Smashing its way straight to the top spot as the best CPU for gaming, AMD's latest release, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, is released and in the wild, and if you want the best processor for pure gaming in your PC, then I'm sure you've already got your eyes on this beast of a CPU. We also recently got comment from AMD on the supply situation.
Using AMD's 3D V-cache technology, the 9800X3D is built for pure gaming prowess. The large cache boosts performance, and along with some design changes to the CPU, including moving the cache chiplet underneath the die to alleviate the thermal insulation of previous designs, the compute die is now closer to the thermal interface material (IHS) and with the increased thermal headroom comes 500 MHz higher base clocks and 200 MHz higher boosts than the previous-gen Zen 4-powered Ryzen 7 7800X3D.
The Ryzen 7 9800X3D comes with eight-cores and 16-threads and has a 120W TDP, the MSRP for this new CPU is $479/£449 and is officially released but in very short supply. In our in-depth review of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, the processor trounced the competition, beating Intel’s current-generation flagship Core 9 285K CPU by an astonishing 35% on average in our test suite.
Update: We reached out to AMD to see when the Ryzen 7 9800X3D will come into stock, and the company tells us the chips will be coming into retailers at a regular cadence, so you should check frequently to see if they are currently in stock. Here's the company's official statement:
"AMD is thrilled at the excitement and interest in our new Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor. We are working diligently to get as much supply to market as soon as possible, with more processors being shipped every week. We expect availability to get better as shipments ramp throughout the quarter." — AMD representative
Where to buy AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D in the US
The Ryzen 7 9800X3D has a release MSRP of $479, a small increase over the release price of the previous 7800X3D. Currently, the 9800X3D may not be available at all retailers, but we will monitor and update the tables below over the next few days as the processor becomes more readily available.
Update: The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is sporadically in and out of stock at US online retailers. Be careful and check thoroughly if it is listed by a third-party seller, as I've encountered a couple of scammers charging ridiculous prices for fake products.
Last checked 12/05/2024.
Where to buy AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D in the UK
For our readers in the UK, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is stocked by the following retailers.
Update: The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is no longer in stock at any UK retailers currently. The starting MSRP price has also risen from £449 to £499 so far to capitalize on the demand. Last checked 12/05/2024.
Gaming Performance Benchmark Chart
From our benchmarking chart, you can see the Ryzen 7 9800X3D's average performance over our 13-game test suite on high/ultra setting at 1080p, compared to previous-generation AMD CPUs and the competition from Intel. The results showed a marked improvement over other available processors.
