Back in June AMD announced their Ryzen 9000 Series CPUs with the 9950X, 9900X, 9700X, and 9600X. The Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X hit reviews and later stores in August. The Zen 5 based CPUs have been popular, but like with the 7000 Series there has been a large group waiting to see what Intel would have to offer and even more importantly to see AMD's introduction of their 3D V-Cache based offers and last week they finally lifted the cover on the new Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor. With the new 2^nd generation 3D V-Cache and the Zen 5 architecture, they teased that they were seeing an average of 8% gaming performance improvement compared to the previous generation and 20% average over the competition people have been excited. Well, today’s the day, the embargo’s lifted and we can finally dive into performance testing the new Ryzen 7 9800X3D to see if AMDs teasing was true so let’s not waste any more time and get to it!

Product Name: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

Review Sample Provided by: AMD

Written by: Wes Compton

Amazon Affiliate Link: HERE

What is the Ryzen 7 9800X3D

The biggest change for the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is AMD moving the 3D V-Cache from on top of the cores where they had it for the original 5800X3D and the 7800X3D and 7950X3D and this time around put it under the cores. The original design put the heat-sensitive V-Cache between the CPU cores and the heatspreader which insulated the CPU and prevented overclocking as well. This can be seen in the specifications for the 9800X3D which have it running a 5.2 Ghz max boost and a base block of 4.2 Ghz. That new base clock is half a Ghz higher than the 7800X3D. The 9800X3D has 8 cores and 16 threads just like the 7800X3D and like the Ryzen 7 9700X. In fact, beyond the clock speed improvements the Ryzen 7 9800X3D shares a lot of specs with the previous Ryzen 7 7800X3D including the same 120 Watt TDP and 162 Watt default socket power. They have the same EDC and TDC as well but the 9800X3D does have increased voltages now that the 3D VC-Cache is moved.

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The box for the Ryzen 7 9800X3D was similar to what I saw with the 9700X and 9600X with the CPu featured in the middle with a window and the square and triangle shapes around it. For the Ryzen 7 9800X3D however, they did go with a silver, not the darker grey I saw on the other CPUs, and in the left triangle, they have an orange badge highlighting the 3D V-Cache. Inside the box, you get the CPU in the standard tray along with a Ryzen 7 sticker and a certificate of authenticity which has information on the three-year warranty and the installation instructions. They have a black plastic tray also in the box that keeps the clear tray centered for the front window. There is also a paper advertising for the Red Team. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D itself has the same X-like heatspreader design that all of the AM5 CPUs have had. These look cool but they are a magnet for getting thermal paste in them, so be careful there. It's nothing new, but I do like that AMD etches the big AMD Ryzen branding on with a bold Ryzen 7 9800X3D model name as well. It’s easier to spot than what Intel does with their CPUs. It also has a QR code and of course, your serial number and manufacturer information are all on there as well.

In addition to the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, AMD sent over a full kit for testing so I did get pictures of everything. That included an Asus ROG Crosshair X870E Hero motherboard a 1TB Samsung 990 Pro SSD, and a pair of G-Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB memory. That memory kit runs at 6000 MT/s and is a 2x16GB kit. You can see the full testing setup in the next section, but spoilers I did pair it up with an RTX 4090 Founders Edition for our testing.

Test Rig and Procedures

Test System

Motherboard: ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Hero - Live Pricing

Cooling:  Enermax LIQMAXFLO 360mm Liquid CPU Cooler - Live Pricing

Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Paste - Live Pricing

Memory:   G.SKILL Trident Z5 Neo RGB Series (2x16GB) 6000MT/s CL28-36-36-96  - Live Pricing

Storage:   Samsung 990 Pro 1TB - Live Pricing

Video Card: Nvidia RTX 4090 FE - Live Pricing

Power Supply: Corsair AX1200 - Live Pricing

Case: Primochill Wetbench - Live Pricing

OS: Windows 11 Pro 64-bit - Live Pricing

CPU Performance

To start off our testing I went with the rendering-focused Blender benchmark, specifically the latest version, Blender Benchmark 4.2. To get a good look at the overall performance I have all three of the results stacked together and in this test, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D sits ahead of the Core Ultra 5 245K but below both the 14900K and Core Ultra 9 285K by a significant margin.

Continuing with the video encoding theme I also have Handbrake which is an open-source transcoder. For this test I am taking a 4k video down to 1080p 30 FPS, the results are the average FPS of that task. This is right with last generation’s Ryzen 9 7950X and 7950X3D with it averaging 147.5 FPS when encoding the test video. This was a big improvement from the 7800X3D though which averaged 108 in this same test. Intel is still way out in front here however with the 285K out in front and the last few flagships are all still ahead of the Ryzen CPUs tested. I should note however that we don’t currently have the Ryzen 9 9950X or 9900X to see where they would fit.

For the always popular Cinebench, I am testing with the older Cinebench R23 as well as the newer 2024 edition as well. I always like Cinebench because we have multi-core and single-core performance which gives us a good look at the performance of the whole CPU and IPC performance. In R32 the 9800X3D was right with the Intel 14600K and 13600K in the multi-core tests but did improve on the single-core performance compared to the 7950X and 7950X3D. In Cinebench 2024 that single-core performance was even better scoring 133 putting it on par with the 14900K. The multi-core result is still down with the 14600K and 13600K however.

Next up we have ray tracing-focused rendering benchmarks. Here I tested the CPUs in POV-Ray and V-Ray Benchmark 5. POV-Ray was also tested with a single core and across all of the cores. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D scored a 766.53 for the single core result in POV Ray, this wasn’t enough to catch up to the highest-end Intel CPUs but was a big step forward compared to the 7800X3D which scored 685.21. Its multi-score result was 7718, again just behind the 13600K and 14600K. In V-Ray Benchmark 5 the Ryzen 7 9800X3D was finally not running with the XX600K’s, this time it came in behind the Ryzen 9 7900 with its 18557. That was 4110 higher than the 7800X3D however.

I also tested using the CPUz’s built-in benchmark which does run on a single thread and with all threads. In the multi-thread test, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D scored an 819.1 for its single-threaded performance and 8630.6 for multi-threaded performance. That’s a 29% improvement over the 7800X3D in the multi-threaded test and 17.5% for single-threaded. The single-threaded result put the 9800X3D up ahead of the Core Ultra 5 245K but still behind the Ryzen 7 9700X. Multi-threaded however, had the 9800X3D up over the 9700X but still behind older Intel mid-range CPUs like the 13600K and 14600K.

Next, we have wPrime which is a classic overclocking benchmark that calculates pi out to 1024 million digits and is timed. This is a multi-thread heavy test which has the older high-core count CPUs still all over the top of the charts and you can see that with the top CPUs sitting at 8 or more cores. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D scored a 54.122 which was 8 seconds slower than the 285K but was 13 seconds faster than the 7800X3D.

7 Zip is another open-source program, this time for compressing and decompressing all of your files. Here I have run the benchmark and we have three results. The combined MIPS is a combination of compressing and decompressing performance. Then I have it broken down between the two. The combined results have the Ryzen 7 9800X3D with a score of 138441 MIPS and sitting behind the 16 core 7950X and an impressive 59% improvement over the 7800X3D. Both the decompressing and compressing results were simple with the decompressing numbers for the Ryzen 7 9800X3D sitting a little ahead of the compressing result for the 9800X3D.

Jetstream 2.1 is a compilation benchmark that takes a long list of HTML5 and Java in-browser tests and runs them all three times and puts together an overall score. I love this benchmark because let's be honest, most people are using their browser more than any other game or program. Jetstream gives some interesting results sometimes though but it tends to prefer high IPC or single-core performance and there are some situations where it prefers lower core-count CPUs. In this case, improved clock speeds of the 9800X3D helped it a lot, putting it in second behind the Ryzen 7 9700X.

As a new addition to our testing, I have added in a few AI-focused tests using Geekbench AI and Procyon’s Computer Vision Benchmark. The Geekbench AI test looks at single and half-precision performance with scores for each and a quantized score as well. They test using 10 different workloads to create their score. The Procyon AI Computer Vision Benchmark focuses on machine vision tests using neural network models like MobileNet V3, Inception V4, YOLO v3, DeepLab V3, Real-ESRGAN, and ResNet 50. I test those using the Windows ML setting and in cases that support it, I test built-in NPUs as well. I have also included Windows ML and TensorRT results using an RTX 4090 as well as a reference point where these CPUs compare to a high-end GPU. For Geekbench AI the Ryzen 7 9800X3D did well on the quantized score and the single precision score but struggled with the half precision score. For comparison I had the 285K as well as the 285K tested using its NPU as well and the 285K really stands out in the quantized score. In the Procyon test, I tested using a float32 model and the Ryzen 7 9800X3D came in below the 285K but ahead of the 245K. Of course, the 4090 still dwarfs the CPU results still. With the Integer and Float16 models the Ryzen 7 9800X3D struggled with the Float16 but did outperform the 285K when using Windows ML. Of course, using the built-in NPU the 285K and 245K both doubled the performance of the 9800X3D.

For Passmark Performance Test I used the latest version, Performance Test 11. I only look at the overall CPU score which takes a few different synthetic benchmarks and combines the results to put together an overall score. This is a test that does favor multi-threaded performance over IPC. In Performance Test 11 the Ryzen 7 9800X3D scored a 40043, putting it once again right with the 14600K.

Crossmark is from BAPCo which also makes SYSmark and this is a cross-platform test where you can compare performance between phones and both Windows and Mac computers. This is the start of our overall PC benchmarks and Crossmark uses a mix of real-world tests to output an overall score. The 9800X3D scored 2383 here and was just behind the i9-149900K for this test, More impressively though it was ahead of the 16 core 7950X3D and improved on the 7800X3D by 11%.

PCMark 10 is a great test because it tests things like video calls, browser performance, Excel, and Word performance to give an idea of real-world performance. It tends to like higher clock speeds but does take raw core count into account as well which you can see. Given how well the 9700X did in this test previously, it's not too big of a surprise that the 9800X3D is sitting just behind it and ahead of both the 14900K and 285K from Intel here. Its 10473 was an 11% improvement from the 7800X3D. In the PCMark Applications test the 9800X3D scored 17160, almost tied with the 14900K.

Moving the focus over towards gaming my next test is using Dolphin 5.0 Benchmark. Dolphin 5.0 is a Wii emulator and like most emulators, it doesn’t care about high core counts at all. In fact, it only runs two in total. Clock speeds are king here most of the time which is why all of the 5 GHz+ CPUs are at the top of the chart here. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D improved on the already good results we saw from both the 9700X and 9600X and topped our chart with 161-second completion of the test. This is 22% and 47 seconds faster than the 7800X3D.

Before diving into game testing I wanted to check out synthetic performance using 3DMark. I tested with the older DX11 Fire Strike test as well as the newer DX12 Time Spy. I also added the new 3DMark CPU Profile benchmark into the mix as well which does a good job of showing the full range of thread counts that you might see being used in games as well as a max threads option that does everything above 16 threads. In the Fire Strike test, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D scored 39525, a 20% improvement over the last generation 7800X3D. That wasn’t enough to put the Ryzen 7 9800X3D up near the top, however. Time Spy was similar, with a 20% improvement once again but this time the Ryzen 7 9800X3D was the top performing Ryzen CPU tested, of course without the 9900X and 9950X those would change that. But Intel still dominates here with the entire top of the chart being all Intel. Last up I ran the 3Dmark CPU profile and the results there were similar as well but with a 25% improvement over the 7800X3D this time around.

I did of course test the two new CPUs in games as well. I will dive into testing the integrated GPU in the next section. Here though they are paired up with a powerful GPU (the RTX 4090) and I compare CPU to CPU performance. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D, like the previous two generations of 3D V-Cache CPUs before it, is designed specifically to outperform in gaming. Did it do that here? Yes, yes it did. In all eight of the games tested it topped our charts. In fact, in all but one, it isn’t even close. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D dominates in gaming leaving the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and the 7950X3D and 7800X3D in the dust.

Onboard Video Performance

For most people, CPU performance is the most important aspect when picking out a processor. But some people do still run without a dedicated GPU so I still take a look at the performance of the integrated GPUs as well. With the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, this has to be the CPU with the lowest chances of its users running its integrated GPU given its gaming focus. To start things off I tested with 3Dmark. I ran tests using the older Fire Strik benchmark, the DX12-based Time Spy, the newer Speedway test, and the latest test Steel Nomad which for that last one I tested using the light version. In Fire Strike, the 9800X3D came in right above the 9700X and 9600X which was a hair below the previous generation of Ryzen CPUs and middle of the pack overall. Time Spy was similar with the 9800X3D sitting between the 7800X3D and 7950X3D. With the newer Speed Way test the two Intel 14^th gen CPUs failed the test and the 9800X3D was a few points ahead of the 9700X here as well. The Steel Nomad Light benchmark has the 9800X3D with the other 9000 Series Ryzen CPUs once again and highlights the iGPU performance difference with Intel’s new 200 Series CPUs. Last up in 3Dmark I also tested out AMDs FSR to see how it affects performance here. None of the base frame rates were good at all but you can see where you can double up in performance. For the 9800X3D, that wasn’t enough to make it worthwhile but it did work well with the iGPU-focused 8000G CPUs.

In Unigine Superposition I ran the 1080p medium detail and 720p low detail tests and the Ryzen 7 9800X3D came in a little behind both of the last generation X3D CPUs but in the middle of the pack overall with both the 720p and 1080p results.

With AI being an important metric these days I did slip in a look at the IA performance for the integrated GPU as well using Procyon’s AI Computer Vision Benchmark which tests using a few different neural network models including Yolo v3 which is one of the models we use with our own AI security camera filtering. The 9800X3D was tested against the new Intel Core Ultra CPUs and for those CPUs, I did also test using both the Windows ML test mode as well as OpenVINO which Intel is tuned for. The 9800X3D wasn’t in the same class here with the Windows ML results being well over twice as high for both of the Intel CPUs and even higher with the OpenVINO results.

Then from there on, I jumped into game tests. Some of our tests are older games but I did also add in a few newer games as well to get an idea of newer games when tested at 1080p and low or medium settings. My goal with these tests was to see if base-level gaming at low or medium settings was possible at all. While the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is a monster when it comes to gaming with a dedicated GPU, it fell just above the two other 9000 Series Ryzen CPUs when it comes to the integrated GPU being used in games. It is right on the edge of being playable. In the older games, like Tomb Raider,  it was able to handle things but overall you are still going to want to have a dedicated video card for any true gaming. I did slip in AMD FSR testing when running F1 22 and interestingly that was enough to edge the performance up into a playable range, going from 27 FPS up to 42 FPS. But in all of the iGPU testing it is clear that if this is your focus, AMDs 8000G Series is still the way to go.

Power Usage and Temperatures

For some people, performance is the only thing important, but for others, power usage and temperatures also play a role so we do take a look at both of those as well. This is especially important in SFF or even just smaller mid-sized builds and it affects the components you need to get for your system as well as your PSU and cooler. To take a look at power usage I ran three different tests. I noted the idle power draw of our entire system then I took a look at the load wattage of the system using two different workloads. One was wPrime and the second was AIDA64 using their FPU workload which is extremely demanding. At idle the testbench with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D the power draw leveled off at 96.3 watts. That was an improvement of 6.3 watts compared to the 7800X3D and 3 watts more than a similar system with the Ryzen 7 9700X and 9600X. When running wPrime, the system with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D pulled 208 watts, putting it 18 watts below the 14900K and an impressive 44 watts below the new Core Ultra 7 285K. It was however higher than the 7800X3D by 38 watts. With the more demanding Aida64 stress test running the FPU workload the Ryzen 7 9800X3D pulled 255 watts. This was 84 watts more than the 7800X3D but 50 watts lower than the 285K.

I’ve spoken in the past about how temperature testing isn’t an end-all-be-all-be-all result. CPU to CPU with the same CPU can be different and that gets even more complicated once you add in different motherboards and BIOS revisions as well. Not to mention different coolers. In this case, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D leveled off with the FPU workload at 81 degrees. That was 8 degrees higher than the 7800X3D but still significantly lower than what Intel has had for the last few generations with the 14900K at 95c and the 285K at 91c in the same test. I was also curious how the more realistic CPU workload on the Aida64 Stress Test would compare and in that test, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D leveled off at 55c. This is a lot closer to what you should expect when gaming, but the FPU workload is more in line if you are planning on running applications like rendering.

Overall and Final Verdict

With our testing all finished up, did the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D live up to all of the hype? In most ways, yeah it did. More specifically, when it comes to gaming performance it was dominant. Expanding on the already great performance that we saw with the previous generation of 3D V-Cache CPUs from AMD. Beyond gaming though, it also stood out in most of our real-world focused tests like Jetstream browser benchmark and PCMark. But the Ryzen 7 9800X3D did drop down farther in our charts in a lot of the other tests with a lot of those having it perform in the range of the 14600K. That was still a big improvement over the 7800X3D in those same tests, but remember that this is a CPU that you will get the most out of when your main use is gaming. If you will be spending a lot of time encoding, rendering, compressing files, or any of those types of applications there are better options.

Moving the 3D V-Cahce to under the CPU has opened up overclocking and allowed AMD to increase the clock speeds on the 9800X3D. But with that when compared with the previous generation 7800X3D this CPU does pull more power when under load and runs a little warmer as well. But both were still significantly better than what I saw from Intel’s new flagship, the Core Ultra 9 285K. AMD has their new gaming flagship prices with a suggested price of $479. For comparison the 5800X3D and the 7800X3D launched at $449 so the price has gone up. But the Core Ultra 9 285K has a suggested price of $589 making the Ryzen 7 9800X3D look like a value even with the price increase. Overall, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is exciting for gamers and there is no question that this will be the go-to CPU for people looking for the best possible gaming experience.

Live Pricing: HERE

Author Bio

Author: garfi3ldWebsite: http://lanoc.org

Editor-in-chief

You might call him obsessed or just a hardcore geek. Wes's obsession with gaming hardware and gadgets isn't anything new, he could be found taking things apart even as a child. When not poking around in PC's he can be found playing League of Legends, Awesomenauts, or Civilization 5 or watching a wide variety of TV shows and Movies. A car guy at heart, the same things that draw him into tweaking cars apply when building good looking fast computers. If you are interested in writing for Wes here at LanOC you can reach out to him directly using our contact form.