AMD rumored to launch the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D alongside RDNA 4 GPUs in late March

AMD Ryzen 9000
(Image credit: AMD)

Reports suggest that AMD will debut its 16-core and 12-core Ryzen 9000X3D CPUs in late March, coinciding with the launch of its Radeon RX 9000 series graphics cards. Citing internal sources, French hardware news website CowCotLand claims that the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D are planned for release by the end of Q1, aligning with AMD's provided release timeframe.

AMD revealed its high-core count Ryzen 9000X3D offerings at CES, boasting a 20% performance bump in gaming against Intel's Core Ultra 200S (Arrow Lake) processors. There is no difference in the total cache size versus the last generation, as the chipmaker will continue offering the 3D V-Cache on a single CCD. However, AMD's 2nd-generation V-Cache technology, which has the SRAM chiplet beneath the CCD, allows these chips to have a higher thermal headroom with a Tjmax of 95 degrees Celsius. This enables higher boost clocks, as seen with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. The Ryzen 9 7950X3D's V-Cache equipped CCD suffered a hefty 500 MHz frequency penalty compared to the CCD without the X3D cache, which should be resolved with the changes to the stacking structure.

CowCotLand suggests that these processors will arrive by the end of next month. While the source doesn't explicitly mention an expected timeline for RDNA 4, preliminary listings suggest RDNA 4 pre-orders start March 23. AMD will likely introduce the RX 9070 series first, followed by budget-friendly offerings later in the year. Given the hype behind AMD's Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which is practically impossible to find at MSRP anywhere, let's hope supply for upcoming dual-CCD models is enough to keep up with demand.

Specifications for the RX 9070 XT and its non-XT counterpart have been leaked beforehand. The main highlight is that both GPUs are rumored to boast 16GB of memory, with the flagship RX 9070 XT allegedly trading blows with Nvidia's RTX 4080 Super. Our testing suggests a 10% performance gap between the elusive RTX 5080 and RTX 4080 Super. While this is purely speculative, the RX 9070 XT is projected to be within 15-20% of the RTX 5080. The best part? The 9070 XT might be in stock, unlike the RTX 5080.

AMD seems to be planning two major launches next month. According to leaks, RDNA 4 looks good, so it makes sense that it would have a dedicated launch event. However, AMD has not yet announced any details.

Hassam Nasir
Contributing Writer

Hassam Nasir is a die-hard hardware enthusiast with years of experience as a tech editor and writer, focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news. When he’s not working, you’ll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun.

  • -Fran-
    AMD be like: why give them just one piece of disappointment, let's give them two!

    Cynicism aside, I just hope all the scheduling shenanigans are a thing of the past with these new X3D's. You solve that, then it's a good time for me as I want one of these. I'm still profoundly hurt there's no dual VCache'd AM5 sibling, but it is what it is.

    Regards.
    Reply
  • Makaveli
    Thankfully I just picked up a 9800X3D this week.

    Late march is abit late.
    Reply
  • jackt
    all in the ancient 4nm process ?
    Reply
  • Amdlova
    jackt said:
    all in the ancient 4nm process ?
    New nodes are apple exclusive.
    No one want to pay premium, and AMD always want to milk the consumer.
    Reply
  • reza666
    -Fran- said:
    AMD be like: why give them just one piece of disappointment, let's give them two!

    Cynicism aside, I just hope all the scheduling shenanigans are a thing of the past with these new X3D's. You solve that, then it's a good time for me as I want one of these. I'm still profoundly hurt there's no dual VCache'd AM5 sibling, but it is what it is.

    Regards.
    Exactly! I have the 7950X and can't say its not performing in games but it also dont impress in my day to day work. Its fast and all but i feel there is something strange about it. I think its the cache part that time to time it gets to warm and fans go all in and then it goes quiet and i get some delays time to time. i got 64GB Ram + 4090 and all highend parts.
    I actually went and got an 9950X. In game framerate went down but in total i'm more happy with it. The performance i feel is better and i don't get the issues with X3D.
    I will not get any X3D until they solve what you mention. Plus having 400 FPS or 250FPS don't matter much for me on a 144Hz monitor :D
    Reply
  • salgado18
    with the flagship RX 9070 XT allegedly trading blows with Nvidia's RTX 4080 Super.
    Our testing suggests a 10% performance gap between the elusive RTX 5080 and RTX 4080 Super.
    While this is purely speculative, the RX 9070 XT is projected to be within 15-20% of the RTX 5080
    If the 9070 is equivalent to a 4080 Super, and the 5080 is 10% faster than the 4080 Super, why would the 9070 be 20% slower than the 5080? Shouldn't it be 10%? I know it is just speculation, but the numbers are not matching up.
    Reply
  • tamalero
    jackt said:
    all in the ancient 4nm process ?
    why would they sell it in a newer process node? It is not a refresh.
    Reply
  • Elusive Ruse
    -Fran- said:
    AMD be like: why give them just one piece of disappointment, let's give them two!

    Cynicism aside, I just hope all the scheduling shenanigans are a thing of the past with these new X3D's. You solve that, then it's a good time for me as I want one of these. I'm still profoundly hurt there's no dual VCache'd AM5 sibling, but it is what it is.

    Regards.
    Maybe they encountered supply issues like Nvidia and decided to launch when a reasonable number of units was available.
    Reply