AMD launched the Ryzen 7 9800X3D today, the first Ryzen 9000 series X3D CPU with the company's 3D V-Cache technology. After a somewhat vague teaser, AMD has finally confirmed details on this latest gaming CPU and how it's set to take the fight to Intel after a lackluster Arrow Lake launch. The new AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D brings together the company's Zen 5 architecture and 2nd-gen 3D V-Cache to create something truly special for PC gamers. This 120W TDP CPU has 104 MB of cache to work with, making it one of the best gaming processors, although we'll have to confirm this with our internal testing.

How the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is perfect for gaming

PC games don't need 32 threads, nor do they require more than 12 cores. Most games won't use more than a couple at best, rendering the remaining CPU cores useless. It's all about clock speeds, cache, and the underlying architecture that make the difference for a great gaming CPU. That's precisely what AMD's X3D range of chips offers with beefy caches, though they've suffered with lower clock speeds in the past, resulting in sub-par performance outside of games. That's all set to change with the 9800X3D. Its boost speed may not match the 9700X, but it's only 300Hz behind.

There are 8 physical cores with 16 threads available. The same AMD Radeon Graphics are included and the TDP is set to 120W, compared to just 65W for the Ryzen 7 9700X.

AMD notes how the company migrated the 64MB of cache memory below the processor, putting the core complex die (CCD) closer to the cooler. This move alone leads to higher clock speeds (as evident compared to previous generation chips) and provides additional headroom in games. There's also more scope for overclocking, which should come in handy should you wish to draw more computing power out of the CPU for other tasks. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is also the first X3D processor to be fully unlocked for tinkering.

In the announcement, AMD reports an average FPS uplift of 8% with many games, including Star Wars Outlaws seeing double-digit gains. Interestingly, AMD also touched on minimum frame rate improvements in titles such as The Last of Us: Part 1, which saw the CPU come in with a 31% higher 1% low frame rate score compared to the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D. The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D was no slouch, earning itself one of our recommended awards for its impressive gaming performance, so we're fairly excited about this chip following on from the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K.

The worst part for Intel is the 20% gaming performance improvement claim from AMD vs. the new Core Ultra 9 285K. No word on availability just yet, but the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D will cost $479. Stay tuned for our review!