AMD has been busy working on ways to get more from its AM5 platform for gamers, and CES 2026 is proving to be the launchpad for its new world's fastest gaming CPU, replacing the already brilliant Ryzen 7 9800X3D. Meet the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D, and as the SKU implies, this is a slightly uprated 9800X3D with some beefier specs to better handle more demanding games. As well as the new gaming chip, AMD rolled out an entire stack of AI-focused CPUs.

AMD is the home of PC gaming

We've long attested that AMD's AM5 platform is the best choice for PC gamers, and this has only been further cemented with the launch of the Ryzen 7 9850X3D. While the 9800X3D and this new 9850X3D aren't necessarily the most potent X3D processors — that title goes to the 9950X3D — they are the best gaming-focused chips. So, what's new with the 7850X3D? AMD bumped up the boost clock speed.

It's still an 8-core CPU with 104 MB of L2 and L3 cache and a TDP of 120 W. For context, the 9800X3D had a maximum boost speed of only 5.2 GHz, so we're looking at an almost 10% uplift. The 9900X3D has a boost of 5.5 GHz, making this quite the choice for gamers and rounds out the stack with a new option that should offer better value for those who want a little more from the existing 9800X3D.

Interestingly, AMD compared the 9850X3D against the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K instead of providing charts against its existing Ryzen 9000 series X3D CPU stack. This all-new CPU represents an average increase of 27% in performance across a range of PC games, including Battlefield 6, Cyberpunk 2077, and F1 25. The largest gains for the 9850X3D were witnessed in Baldur's Gate 3 with a whopping 160% boost over Intel.

We're excited to get our hands on this new CPU to put it through its paces and see how it compares against other noteworthy AMD offerings, namely the previous-gen 7000 series X3D range for upgrades, as well as the 9950X3D, to see how the focus on gaming was maintained with the maximum boost speed increase.

AI is the future (at least for now)

It wouldn't be a CES 2026 without every brand mentioning AI, and AMD was no different. The AMD Ryzen AI 400 series of processors, designed for mobile applications, combine the performance of CPU, GPU, and NPU into a single package for laptops and other portable devices. This new family of chips boasts 60 TOPs, though it wasn't clear precisely what was measured.

The flagship chip is the Ryzen AI 9 HX 475, which offers 12 cores and 24 threads for smashing through heavier workloads. Then there's the 5.2 GHz boost speed and 16 GPU compute units (CUs). This chip is pretty good at running through video and should be able to play a few games too. RAM is also lightning fast at up to 8533 MT/s.

The new AI chips will be available starting in Q1 2026. But AMD wasn't finished there. The company previously created an entirely new PC category of its own, using Ryzen AI Max+ processors. These chips offer workstation-level creation capabilities for video editing, 3D modelling, and more, impressive integrated graphics performance, and up to a whopping 128 GB of unified RAM.

For CES 2026, AMD decided to bolster its AI offerings with two new Ryzen AI Max+ processors, the 392 and 388. Here's how they look in the existing family of chips:

You can be sure these new chips will be found inside more compact systems, offering excellent performance for gaming, work, and everything in between. It's good to see AMD maintain high CU counts for the Ryzen AI Max+ 392 and 388, offering higher TFLOPs with the GPU. Couple all this with what we're seeing with Redstone, and 2026 is looking positive for AMD already.