AMD quietly boosts its X3D lineup
AMD is giving its gaming focused X3D processors a small but meaningful refresh, and one of the standout chips in this update is the Ryzen 7 9850X3D. This new CPU is part of the Ryzen 9000 family and is aimed squarely at PC gamers and enthusiasts who care about strong performance without blowing up their power budget.
The Ryzen 7 9850X3D is essentially an upgraded version of the already popular Ryzen 7 9800X3D. Instead of a complete redesign, AMD has taken what worked and pushed it a bit further. The key change is higher boost clocks, which should translate into smoother frame rates and better overall responsiveness in games.
Most interesting for builders and upgraders is that this extra performance does not come with a higher power requirement. That means you can potentially get a quicker gaming experience without needing a new power supply or a bigger cooler.
What changes with the Ryzen 7 9850X3D
The headline upgrade with the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is its boost clock. Compared to the existing Ryzen 7 9800X3D, the new chip offers an extra 400 MHz on its maximum boost frequency. In everyday terms, that means individual cores can ramp up to a higher speed when needed, which is especially helpful in games that lean on a few strong threads.
While exact clock numbers can vary based on motherboard, cooling and BIOS versions, that 400 MHz bump is not minor. For many modern titles that are sensitive to single core and lightly threaded performance, this kind of increase can result in better minimum and average frame rates, especially at lower resolutions where the CPU is the main bottleneck.
What makes this refresh particularly attractive is that AMD has confirmed it does not require more power than the 9800X3D. So you get:
- Higher boost clocks
- The same power envelope
For PC builders this keeps things simple. If your system is already comfortable running a 9800X3D, it should be just as comfortable with a 9850X3D, barring any motherboard specific BIOS needs.
Why this matters for gamers and PC builders
The X3D branding refers to AMDs 3D V Cache technology, where extra cache is stacked vertically on top of the CPU cores. This large amount of L3 cache can give big gains in many games, reducing memory latency and feeding the GPU more consistently. That is why X3D chips like the older Ryzen 7 5800X3D and the more recent 7800X3D became favorites among gamers.
By raising boost clocks on an X3D chip while keeping power in check, AMD is trying to squeeze more performance out of an already gaming optimized design. For people planning a new build or an upgrade within the Ryzen 9000 ecosystem, the 9850X3D should sit as one of the better options for pure gaming performance, especially if you mostly play at 1080p or 1440p with a strong graphics card.
For many users, power and heat are just as important as raw speed. Higher power draw usually means louder fans, hotter cases and sometimes pricier power supplies. The confirmation that the 9850X3D achieves its higher boost without needing more power suggests a more efficient chip, using architecture and binning improvements to hit those extra megahertz.
In practical terms, this could mean:
- Similar temperatures to the 9800X3D with the same cooler
- No need to overspec your power supply beyond what you would already choose for a mid to high end gaming rig
If you already own a recent Ryzen X3D chip, this refresh may not be a must upgrade on its own. However, for anyone coming from older Ryzen generations or from non X3D models, the 9850X3D could be a very compelling target, combining the benefits of 3D V Cache with a healthy clock speed uplift.
Overall, AMDs refresh of its X3D lineup, and the Ryzen 7 9850X3D in particular, shows that the company is still focused on delivering strong gaming CPUs that balance performance and efficiency. As more details, benchmarks and pricing appear, gamers will have a clearer picture of how this chip stacks up in real world builds. For now, the combination of a 400 MHz higher boost clock and no extra power requirement makes the 9850X3D a promising option for the next wave of gaming PCs.
Original article and image: https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/upcoming-amd-ryzen-7-9850x3d-has-120w-tdp-leaked-shipping-manifest-states-zen-5-x3d-refresh-will-maintain-the-same-power-draw-as-9800x3d
