AMD is set to take the stage at CES in just a few days where it's expected to unveil two new X3D chips, one of them being the 9850X3D, which is said to succeed the existing Ryzen 7 9800X3D. So, this seems like the perfect time to break the world record for the outgoing best gaming CPU, giving it a final tribute before it's replaced. Chinese overlocker "Hero" has just pushed the 9800X3D to 7,335.48 MHz, breaking the previous world record by just a smidge.
Hero used the recently-launched Colorful iGame X870E Vulcan OC V14 motherboard, a flagship offering from the company featuring an 18+2+2 phase VRM setup. It's made with overclocking in mind for both the processor and the RAM, with only two DIMM slots for that reason. The CPU-Z screenshot and HWBot listing don't tell us exactly what memory was used (apart from DDR5), but it does shine light on the CPU's settings.
The overclocker employed an unusually high voltage of 1.688V, which wouldn't be practical in real-world usage. This makes sense since the HWBot page is categorized under single-core peak frequency and not sustained load. As such, liquid nitrogen was expectedly utilized to keep the chip cool, and that translated in the uncore frequency also hitting 2,399.2 MHz — something that actually would make a difference in day-to-day performance.
The previous record holder for the Ryzen 7 9800X3D was a Taiwanese overclocker named "Hicookie," who managed to reach 7,313 MHz using a Gigabyte X870 Aorus Tachyon Ice. The new world record, therefore, is just 22 MHz higher. That might seem like nothing in the grand scheme of things, but comes to world records, every little bit matters. Now it's just a matter of time before another overclocker takes over and the cycle repeats.
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