It’s hard to believe that the Ryzen 7 9800X3D came out back in November of 2024. Well over a year later, AMD announced at this year's CES that they were adding another CPU to their 9000 Series lineup, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D. Their new 9850X3D takes the original 9800X3D’s core configuration, and it bumps performance up with a 400 MHz increase in clock speed. AMD’s X3D CPUs have already been impressive with their gaming performance. I’m excited to see what the refresh will look like. We also get to revisit what performance from a 2nd Generation 3D V-Cache CPU looks like now that drivers have had even more time to mature. So let’s dive in and see what AMD's new CPU looks like in our test suite!
Product Name: AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D
Review Sample Provided by: AMD
Written by: Wes Compton
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AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D
Before getting into testing, I did want to touch on what the Ryzen 7 9850X3D has to offer, especially if maybe you weren’t paying attention when the 9800X3D launched. Both CPUs have 8 cores and 16 threads and are based on Zen 5 architecture. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D has improved the max boost clock speed up to 5.6 GHz from 5.2 GHz. The base clock of 4.7 GHz is still the same however, it will be interesting to see the situations where the extra headroom helps and the times that it doesn’t because of that. Beyond that, they have the same specs with the same 120-watt TDP, 162 Watt socket power, and so on. This isn’t a big revolutionary change, it is just a refresh that offers new buyers an option to have a little more performance. If you already had a 9800X3D, obviously this wouldn’t be for you. With that in mind, while I am interested in seeing how the two CPUs compare. The real data will be how the Ryzen 7 9850X3D compares to older CPUs that you might upgrade from and Intel’s offerings as well.
If you haven’t had one of AMD's 3D V-Cache CPUs, then you have been missing out. The 9850X3D and the previous 9000 Series X3D models all have their latest 2nd Generation of 3D V-Cachew which has moved the cache down under the cores, where previously it was on top. With that, it allows the CPU cores more direct cooling, which was a big issue with previous generations of X3D CPUs, and with that, you also have the ability to overclock.
AMD has been very reliable when it comes to their motherboard socket lifetimes. They stick with the same socket long enough to allow for an upgrade path later on and with the AM5 socket, that is no different. It has CPU support up until at least 2027 and does work with coolers designed for older sockets if they use AMD's clip mounting. That said, it doesn’t mean we won’t see new AM5 motherboards, refreshes of AM5 boards were also announced at CES this year.
Here is a full listing of the current AMD 9000 Series of processors, and you will notice that the Ryzen 7 9850X3D doesn’t replace the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, it just slots in just ahead of it. Both will still be available.
Now, when sending over the Ryzen 7 9850X3D, AMD did send along with it a few components in their review kit to try to have test setups be the same. For clarity, I’ve included those below. That includes an MSI X870E Carbon Wifi motherboard, Samsung 9100 Pro 1TB SSD, and G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB 6000 MHz DDR5. None of those is a departure from what we would test with anyhow.
The Ryzen 7 9850X3D did come in the retail packaging, so we did get a look at that as well. Because it doesn’t come with an air cooler, the packaging is relatively compact and has the Ryzen color scheme with black, silver, and orange being used. The front has a big orange arrow pointing at the CPU showing through the window in the middle and highlighting the 3D V-Cache technology. Down along the bottom, it has the AMD Ryzen branding and shows that this is a Ryzen 7 CPU. Inside the CPU comes in the normal clear plastic clamshell along with an installation/warranty booklet and a paper with a QR code that takes you to AMD’s website.
If you haven’t seen one of AMD's recent CPUs, the X-like shape of the heatspreader on the Ryzen 7 9850X3D will surprise you. As always, I love that AMD etches their AMD Ryzen branding large on top of the heatspreader, and below that is the Ryzen 7 9850X3D model name. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D, like with all of their other AM5 CPUs, doesn’t have pins on the bottom like we used to see in the past, moving the pins to the motherboard.
