in the memory bus, leaving it with a 192-bit interface and 12GB of GDDR6 VRAM.
Positioned as a sort-of "half-step" between the RX 9060 XT and the RX 9070, AMD claims it delivers 22 percent faster performance than NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5060 Ti, which is entirely plausible. Our skepticism arises not from the performance claims but from the pricing strategy; the RX 9070 GRE has a suggested price of $549. Considering there are RX 9070 XT cards available for $599 with 16GB of VRAM, and the competing RTX 5060 Ti can be found for $499 (also with 16GB of VRAM), the GRE sits in an awkward middle ground. As with the Ryzen 7 7700X3D above, time (and street pricing) will determine its ultimate value proposition.
Finally, AMD is noting that its Radeon AI PRO R9000 graphics products are now validated for "more than 50 certified professional applications across Windows and Linux," including names like Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Autodesk Maya, and others. These certifications will be coming along in the upcoming "26.Q2 PRO" graphics drivers.
AMD had a lot more to talk about at the show, but we've already covered most of them in detail. That includes the refreshed Ryzen AI Max 400 "Gorgon Halo" family of processors, the Ryzen AI Halo developer platform, and the Ryzen AI 400 series desktop CPUs, as well as the recent announcement that AI-powered FSR upscaling is coming to Radeon RX 7000 and RX 6000 GPUs. Check those links if you want to read more about those products and technologies.
