AMD Zen 6 X3D CPUs May Rock Up To 288MB Of Cache To Battle Nova Lake
AMD's next-generation Zen 6 processor with 3D V-Cache may kick things up in a big way to compete with Intel's upcoming Nova Lake chips. How so? According to a popular leaker on X, AMD will offer single CCD (core complex die) variants with up to 144MB of L3 cache, and dual CCD models with up to a whopping 288MB of L3 cache. To put those capacities into perspective, AMD's flagship Ryzen 9 9950X3D sports 128MB of L3 cache, 64MB of which is 3D V-Cache.
It was previously rumored that AMD's Zen 6 X3D models would feature up to 96MB of 3D V-Cache, giving the next-gen chips a 50% increase over the top Zen 5 X3D models. That alone would be significant, but combined with whatever architectural improvements are on tap with Zen 6, AMD's next-gen Ryzen X3D chips could deliver a massive performance jump for gaming.
AMD's plans may have changed, however, in the wake of Intel ballyhooing its Nova Lake CPUs, which are expected to deliver up to 52 cores and also 288MB of last level cache, with Intel countering AMD's 3D V-Cache with its long-await bLLC, or Big Last Level Cache.
Beyond the rumored specs for Nova Lake, Intel's Chief Financial Office, David Zinsner, stated during the 2025 Technology Conference hosted by Deutsche Bank Securities in August that Nova Lake will be a "more complete set of SKUs" that will "address the high-end desktop market, and so we would expect that we will improve our position next year."
In other words, Nova Lake will put Intel back in the game after having lost some ground to AMD in certain segments, particularly gaming. At present, Intel just doesn't have a viable answer to AMD's X3D chips for gamers, but that may change with Nova Lake.
Zen6 1CCD 144MB
— HXL (@9550pro) December 22, 2025
Zen6 2CCD 288MB
🤫 https://t.co/53R1j1nFou
Whether or not the rumored jump in 3D V-Cache and total L3 cache for Zen 6 is true, you can bet that AMD is paying attention to what Intel is doing. So in that regard, it's at least plausible that AMD decided to be more aggressive with its next round of X3D processors.
We certainly hope it's true, because if so, we could be in for a wild ride in 2026. Now if only the DRAM situation could work itself out...
