AMD Reveals How Ryzen 9 9950X3D Will Compare To 9800X3D In Games

AMD Ryzen processor in front of a motherboard (both are renders).
If you managed to score an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor, first of all, kudos to you on procuring what's been a highly elusive chip (thanks, Intel!) and a great one to build a gaming PC around. That said, you might be wondering if you'll have buyer's remorse once the Ryzen 9 9900X3D and especially the Ryzen 9 9950X3D land at retail. To paraphrase AMD, gamers should have no fear in that regard.

How so? The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is an 8-core/16-thread processor based on Zen 5 with a 4.7GHz base clock, 5.2GHz max boost clock, 8MB of L2 cache, and a heaping pile of 96MB of L3 cache for 104MB of total cache. And of course it's that all-important L3 cache that gives gaming performance a boost, which in turn makes AMD's X3D processors so popular among gamers.

AMD slide outline specs for its Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D processors.

Meanwhile, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D and Ryzen 9 9950X3D up the ante with more cores, faster clocks, and some additional L3 cache. Specifically, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core/24-thread part with a 4.4GHz base clock, 5.5GHz max boost clock, 12MB of L2 cache, and 128MB of L3 cache for a 140MB of total cache.

As for the flagship Ryzen 9 9950X3D, it's a 16-core/32-thread chip with a 4.3GHz base clock, up to a 5.7GHz max boost clock, and 144MB of total cache (16MB L2 + 128MB L3).

Despite the advantage in specs on both Ryzen 9 chips, AMD's Product and Business Development Manager, Martijn Boonstra, told VideoGamer that both upcoming models will "provide similar overall gaming performance" as the Ryzen 7 9800X3D.

"There will be some games that perform a bit better (if the game engine utilizes more cores and threads), and some games will perform a little worse (if the game engine favors a 1CCD configuration), but on the whole the experience is comparable," Boonstra said.

This is similar to the messaging that AMD shared during its onslaught of CPU announcements at CES, which included a handful of new X3D processors (both for desktop and mobile). If that's the case, then why pay more for a Ryzen 9 9950X3D or 9900X3D versus a Ryzen 7 9800X3D?

It really depends on your goals. While these chips are great for gaming, they're no slouches when it comes to other computing chores, such as video editing and content creation. And within those realms, having more cores/threads and faster clocks can be beneficial.

We'd argue that having game performance be around the same on the upcoming parts versus the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is a good thing for users who are mostly interested in gaming. If you fall into that category, it means you won't have to spend more on a higher end CPU to chase more frames, and perhaps apply the money saved elsewhere in your rig (more RAM, a more capacious SSD, a higher-end GPU, a better monitor, and so forth).