AMD is jumping ahead of Intel’s pending Arrow Lake launch by making a rather vague announcement that its next-gen Ryzen 9000X3D processor will launch on November 7. AMD also announced that it is trimming the recommended customer pricing (RCP) for its standard Ryzen 9000 series via a holiday promo starting yesterday, October 20. The promo cuts $50 off the price of its flagship Ryzen 9 9950X and $30 off the 9900X, Ryzen 7 9700X, and Ryzen 5 9600X.Â
The current-gen Ryzen 7000X3D processors are the unquestioned fastest gaming CPUs on the market. It doesn’t look like Intel’s Arrow Lake, which launches this week, will change that — in fact, Intel’s new lineup appears to offer little in the way of gaming performance improvements, if any at all, over the company’s prior-gen lineup. That leaves the door wide open for AMD to continue dominating the gaming market with its X3D chips.Â
AMD isn’t divulging how many new Ryzen 9000X3D models are coming to market or what they will cost, but it does use the singular ‘processor’ in the announcement. Additionally, recent sightings of the Ryzen 9 7900X3D, which should take over the mantle of the best CPU for gaming from the existing Ryzen 7 7800X3D, point to its possible release soon.Â
We’ve also already seen the Ryzen 7 9800X3D listed for sale at several retailers for around $500 (early listings are typically inaccurate but do indicate pending launch). Combined with the fact that the existing Ryzen 7 7800X3D is now out of stock at every US retailer, there is little doubt that this model is on the cusp of release. AMD had three X3D models with the last generation of chips, and two pricier Ryzen 9 models with higher core counts were also available. Although it doesn’t appear that the other two next-gen models will be in the first wave of the X3D launch, it is possible that they could also be listed in the coming days.Â
| CPU | Street (MSRP) | Arch | Cores / Threads (P+E) | P-Core Base / Boost Clock (GHz) | E-Core Base / Boost Clock (GHz) | Cache (L2/L3) | TDP / PBP or MTP | Memory |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryzen 9 9950X | $599 ($599) | Zen 5 | 16 / 32 | 4.3 / 5.7 | — | 80MB (16+64) | 170W / 230W | DDR5-5600 |
| Core Ultra 9 285K | $589 | Arrow Lake | 24 / 24 (8+16) | 3.7 / 5.7 | 3.2 / 4.6 | 76MB (40+36) | 125W / 250W | DDR5-6400 |
| Ryzen 9 9900X | $429 ($469) | Zen 5 | 12 / 24 | 4.4 / 5.6 | — | 76MB (12+64) | 120W / 162W | DDR5-5600 |
| Core Ultra 7 265K / KF | $394 / $379 (N/A) | Arrow Lake | 20 / 20 (8+12 | 3.9 / 5.5 | 3.3 / 4.6 | 66MB (36+30) | 125W / 250W | DDR5-6400 |
| Ryzen 7 9700X | $326 ($329) | Zen 5 | 8 / 16 | 3.8 / 5.5 | — | 40MB (8+32) | 65W / 88W | DDR5-5600 |
| Core Ultra 5 245K / KF | $309 / $294 (N/A) | Arrow Lake | 14 / 14 (6+8) | 4.2 / 5.2 | 3.6 / 4.6 | 50MB (26+24) | 125W / 250W | DDR5-6400 |
| Ryzen 5 9600X | $279 ($249) | Zen 5 | 6 / 12 | 3.9 / 5.4 | — | 38MB (6+32) | 65W / 88W | DDR5-5600 |
| Core i9-14900K / KF | ($445 K) / ($417 KF) | Raptor Lake Refresh | 24 / 32 (8+16) | 3.2 / 6.0 | <2.4 / 4.4 | 68MB (32+36) | 125W / 253W | DDR4-3200 / DDR5-5600 |
| Core i7-14700K / KF | ($354 K) / ($327 KF) | Raptor Lake Refresh | 20 / 28 (8+12) | 3.4 / 5.6 | 2.5 / 4.3 | 61MB (28+33) | 125W / 253W | DDR4-3200 / DDR5-5600 |
| Core i5-14600K / KF | ($256 K) / ($204 KF) | Raptor Lake Refresh | 14 / 20 (6+8) | 3.5 / 5.3 | 2.6 / 4.0 | 44MB (20+24) | 125W / 181W | DDR4-3200 / DDR5-5600 |
| Ryzen 9 7950X3D | $599 ($699) | Zen 4 X3D | 16 / 32 | 4.2 / 5.7 | — | 144MB (16+128) | 120W / 162W | DDR5-5200 |
| Ryzen 9 7900X3D | $599 ($599) | Zen 4 X3D | 12 / 24 | 4.4 / 5.6 | — | 140MB (12+128) | 120W / 162W | DDR5-5200 |
| Ryzen 7 7800X3D | $449 ($449) | Zen 4 X3D | 8 / 16 | 4.2 / 5.0 | — | 104MB (8+96) | 120W / 162W | DDR5-5200 |
AMD’s standard Ryzen 9000 series has had a tepid launch, largely due to small gen-on-gen gains in gaming performance that often make the heavily discounted prior-generation Ryzen 7000 series the better value.Â
To help rectify that in the face of Intel’s pending Arrow Lake launch, AMD has announced that it reduced its recommended customer pricing (RCP) by $50 for its flagship Ryzen 9 9950X, and $30 for the Ryzen 9 9900X, Ryzen 7 9700X, and Ryzen 5 9600X.
However, AMD’s recommended pricing often has little to no correlation to retail pricing. For instance, the Ryzen 9 9900X has been available for $439 for over a month, but now AMD has adjusted its pricing to $469, which is $30 higher than street pricing. Meanwhile, the Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 7 7700X are already selling at the reduced pricing level, but perhaps that will come down further. Or perhaps the market may have already adjusted pricing on some of these models.Â
The Ryzen 5 7600X sees the biggest win. This chip currently retails for $279, right at the RCP, but the new RCP lands at $249.Â
We’ll see how pricing pans out in the market over the coming days to see if all of AMD’s Ryzen 9000 will see further discounts. In the meantime, we’re working on reviews of Intel’s latest chips to see how they stack up. Stay tuned.Â