AMD Zen 5 X3D CPUs reportedly demonstrated running DDR5-9800, Ryzen 9950X3D2 and 9850X3D names reportedly confirmed ahead of CES 2026
For some time, it had been widely rumored that AMD was preparing new Zen 5 X3D gaming CPUs. Now, however, hardware insider Tom from the YouTube channel Moore’s Law Is Dead says the product names 9950X3D2 and 9850X3D have been confirmed through internal AMD documentation seen by his sources, rather than being inferred solely from rumor chains.
Tom also says that both CPUs will be officially announced at CES 2026. While he downplays the revelation as not a “bombshell,” it adds direct sourcing to earlier leaks.
The most meaningful new technical detail concerns memory behavior. Tom reports that AMD demonstrated Zen 5 X3D CPUs internally in late December running DDR5-9800 kits without issue. While AMD has not finalized or publicly stated official memory support numbers yet, his sources say AMD will list a higher official JEDEC memory standard than the current Ryzen 9 9950X3D (currently $469 on Amazon), which is only rated for DDR5-5600. The exact figure is undecided, but he expects it to land somewhere between DDR5-6400 and DDR5-7200. Crucially, he emphasizes that these X3D chips are expected to handle much faster memory than existing Zen 5 parts, even if not every retail CPU will reach DDR5-9800.
This is an entirely separate leak and should not be confused with a recent post from the X, formerly Twitter, account @9550pro, which shared a photo showing an AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D running 32 GB of DDR5-9600 memory.
Tom also provides new insight into why this is possible. According to him, these CPUs use a new CCD stepping, meaning this is not just a binning exercise of older silicon. On top of that, AMD is reportedly using hand-selected “golden sample” memory controllers, aided by improving yields across both Zen 5 and even late Zen 4 production. This combination allows AMD to ship X3D parts with consistently stronger memory controllers than standard SKUs.
On performance, the YouTuber avoids quoting exact benchmarks but says he’s been told to expect high single-digit performance gains in some workloads. He is careful to frame this as workload-dependent: not every game or application will see a clean 8–9% uplift, but some games and multi-threaded tasks likely will. The implication is that higher memory speeds, combined with improved silicon quality, translate into real but not revolutionary gains.
Beyond the CPUs themselves, Tom introduces new context about AMD’s broader CES 2026 strategy. He says AMD is expected to announce a “new OEM strategy,” which he interprets as a major push for Gorgon Point, positioned similarly to how Hawk Point followed Phoenix. While performance gains here are speculative, he suggests modest uplifts are likely, with the caveat that third-party benchmarks will matter more than AMD’s own slides.
Tom also says, and clearly labels this as his own speculation, that AMD may push Strix Halo more aggressively in the near future. He links this to stronger OEM interest compared to last year, improving sales feedback from companies such as HP and Asus, and the possibility that AMD pre-manufactured Strix Halo units with bundled RAM before supply shortages worsened. He supports this view by pointing to rumored future Strix Halo SKUs with higher core and compute unit counts, arguing that AMD would be unlikely to expand the lineup if the platform were underperforming.
The podcast also discusses RAM shortages, RTX 5090 supply leaks, a possible PS5 delay, and more, with the full video linked below.
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