AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D tipped to offer single-digit performance gain over Ryzen 7 7800X3D in gaming

AMD has confirmed the Ryzen 7 9800X3D will hit shelves in early November. Interestingly, it has kept its price a secret, but rumours have its MSRP pegged between $500 and $550. Specs-wise, it is fundamentally a Ryzen 7 7800X3D, complete with 8 Zen 5 CPU cores, 96 MB L3 cache and 120 Watts TDP. You do, however, get a higher base clock of 4.7 GHz (vs 4.2 GHz). Those looking for similar leaps in performance will be sorely disappointed.

Videocardz has stumbled upon some AMD marketing material, which states the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is about 8% faster than its predecessor in gaming. In multi-threaded workloads, that figure can go up to 15%, AMD claims. Lastly, you can pair your CPU with up to DDR5-8000 RAM. Previous-gen B/X/A series motherboards will require a BIOS update to run a Ryzen 7 9800X3D.

First-party claims are usually exaggerated and must be treated with skepticism. While the 8% uplift figure might hold true in some titles, others might not fare so well. Nevertheless, it is still a lackluster figure, likely in part due to its 5.2 GHz boost clock. It is clear AMD is marketing the Ryzen 7 9800X3D for Ryzen 7 5800X3D owners. Ryzen 7 7800X3D owners, on the other hand, might have to look at the yet-to-be-announced Ryzen 9 9900X3D or Ryzen 9 9950X3D for a double-digit performance boost.