ASRock, the global leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, mini PCs, and gaming monitors, announced today that its AM5 series motherboards are fully compatible with the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor, maximizing its impressive gaming performance. This allows PC enthusiasts worldwide to be among the first to experience the exceptional capabilities brought by the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor. The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the first model released in the 9000X3D processor series. ASRock AM5 motherboards will continue to receive updates to ensure seamless compatibility with upcoming Ryzen 9000 Series X3D processors, delivering outstanding performance for gaming enthusiasts.

Users can download and install the latest AGESA 1.2.0.2a BIOS from the ASRock website or use the BIOS Flashback and Instant Flash features for an easy upgrade. ASRock recommends updating to the latest BIOS version promptly to ensure optimal system compatibility and performance.

The upcoming AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor is already in the hands of hardware modders, who have put the chip through de-lidding (removal of the integrated heatspreader or IHS), revealing what's underneath. In the 9800X3D de-lidded picture, the CCD appears plain, with no apparent L3D on top, unlike on the 7800X3D (second picture, below). We'd been hearing reports that with the 9000X3D series, AMD has redesigned the way the 3D V-cache die (L3D) and the CPU complex die (CCD) are stacked together, by inverting their arrangement, such that the CCD is on top, and the L3D below.

In past generations of X3D processors, such as the 7800X3D and the 5800X3D, the L3D is stacked on top of the CCD, with structural silicon handling the crucial task of transferring heat from the CPU cores to the IHS. This inversion in stacking should ensure better thermals for the CPU cores, the 9800X3D boosting behavior should be similar to that of non-X3D chips, such as the 9700X. AMD has given the 9800X3D a 120 W TDP and 5.20 GHz boost frequency. This inversion of the CCD and L3D stacking is probably what is behind the "X3D Reimagined" teaser blurb by AMD.

Much of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D teaser material from AMD had the recurring buzzwords "X3D Reimagined," causing us to speculate what it could be. 9550pro, a reliable source with hardware leaks, says that AMD has redesigned the way the CPU complex die (CCD) and 3D V-cache die (L3D) are stacked together. In past generations of X3D processors, such as the 5800X3D "Vermeer-X" and the 7800X3D "Raphael-X," the L3D is stacked on top of the CCD. It would stack above the central region of the CCD that has the on-die 32 MB L3 cache, while blocks of structural silicon would be placed on top of the edges of the CCD that have the CPU cores, with these structural silicon blocks performing the crucial task of transferring heat from the CPU cores to the IHS above. This is about to change.

If the leaks are right, AMD has inverted the CCD-L3D stack with the 9000X3D series such that the "Zen 5" CCD is now on top, the L3D is below it, under the central region of the CCD. The CPU cores now dissipate heat to the IHS as they do on regular 9000 series processors without the 3D V-cache technology. The way we imagine they achieved this is by enlarging the L3D to align with the size of the CCD, and serve as a kind of "base tile." The L3D would have to be peppered with TSVs that connect the CCD to the fiberglass substrate below. We know where AMD is going with this in the future. Right now, the L3D "base tile" contains the 64 MB 3D V-cache that gets appended to the 32 MB on-die L3 cache, but in the future (probably with "Zen 6"), AMD could design the CCDs with TSVs even for the per-core L2 caches.

MSI OCLab made some groundbreaking disclosures about the gaming performance of upcoming AMD Ryzen 9000X3D processors. It looks like AMD is set to dominate the Intel Core Ultra 2-series "Arrow Lake-S" desktop processors in gaming performance, if these numbers hold up. In the games that MSI tested, namely "Far Cry 6," "Shadow of the Tomb Raider," and "Black Myth: Wukong," the "8-core 9000X3D" processor, or the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, is found to be 11% faster on average than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. The "16-core 9000X3D" processor, which is expected to be the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, is an impressive 13% faster than its predecessor, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D.

Normally we'd expect bigger gen-on-gen gains for the 8-core part than the 16-core part, but the 16-core 9000X3D pulling ahead by that much over its predecessor hints at the possibility of AMD either giving it significantly higher clock speeds, or the rumor about AMD deploying both 3D V-cache on both its CCDs could be true after all. The 9950X3D could end up roughly on-par with the 9800X3D if this turns out to be true, given that the gaming performance delta between the 7800X3D and 7950X3D is roughly that much—2-3 percentage points. Intel earlier this week officially announced the Core Ultra 2-series desktop processors. As part of the announcement, the company put out some first-party gaming performance numbers, which put the top Core Ultra 9 285K either on-par with the Core i9-14900K, or faster by 2-3%, which means it should land behind even the 7950X3D in gaming performance, and AMD is set to dominate Intel in gaming performance with the 9000X3D series.

A new rumor circulating via VideoCardz reveals alleged Cinebench R23 rendering scores for the upcoming AMD Ryzen 9 9800X3D CPU series. The lineup supposedly includes 8-core, 12-core, and 16-core models, all featuring Zen5 architecture and 3D V-Cache technology. The leak consists of Cinebench R23 benchmark scores, however, there are no screenshots, so it should be treated with caution as it comes from CodeCommando, a relatively new source with only one verified leak to his name—the Ryzen 9000 slides that emerged shortly before AMD's official announcement.

Comparing the results posted from CodeCommando with TechPowerUp review data of the previous generation, the picture presents itself in a promising way for the upcoming AMD CPUs. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D is around 10% faster in single-core and 17% faster in multi-core compared with Ryzen 9 7950X3D, while Ryzen 7 9800X3D seems to be 20% faster in single-core and 28% faster in multi-core than Ryzen 7 7800X3D. These initial benchmark results show notable performance gains for the 8-core SKU, with both X3D models demonstrating higher multi-core scores than their non-X3D counterparts. While the 9800X3D shows slightly lower single-core performance than the 8-core 9700X, it exceeds the 9700X in multi-core tests. This multi-core advantage likely comes from a higher TDP, though specific power specifications haven't been revealed yet.

Earlier this week, we got rumors that AMD is rushing in the Ryzen 7 9800X3D 8-core/16-thread "Zen 5" processor with 3D V-cache for a late-October debut. The 9800X3D succeeds the popular 7800X3D, and AMD probably hopes it will have a competitive gaming processor in time for Intel's Core Ultra 2-series "Arrow Lake-S" launch. In the previous article, it was reported that the higher core-count 9000X3D series processor models, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D, would arrive some time in Q1 2025, because it was reported that the chips have certain "new features" compared to their predecessors, the 7950X3D and 7900X3D. At the time, we even explored the possibility of AMD giving both 8-core CCDs on the processor 3D V-cache. Turns out, this is where things are headed.

A new report by Benchlife.info claims that the higher core-count 9950X3D and 9900X3D will implement 3D V-cache on both CCD chiplets, giving these processors an impressive 192 MB of L3 cache (96 MB per CCD), and 208 MB or 204 MB of "total cache" (L2+L3). The report also says that AMD is planning a Ryzen 5 9600X3D chip, its second attempt at taking on Intel's Core i5 lineup, following its very recent release of the Ryzen 5 7600X3D, which ended up 1-3% short of the Core i5-14600K in gaming workloads. There's no word on whether the 9600X3D will launch in October alongside the 9800X3D, or in Q1-2025 with the Ryzen 9 9000X3D series.

Facing poor sales of its Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" desktop processors, and with the spectre of Intel's Core Ultra "Arrow Lake-S" looming, AMD is rumored to have given its desktop processor roadmap a shakedown. The company is working to rush in at least one of the three upcoming Ryzen 9000X3D series processor SKUs. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is a successor to the popular Ryzen 7 7800X3D. It pairs the new "Zen 5" microarchitecture with 3D V-cache technology to boost gaming performance. AMD is allegedly rushing the 9800X3D for a late-October launch. If this chip meets its performance targets (of around 15-20% over the 9700X), then AMD hopes it could take the edge off Intel's Core Ultra 200-series.

Launch of a Ryzen 9000X3D series product-stack became inevitable when AMD confirmed that the "Zen 5" CCD has silicon-level preparation for 3D V-cache (such as TSVs over the region with the on-die L3 cache that interface with the stacked L3D silicon), however, it was expected that the non-X3D Ryzen 9000 series, such as the 9700X, would perform close to the 7800X3D in games, giving AMD room to launch the 9800X3D in Q1-2025. Prior to the 7800X3D and Intel's 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake," the Ryzen 7 7700X nearly matched the gaming performance of the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, and so something similar was expected of the 9700X. Of course things didn't go to plan, the 9700X fell significantly short of the 7800X3D in gaming, resulting in mixed reviews and low sales.

AMD's upcoming Ryzen 9000X3D series of processors with 3D V-Cache have been reportedly scheduled to arrive in January 2025 and should make a debut at the CES event, a few months later than initially expected. While disappointing for eager enthusiasts, the delay could signify that AMD is taking extra precautions to ensure a smooth launch and deliver a product that meets the high-performance standards set by its previous 3D V-Cache offerings. Delaying the new product launch could also be a strategic move by AMD to avoid potential supply chain issues or to align the launch with other product announcements.

We previously reported that the series will maintain the same cache size configurations as the last generation with 3D V-Cache, and it will just be an upgrade to up the performance of the new Zen 5 design. The launch of the 9000X3D series follows a smaller six-month gap from the regular Ryzen 9000 series, where the previous Ryzen 7000X3D and 5000X3D followed seven and seventeen months after the launch of their regular SKUs, respectively.