To 9800x3D or not to 9800x3D

[jormungand]

RTX 5080 is expected to be announced next month or at CES in January.
Regardless of what you do with the CPU, I would definitely not buy an RTX 4080 right now.

a couple of my friends are pulling the trigger on the rtx 4080 super cuz they are afraid of the 25% tariff returning and prices going up, i cant lie that really worries me too.
One of the reasons why i thought on this upgrade, cpu or gpu or both

 

[wolf]

Glad you're enjoying it, the improvement is great and better spent on the latest high end CPU than a gen of video card about to be EOL. And of course similar situations giving the kiddo a much better rig to boot. Feels like it has given the 3080 longer legs and more performance (in effect) which is great.

BTW can i ask you how are your temps? does it goes high up to -70c+ when gaming, loading shaders and stuff and then comes down really fast for normal gameplay to 40c -50c??
You can see my temps, highest peak was when it loaded the game, actual gameplay stays really cool

So I'd say similar behaviour yes, but I'm using a Scythe Fuma 2 and PTM7950, where if your specs are right you're on a 360AIO, so my temps are on average higher with the same behaviour.

I've gone further in tweaking too, motherboard PBO limits, -30 all core curve optimiser, +200 offset, seems to hold right on 5425mhz the majority of the time now, dipping to high 5300's at worst.

 

[jormungand]

Glad you're enjoying it, the improvement is great and better spent on the latest high end GPU than a gen of video card about to be EOL. And of course similar situations giving the kiddo a much better rig to boot. Feels like it has given the 3080 longer legs and more performance (in effect) which is great.

So I'd say similar behaviour yes, but I'm using a Scythe Fuma 2 and PTM7950, where if your specs are right you're on a 360AIO, so my temps are on average higher with the same behaviour.

I've gone further in tweaking too, motherboard PBO limits, -30 all core curve optimiser, +200 offset, seems to hold right on 5425mhz the majority of the time now, dipping to high 5300's at worst.

thanks a lot for the info, ill be trying to tweak mine in a near future. Im an Air cooler fan , this is my first aio in my life. The 5800x3d has the Noctua U12A chromax.
and that was why i was more interested on your temps since i saw your cooler in your specs. Thanks again.

 

[wolf]

thanks a lot for the info, ill be trying to tweak mine in a near future. Im an Air cooler fan , this is my first aio in my life. The 5800x3d has the Noctua U12A chromax.
and that was why i was more interested on your temps since i saw your cooler in your specs. Thanks again.

If the temps themselves interest you, with the current config (curve optimiser and offset as described), general gaming is about 55-65c, 70c ish in quite a CPU heavy game that pulls a constant 80-100w (like Spiderman Miles Morales so far). All core workloads are about 75c. Before dropping the voltage offset temps were easily 10c+ higher, and seemed to peak most with fast single threaded activity as that pushed the voltage the highest.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

thats how i feel at this moment, the smoothness in gaming is noticeable, playing Ghost of Tsushima highest settings native no upscaling/ dlss atm and frames are btw 60s to high 80s but is definitely like no stuttering, dipss or anything alike. Awesome gameplay experience
Gpu usage is 99%-100%. i made my mind and going to keep it, my 3080 is not holding me down yet and paired with this cpu i think is the best balance ive felt in a long time.
Going to try tomorrow Dragons Dogma 2 that from what i read is not so good optimized and heavy on the cpu.
Literally im preparing myself for Monster Hunter Wilds and the 1000hrs+ ahead im going to put into that game

...and like @oxrufiioxo said is a win-win for me and my son.
I can keep saving money for the gpu and see what Amd and Nvidia have to offer on the new series.
Myself i didnt want to pay top price for a rtx 4080 super, dont get me wrong is a wonderful card but imo is eol and still at msrp from launch.
I was looking at the Rx7900Xt running so low as $620 today and is an amazing gpu too, close to the 4080 super raw performance but neither convinced me.

BTW can i ask you how are your temps? does it goes high up to -70c+ when gaming, loading shaders and stuff and then comes down really fast for normal gameplay to 40c -50c??
You can see my temps, highest peak was when it loaded the game, actual gameplay stays really cool

View attachment 373170

Given that the 9800X3D is brand new and the 4080 super is 2 years old level performance the cpu was the wiser investment as it will likely last you much longer. 3080 is still super solid with a few tweaks and DLSS. You may be able to grab a 5070ti and come out on top gpu wise both in price and performance just hoping the specs don't tell the whole story and the new arch is just straight up better even though it uses a similar node.

The 5080 sounds like it will be joining the 5090 as being pushed as more a professional card which is unfortunate . With the only real competitor pushing out a 4070ti level gpu from the sound of it I can't really blame them.

 

[Ruru]

IMO no sense getting a 40 series card anymore, especially a new one. I have the original 10GB model of your card and I have a 4K120 monitor, still pushes pixels fast enough as every game doesn't need to be maxed out.

 

[wolf]

I have the original 10GB model of your card and I have a 4K120 monitor, still pushes pixels fast enough as every game doesn't need to be maxed out.

same card and res and honestly I'm blown away how well it's performing for a 4+ year old card now, it's like the harder you push it the better it does. The 9800X3D has added some serious pixie dust to that too, I'm trying to convince my mate on a 9700K and 3080 to upgrade too, it'd be night and day for him.

 

[Speedyblupi]

a couple of my friends are pulling the trigger on the rtx 4080 super cuz they are afraid of the 25% tariff returning and prices going up, i cant lie that really worries me too.
One of the reasons why i thought on this upgrade, cpu or gpu or both

Tariffs are a legitimate concern, but I don't think RTX 5080s will be affected much, at least around launch.
Nvidia (like most American companies) are expecting tariffs, so are importing products well in advance to ensure they have as much stock as possible in the USA before the tariffs come into force. It will take a while for the Republicans to work out the admin of the tariffs and agree on them after the start of Trump's term on the 20th of January. If the RTX 5080 is announced at Nvidia's CES keynote on the 6th of January, there's still a significant gap where Nvidia and AIBs will be shipping cards to the USA before the tariffs even come into force, even if Trump somehow rushes through a bill to introduce tariffs immediately after he takes office (which is extremely unlikely).

If I lived in the USA, I definitely wouldn't be waiting for the RTX 5070 and lower though. Those are expected to be launched later in 2025, so probably will be significantly affected by tariffs. Later restocks of the RTX 5080 are also likely to be affected by tariffs, so it might actually be worth buying early or preordering, even though this normally isn't worthwhile in other launches.

I live in the UK, and I'm expecting that stock of the RTX 5080 won't be good at launch here because AIBs will prioritise shipping to the USA before the tariffs come in, but that we'll get more supply once the tariffs start, because after that point it will be more profitable for AIBs to ship to us than to America.

I guess no-one really knows exactly how it's going to go. You could definitely argue that buying an RTX 4080 now might be the safer option (if everyone has the same idea to buy an RTX 5080 quickly after their launch before the tariffs come into force, it might be hard to find them in stock at MSRP), though I disagree with it for the reasons explained above.

 

[phanbuey]

Do it!

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D launching end of January, 3D V-Cache only on one CCD - VideoCardz.com

 

[jormungand]

Tariffs are a legitimate concern, but I don't think RTX 5080s will be affected much, at least around launch.
Nvidia (like most American companies) are expecting tariffs, so are importing products well in advance to ensure they have as much stock as possible in the USA before the tariffs come into force. It will take a while for the Republicans to work out the admin of the tariffs and agree on them after the start of Trump's term on the 20th of January. If the RTX 5080 is announced at Nvidia's CES keynote on the 6th of January, there's still a significant gap where Nvidia and AIBs will be shipping cards to the USA before the tariffs even come into force, even if Trump somehow rushes through a bill to introduce tariffs immediately after he takes office (which is extremely unlikely).

If I lived in the USA, I definitely wouldn't be waiting for the RTX 5070 and lower though. Those are expected to be launched later in 2025, so probably will be significantly affected by tariffs. Later restocks of the RTX 5080 are also likely to be affected by tariffs, so it might actually be worth buying early or preordering, even though these normally aren't worthwhile in other launches.

I live in the UK, and I'm expecting that stock of the RTX 5080 won't be good at launch here because AIBs will prioritise shipping to the USA before the tariffs come in, but that we'll get more supply once the tariffs start, because after that point it will be more profitable for AIBs to ship to us than to America.

I guess no-one really knows exactly how it's going to go. You could definitely argue that buying an RTX 4080 now might be the safer option (if everyone has the same idea to buy an RTX 5080 quickly after their launch before the tariffs come into force, it might be hard to find them in stock at MSRP), though I disagree with it for the reasons explained above.

I hope so, i remember Steve from GN talking about that regarding the 9800x3d stock, trying to import as much as possible and catch up with demand.
if it hits US before expected and i cant afford a gpu at those stupid prices, i always have long list of games that i havent played that doesnt need a 5080
sometimes we just need to focus on the fun.
When the crypto crisis i remember having the 7700k + gtx 1070 there was no option, prices where unreachable and unreasonable, we just prayed that our gpu didnt die on us.
Sometimes we got the money to afford new parts and we miss the point of gaming, im completely guilty of that.
My doubts cleared yesterday when i was playing Ghost of Tsushima late night, smooth gameplay and i started to think : " ...damn my rtx 3080 really is working perfect paired with this cpu"

will it be safer to buy a rtx 4080 now? Yes
Do i need it now? NO
$1k atm Hell No!!!!

 

[evernessince]

a couple of my friends are pulling the trigger on the rtx 4080 super cuz they are afraid of the 25% tariff returning and prices going up, i cant lie that really worries me too.
One of the reasons why i thought on this upgrade, cpu or gpu or both

Well here's the rub, those tariffs never stopped: https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/tariffs/

In fact the current administration expanded them in some regards.

Any cost increase from those tariffs is already baked into the price of PC parts. It should also be noted that a portion of cost increases was due to businesses relocating out of China for various reasons during the pandemic. Typically due to a combination of reasons such as raising labor costs in China, extreme lockdown measures that hurt business, and I'm sure in some measure the tariffs. A lot of businesses that relocated some or most of their operations out of China don't have to pay those tariffs and reap the benefit of cheaper labor all the while still being able to charge post tariff prices. It was definitely a short term pain, long term gain move for them. Comparatively, Chinese labor is not cheap anymore as opposed to other developing manufacturing hubs.

The real question now becomes, will further tariffs be only on Chinese goods or will they target all foreign imports more broadly. If the former is true, I see the impact of additional tariffs on computer parts being smaller due to the fact that companies have already diversified their operations. Companies that took steps to diversify could have a very significant price advantage over their competitors and this is particularly important give the America consumer's ability to absorb further price increases is rather limited. I don't see massive price hikes as being feasible, you can already see there's already significant pushback against that.

If it's the later, as in tariffs on all non-us goods, then you probably have bigger issues to worry about. One of the economic factors that laid the groundwork for the great depression and ensuing worldwide depression was Herbert Hoover signing tariffs into law and the resulting response from trade-partners. Tariffs that economists told him would be bad for the economy. By applying a broad tariff against all non-US goods, that forces companies into paying the higher costs and thus consumers, potentially pushing them past the breaking point. We've already seen US consumers push back significantly against raising prices and that is typically an indicator that the market cannot bear higher costs.

FYI a 25% tariff would not have a 25% impact on pricing. Just as an example, the 50% tariff on washing machines resulted in a 12.5% increase in price. Why? Only a portion of that product is made in China. Same applies to GPUs. I'd be more worried about everyday commodaties that have a single producer, medicine, ect. Things you can't avoid buying that are produced in China. Those will go up in price and will squeeze people's wallets really hard.

In regards to your original question, personally I'd keep the 9800X3D. As other's have pointed out, the 4080 is on it's way out. Even if tariffs increase the price of GPUs in the worst way possible, you'll still likely end up paying the same amount post tariff / 5000 series launch simply because last gen GPUs are going to be cheaper. Best case, the tariffs don't happen or don't impact GPUs and the 5080 and 5090 provide more perf per dollar. The latter of which is actually likely. The 4090 provided 32% more perf per dollar than the 3090. I don't see tariffs outpacing that. Completely economic collapse sure but not tariffs alone.

 

[Speedyblupi]

FYI a 25% tariff would not have a 25% impact on pricing. Just as an example, the 50% tariff on washing machines resulted in a 12.5% increase in price. Why? Only a portion of that product is made in China. Same applies to GPUs. I'd be more worried about everyday commodaties that have a single producer, medicine, ect. Things you can't avoid buying that are produced in China. Those will go up in price and will squeeze people's wallets really hard.

Graphics cards are a bit of a different situation though, because those washing machines were assembled in the USA or other countries that weren't subject to tariffs, while most graphics cards are assembled in Taiwan or China and (afaik) there aren't any major AIB partners with factories in the USA.

Trump supposedly wants a 60% tariff on Chinese goods and 20% on goods from elsewhere (which would presumably include Taiwan). Most manufacturing is done in mainland China, but the manufacturing capacity in Taiwan is likely to be prioritised for export to the USA in order to minimise the volume of shipped cards that is subject to the higher tariff. Some graphics cards assembled in China using components from other countries might also be considered as "not sufficiently transformed/processed" to require the 60% tariff, and there will probably be other methods of tariff avoidance (e.g. partial assembly in China, and completion in Mexico). So there wouldn't be an effective 60% tax on all graphics cards, but there would still be a 20% tariff on most graphics cards, unless exemptions are made.

If there is a 20%+ tariff on all/most graphics cards, it might still be in the interests of manufacturers to increase their prices by less than 20%, in order to induce demand and make more net profit overall despite lower margins, but a lot of AIB partners already have minimal profit margins so there might not be much scope to do this.

 

[ShrimpBrime]

Do it!
View attachment 373181

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D launching end of January, 3D V-Cache only on one CCD - VideoCardz.com

This 100%. Just DO IT!! Haha. No reason to question this purchase. No competition.

 

[evernessince]

Graphics cards are a bit of a different situation though, because those washing machines were assembled in the USA or other countries that weren't subject to tariffs, while most graphics cards are assembled in Taiwan or China and (afaik) there aren't any major AIB partners with factories in the USA.

Trump supposedly wants a 60% tariff on Chinese goods and 20% on goods from elsewhere (which would presumably include Taiwan). Most manufacturing is done in mainland China, but the manufacturing capacity in Taiwan is likely to be prioritised for export to the USA in order to minimise the volume of shipped cards that is subject to the higher tariff. Some graphics cards assembled in China using components from other countries might also be considered as "not sufficiently transformed/processed" to require the 60% tariff, and there will probably be other methods of tariff avoidance (e.g. partial assembly in China, and completion in Mexico). So there wouldn't be an effective 60% tax on all graphics cards, but there would still be a 20% tariff on most graphics cards, unless exemptions are made.

If there is a 20%+ tariff on all/most graphics cards, it might still be in the interests of manufacturers to increase their prices by less than 20%, in order to induce demand and make more net profit overall despite lower margins, but a lot of AIB partners already have minimal profit margins so there might not be much scope to do this.

Most washing machines are not assembled in the US. All the biggest washer brands in the US are Korean made. Samsung has been the leading appliance brand (including washer, dryers, stoves, ect) for the last 4 years.

Most graphics cards are not produced in China. TSMC hasn't built flagship fabs outside of Taiwan yet and AIBs are mostly located in Taiwan. Tariffs mostly impacted other PC parts. I cannot remember if there was any cost increase in GPUs associated with tariffs but if there was it would be due to secondary cost increases. There was a pandemic going on at the time so it's hard to associate costs.

Mind you it doesn't really matter either way, the parts for washing machines were / are just as subject to tariffs so at the end of the day the manufacturers and by extension consumers have to pay those costs either way.

Tariffs wouldn't mean much if you could just get around them by importing the parts.

As far as I'm aware there isn't any significant amount of GPUs being imported from Mexico and I don't see why they'd start given last night's revelation that they'd be tariff'd. Just stick to Taiwan, Malysia, ect. I've not heard anything about a universal tariff so those countries should still be good.

 

[Speedyblupi]

Most washing machines are not assembled in the US. All the biggest washer brands in the US are Korean made. Samsung has been the leading appliance brand (including washer, dryers, stoves, ect) for the last 4 years.

Yeah, I know. But I said "In the US or other countries that weren't subject to tariffs", the point is that it's outside of China.

Most graphics cards are not produced in China. TSMC hasn't built flagship fabs outside of Taiwan yet and AIBs are mostly located in Taiwan.

Even though the "big 4" AIBs are all Taiwanese, most of their larger factories are located in mainland/CCP China, and graphics cards manufactured in those factories would be subject to the 60% tariff. Some of their factories and assembly plants are on Taiwan, but most of them aren't, because labour and logistics costs are usually lower on the mainland. For example, Gigabyte's main factory is on Taiwan, but their 2 secondary factories are on the mainland, and none of MSI's major manufacturing facilities is on Taiwan. The cards that can be assembled in Taiwan would be prioritised for the US in order to avoid the 60% tariff, but that probably wouldn't be enough to meet US demand on its own.

As far as I'm aware there isn't any significant amount of GPUs being imported from Mexico and I don't see why they'd start given last night's revelation that they'd be tariff'd

At the moment, yeah.
But Mexico is becoming a fairly popular location for tariff avoidance for some other products. It's exploiting a loophole which could easily be closed, so graphics card AIBs might not take the risk of trying it. The idea is that all of the important manufacturing steps are done in China, then the product is shipped to Mexico where the last step is completed (even if it's something ridiculously simple like screwing 2 parts together), a "made in Mexico" sticker is slapped on it, and they hope that American regulators don't pay too much attention. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/25/mad...versy-stoking-another-kind-of-border-war.html
If Trump's threat of a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico comes true, then doing this will be less appealing, but a 25% tariff is still a lot less than 60% so it could potentially still be worth it, if AIBs can get away with it.
I'm just speculating that AIBs might try this, not saying it's likely or that it would necessarily be a good idea. It's possible that there are other loopholes which could be exploited, or that AIBs will try to "play fair" in order to avoid annoying the US gov't even if it costs them in the short/medium-term.