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AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D: the best gaming CPU at the moment

7/11/2024

AMD’s new gaming chip, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, is here. Initial reviews show that the new CPU could conquer the top spot in gaming. The device also scores points in other applications – at the expense of power consumption.

The Ryzen 7 7800X3D held the gaming crown for just over a year and a half. Now it has to hand it over to its Zen 5 successor. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D carries on the tradition of offering eight cores with additional cache, making it powerful in games. This time, the cache is located under the chiplet rather than on it.

Gaming: differences a matter of perspective

At Techpowerup, the 9800X3D comes up trumps in all games. There’s an 11% difference compared to the rest of the Zen 5 family, such as the Ryzen 7 9700X. At 3.4%, there’s less setting it apart from its predecessor. Intel’s current flagship, the Core Ultra 9 285K, is even 13% ahead of the Ryzen. However, you only detect these differences in 1080p. At higher resolutions, gaps are almost non-existent, as the graphics card handles most of the calculations.

IT news site Golem (site in German) also reports the CPU as always being ahead in gaming. Similarly, Tester Martin Böckmann noticed fewer dropped frames with the the Ryzen 7 9800X3D than all other CPUs. What’s more, the new processor can be overclocked. With memory tuning and overclocking, it achieves between 6 and 9% more performance.

In terms of its fps performance rating, the verdict from Computerbase (site in German) is even clearer. Reviewers detected a 14% lead over the Ryzen 7 7800X3D predecessor. This goes to show that it comes down to the games you play, just as the reviewers explain. There are titles where the increase in performance is almost non-existent and others where it’s 28%. The difference compared to Intel’s latest CPUs is particularly glaring, as these seemed to be in way over their head. Here, the disparity when tested was often between 30 and 40%. However, it’s worth pointing out that Computerbase conducts tests in 720p resolution, where there’s a greater difference between CPUs, as they take on more computing power.

Productivity: no more drawbacks

X3D processors always used to be inferior to their non-X3D counterparts in productivity applications. The 9800X3D puts an end to this. Golem (site in German) attests to the fact that the CPU offers good single-thread performance at the level of other Zen 5 processors. When all cores are loaded, the CPU is even ahead of the Ryzen 7 9700X. Computerbase (site in German) comes to the same conclusion. Even if the 9700X runs with a TDP of 105 W, the 9800X3D beats it in multi-core applications. This makes the 9800X3D AMD’s fastest eight-core in applications, with a 25% lead over its predecessor. In terms of single-core performance, however, the 9800X3D is narrowly beaten by non-X3D processors in the Zen 5 family. But compared to its predecessor, it’s still up 21%.

While [Techpowerup] has similar findings, it emphasises that productivity isn’t the hobbyhorse of the 9800X3D. For instance, the Intel Core Ultra 265K, which is 100 US dollars cheaper, is 13% faster.

Power consumption: the 9800X3D is hungrier than its predecessor

The advantage in applications comes at the expense of power consumption. Under full load, you’re looking at 142 W according to Computerbase (site in German). Its predecessor only required 82.4 W for the same task. Reviewers also measure higher power consumption in games than with the previous model. The 7800X3D requires an average of 61.3 W, while the 9800X3D needs 82.6 W. However, these are still excellent values compared to competitor Intel’s chips.

Techpowerup agrees, citing the fact that the 7800X3D clocks lower and runs at reduced voltage.

Price: expensive, but justified

Golem (site in German) points out that the recommended retail price (RRP) is 30 euros more than the previous model. However, when adjusted for inflation, this isn’t a real price increase. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D seems particularly expensive because the 7800X3D was sometimes sold well below its RRP.

Having said that, Techpowerup thinks AMD is asking for a lot of money for an eight-core processor, especially as the differences between them become marginal at higher resolutions. In other words, the only reason to opt for the 9800X3D is if you really want the best.

Computerbase (site in German) is of a similar mind. Apart from the minimal increase in power consumption, the only thing to criticise is its high price.

It’s worth weighing up whether you really want to spend as much money on a CPU or whether you’d rather save a few francs or euros and buy a faster GPU instead.

Availability in our shop

We don’t have any information on when these CPUs will be in stock. Market launch is 3pm on 7 November. At that point, we still won’t have any devices available, but as soon as we have more information I’ll post it here.