AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Early Retail Listings Point To Steep $1,000 Price
A handful of online retailers have jumped the gun and posted product pages for AMD's Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 processor, and if the attached prices are accurate, the upcoming flagship will command in the neighborhood of $1,000 when it officially releases to retail on April 22. Of course, we won't actually know for sure until (A) the chip actually releases in two-plus weeks, or (B) AMD announces the price beforehand.
Regarding the latter, AMD revealed pretty much everything but the price so far. What makes the Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 special is that it plops 3D V-Cache on both core complex dies (CCDs) instead of just one or the other. In theory, this should negate the need to use tools like Process Lasso to ensure that applications are actually running on the CCD with 3D V-Cache.
In practice, AMD is claiming slightly better gaming performance and decent uplifts in both content creation and various productivity applications, compared to the Ryzen 9 9950X3D. Both the 9950X3D2 and 9950X3D are based on Zen 5 and feature a 16-core/32-thread design, but they differ in clocks, cache, TDP, and presumably price.
- Ryzen 9 9950X3D2: 16C/32T, 4.3GHz to 5.6GHz, 16MB L2 + 192MB L3, 200W TDP, unknown MSRP
- Ryzen 9 9950X3D: 16C/32T, 4.3GHz to 5.7GHz, 16MB L2 + 128MB L3, 170W TDP, $699 MSRP
The Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 dials back the maximum boost boost clock by 100MHz to 5.6GHz, while adding 64MB more L3 cache for 192MB total, and juices the TDP by 30W to 200W. How that all translates to suggested and street pricing remains to be seen.
While we wait to find out, a few retailers have begun prepping for the chip's release with live listings. Over at GamingKit (as spotted by @momomo_us), the retailer has the chip listed for £912.60, which is around $1,210 in U.S. currency. For context, the same retailer lists the Ryzen 9 9950X3D for £679.12 (~$900) in retail form and £679.12 (~$847) in OEM/tray form.
The Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 also made cameos at other retailers, several of which have been removed, though not before the Wayback Machine could work its magic. Over at PC-Canada, for example, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 was listed for CAD $1,373.99, which is around $986 in U.S. currency.
It's possible that these are placeholder listings, though the 'add to cart' option suggests otherwise. Even so, it's important to note that pricing does not always neatly convert from one region to another based on the exchange rate. And of course pricing can vary by retailer, sometimes wildly. That's all to say, take these early retail listings with a pinch of salt.
