AMD confirms prices and launch date for Ryzen 9950X3D and 9900X3D
The new processors with stack cache are due to be launched on March 12, 2025. They will cost the same as their predecessors.
Render video from AMD: The cache die is located under the compute die of the X3D Ryzens.
(Image: AMD, Screenshot und Bearbeitung: heise online)
Rumors to the same effect have been circulating for weeks, and now AMD has confirmed these previously unofficial details: Two new CPU models will be released in the Ryzen 9 series on March 12, 2025, the 9900X3D with 12 cores and the 9950X3 with 16 cores. The recommended retail prices excluding US taxes are 599 and 699 dollars. This means that, on paper at least, the new processors cost the same as their 7000 series predecessors at launch.
AMD's head of the Computing and Graphics Group, Jack Huynh, confirmed the date and price in a post on X. The chip manufacturer had already announced the two processors at CES in January, but had previously only mentioned the first quarter of 2025 as the availability period. The current clarification came just one day after the convincing Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT graphics cards went on sale. AMD obviously wants to capitalize on the enthusiasm of gamers – if they have received one of the still scarce cards – now for the processors.
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Still only a die with stack cache
As with these, it is to be feared that the two new Ryzens could also be very poorly available at the beginning. This will certainly be the case if many users upgrade to the 12 and 16 cores, for whom the 8 cores of the already available 9800X3D were not sufficient. With these and the 64 MByte additional L3 cache , the 9800X3D is the fastest processor for PC games, but is sometimes inferior to processors with more cores in terms of application performance. As with the 7000 generation, the stack cache is only located on one compute die, which means that the 9900X3D has eight cores with additional memory and four without, while the 9950X3D has eight each with and without X3D memory.
For months, the previous 9800X3D was only available at greatly inflated prices; at times, the predecessor 7800X3D was also pricier than at its market launch because it was more readily available. However, as can be seen from an earlier report, this has improved considerably in recent weeks. The 9000 series Ryzens run in existing AM5 mainboards, provided their BIOS supports them, which should be the case for almost all of them thanks to updates.
(nie)
