AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D Review

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D launched successful November 2024 and has remained the champion gaming processor ever since. So, erstwhile AMD softly announced the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D, a somewhat faster mentation of the 9800X3D astatine CES 2026, it seemed similar a no-brainer. After all, this caller spot takes the palmy gaming spot and lifts the max turbo velocity by 400MHz, what could spell wrong?

Well, it turns retired that it’s specified a tiny overclock that it hardly impacts performance, and adjacent leads to slightly worse multi-core show implicit the archetypal 9800X3D. I’ve spent astir of the week investigating this processor asking myself wherefore AMD felt the request to adjacent merchandise the Ryzen 7 9850X3D. The lone reply I tin deliberation of is that it costs somewhat much and radical are going to bargain it conscionable to person a higher fig successful CPU-Z.

Specs and Features

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is practically the aforesaid processor arsenic the 9800X3D, lone with a somewhat higher boost clock. You inactive get 8 Zen 5 cores, 16 threads and 96MB of L3 Cache, lone present it boosts up to 5.6GHz alternatively of 5.2GHz. That’s a decent boost, but the existent magic of the Ryzen 9850X3D is the aforesaid magic that makes the 9800X3D large – the 3D-stacked V-Cache.

Cache is fundamentally representation that’s built into your processor, and it’s a batch faster than strategy memory, oregon RAM. Essentially, the much of it is there, the much businesslike your CPU is successful workloads that request accelerated entree to information – similar gaming. What makes AMD’s X3D processors, similar the 9850X3D, peculiar is that alternatively of having it connected the aforesaid carnal furniture of the spot arsenic the CPU cores, it’s printed connected its ain layer.

Not lone does this let the Ryzen 7 9850X3D to person much cache than different processors, but it besides cuts down connected the latency. Because by having the cache located close supra the CPU cores, the information simply has little carnal region to travel. This is wherefore the 9850X3D is simply a large gaming processor, due to the fact that it tin load much crippled information astatine immoderate fixed time, which leads to amended performance, particularly erstwhile paired with a almighty graphics card.

There’s lone 1 problem, though. The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D already exists with the aforesaid nonstop cache configuration and halfway layout. So unless you’re playing a crippled that solely relies connected single-core show – which is becoming uncommon – you don’t truly summation thing by shelling retired an other $30 for the Ryzen 7 9850X3D.

Of course, determination is the higher boost clock, but it’s important to support successful caput that the processor volition lone ever deed those speeds successful lightly threaded workloads. In thing that uses galore cores astatine the aforesaid time, the timepiece speeds volition adjacent retired to a overmuch little bounds successful bid to power temperatures and powerfulness consumption.

Throughout my testing, I recovered that the Ryzen 7 9850X3D reaches the aforesaid highest powerfulness of 161W arsenic the 9800X3D. That does mean that temperatures enactment nether control, lone peaking astatine 85°C, but it besides means that erstwhile each the cores are being used, determination isn’t overmuch that the processor tin bash to get other show implicit the 9800X3D.

It is important to support successful mind, though, that due to the fact that the 9850X3D comes retired of the container with a higher timepiece speed, portion keeping the aforesaid powerfulness depletion and temperatures arsenic the archetypal chip, it apt means it has much headroom for overclocking. That’s not thing I trial present astatine IGN, but if that’s thing you’re into, this mightiness beryllium the spot to grab.

Performance

Because the Ryzen 7 9850X3D and 9800X3D are truthful similar, I was expecting the show quality betwixt the 2 chips to beryllium small, but I was inactive amazed by however small that 400MHz boost timepiece summation matters. Throughout astir of my trial suite, the 2 processors were extremely close, trading blows depending connected however heavy threaded the workload is.

The astir disappointing bit, though, is that contempt the higher asking price, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D turns retired to beryllium a small slower than the 9800X3D successful multi-threaded workloads similar Cinebench and Blender. It’s not a immense gap, to beryllium sure, but it’s a spread that, if anything, should beryllium the different mode around.

Specifically, successful the Cinebench R23 multi-core test, the 9850X3D gets 22,404 points, compared to 23,195 points from the Ryzen 9800X3D. That’s astir a 3% pb for the somewhat cheaper processor. This is flipped, however, successful the single-core test, wherever the 9850X3D outperforms the 9800X3D with a people of 2208 to 2082. That’s wherever that single-core boost summation shows itself.

Likewise, successful the 3DMark CPU Profile test, the 9850X3D gets a multi-core people of 10186, compared to 10274 from the 9800X3D. That’s different tiny spread successful favour of the 9800X3D. But, again, conscionable similar Cinebench, the 9850X3D pulls up somewhat successful the single-core test, with 1265 points to the 9800X3D’s 1210.

Blender repeats the multi-core show pattern. In the Monster workload, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is capable to negociate 153 samples per second, compared to 157 from the 9800X3D. That’s a quality truthful tiny that it’s wrong the borderline of error, to beryllium fair, but it inactive leans successful the incorrect absorption for a CPU that AMD is charging much for.

In Adobe, the 9850X3D beats the 9800X3D successful Premiere, getting 13773 points successful the Puget benchmark, compared to 13025. However, that’s reversed successful Photoshop, with the older 9800X3D getting 12929 points, compared to 12167 points from the 9850X3D.

When it comes to real-world gaming, the 9850X3D disappoints again. In Cyberpunk 2077, astatine 1080p, with the Ultra preset, with nary ray tracing oregon upscaling, the 9850X3D gets 229 fps, compared to 231 from the 9800X3D. Again, that’s wrong the borderline of mistake but leaning successful the incorrect direction.

Total War: Warhammer 3 is nary different. In this CPU-heavy game, the 9850X3D squeezes 261 fps retired of the RTX 4090, compared to 265 fps with the 9800X3D. Another triumph for the cheaper chip.

I’ve been racking my encephalon trying to marque consciousness of this performance. I re-ran the tests crossed the 9800X3D and 9850X3D aggregate times, and each clip got the aforesaid results. There are apt games retired determination wherever the 9850X3D does propulsion up of the 9800X3D, peculiarly successful older single-threaded games. But successful the games I’ve tested here, the 9850X3D consistently fell abbreviated – nevertheless tiny that spread mightiness be.

Even according to AMD’s claims, which you should instrumentality with a atom of salt, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is lone expected to boost show by arsenic overmuch arsenic 6% successful some esports games. And, past we’re astir apt talking astir the quality betwixt 300 fps and 318 fps successful thing similar Counter-Strike 2. I don’t deliberation that’s worthy the other $30.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor astatine IGN and the PC components queen. You tin travel her @Jackiecobra