AMD: Ryzen 9800X3D beats Core Ultra 9 285K by up to 59%
After several leaks, AMD has confirmed that its new CPU with stacked cache should even beat Intel's 285K. It also has a novelty in the package.
Render video from AMD: The cache die is located under the compute die.
(Image: AMD, Screenshot und Bearbeitung: heise online)
AMD originally planned to unveil the expected gaming champion Ryzen 9800XD on November 7, 2024, but now the time has come earlier. AMD's head of the Computing and Graphics Group, Jack Huynh, announced the processor in the form of a post on X and a YouTube video. The full specifications had already been made public two days earlier.
Huynh only confirmed part of what was reported by Videocardz and others. According to the AMD manager, the base clock of the 9800X3D should be "500 MHz higher than that of its predecessor". That would be 4.7 GHz versus the 4.2 GHz of the 7800X3D, which is in line with the leaks. Huynh did not mention the 5.2 GHz for the maximum boost clock mentioned there, nor the unchanged size of 64 MByte for the additional 3D V-Cache. There was also no information on the power consumption (TDP), which is said to be 120 watts, which the Ryzen can probably exceed as before with boost and even more so overclocking.
Cache die under the CCD
Jack Huynh also did not explicitly describe what can be seen in the announcement video: It appears that the cache die is now located under the compute die (CCD) and not on top of it as before. This could ensure better heat dissipation because the entire surface of the CCD is in contact with the heatspreader and the V-cache no longer sits on top of the CCD like a lid through which the heat has to flow. Previously, the YouTube channel High Yield had already noticed changes to the through-silicon vias (TSV) between the two dies compared to the 7800X3D. The analyses were possible because both the Ryzen 9000 and the CPUs with X3D use the same compute die. The very high-resolution photos were taken by the well-known chip analyst Fritzchens Fritz.
Videos by heise
Presumably because of these structural changes, AMD now also offers overclocking functions for the X3D Ryzens, which was previously not the case. Jack Huynh did not specify the exact limits and features. However, the multiplier for the clock should be open in any case, as the previous leaks revealed. This is one of the basic functions for more performance. And it remains to be seen whether AMD will adapt its "Ryzen Master" tool for automatic overclocking to the new Ryzens at market launch.
Faster than 7800X3D and Intel's 285K
If you pit the 9800X3D with a Geforce RTX 4090 and presumably low resolutions – AMD does not mention this in the credits of its YouTube video – against the competition, it is once again probably the fastest gaming CPU, just like its predecessor. According to the manufacturer, the 9800X3D and 7800X3D only achieve an average of 8 percent more frames per second, but a good 25 percent more in some titles such as Far Cry 6.
(Image:Â AMD)
The comparison of Intel's latest flagship Core Ultra 9 285K (Arrow Lake) is particularly bitter for Intel. Here, the new Zen 5 processor is 20 percent faster on average, with Cyberpunk 2077 even 59 percent faster. However, this can be reversed for applications other than games if they are well divided into threads. The new X3D has 8 cores and 16 threads, the 285K has 24 cores and no more hyperthreading. Intel's best desktop CPU currently costs from 650 euros; according to unconfirmed information, the 9800X3D will be available in a week's time for around 520 euros. AMD will then present the processor in full and also state the price. Other X3D Zen 5s with 12 and 16 cores are to follow.
(nie)
