With the introduction of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, AMD has once again strengthened its position in gaming against Intel. The latest Intel Core Ultra Arrow Lake processors fall short in comparison, failing to match even the standard Zen 5 CPU, let alone the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, which puts them in a less favorable light as gaming CPUs.
Performance and Efficiency
In our analysis, we found that the Ryzen 7 9800X3D not only outperforms the Ryzen 7 7800X3D but also does this without increasing energy consumption. This boost in gaming performance is paired with a reduced operating temperature and an increase of 200 MHz in boost frequency. Recently, Tony Yu from Asus China has managed to push the Ryzen 7 9800X3D beyond its usual clock speed limits using Liquid Nitrogen (LN2), yielding some remarkable results.
Record-Breaking Benchmarks
During Tony Yu’s testing, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D achieved a staggering boost clock of 6.9 GHz in Counter-Strike 2, which translated to an impressive frame rate of 1,200 FPS. In the Cinebench R23 Multi-Core benchmark, the overclocked Ryzen 7 9800X3D achieved a score of 30,513, representing a 31% improvement compared to our review sample.
It's important to note that these benchmarks were conducted under LN2 cooling conditions, which isn’t something many users will experience. Nevertheless, the CPU’s capabilities showcased here are awe-inspiring, especially considering how Ryzen X3D CPUs have historically lagged in clock speeds against their non-X3D versions.
A Shift in Trends
Since the debut of the first Ryzen processors featuring 3D V-Cache, starting with the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, X3D models have consistently had lower clock frequencies than their non-X3D alternatives. For example, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D experienced a 400 MHz and 200 MHz reduction in base and boost clocks when compared to the Ryzen 7 5800X. Similarly, the Ryzen 5 7600X3D had a 600 MHz disadvantage in both base and boost clocks against the Ryzen 5 7600X (Available on Amazon). Other CPUs in the Zen4X3D line, like the Ryzen 9 7900X3D, Ryzen 9 7950X3D, and Ryzen 7 7800X3D, follow the same pattern.
In contrast, the Zen 5 Ryzen 7 9800X3D breaks this pattern slightly, offering a base clock that is 900 MHz higher and a boost clock that is 200 MHz slower compared to the 8-core Ryzen 7 9700X. With the architectural advancements AMD has integrated into the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, we hope to see the clock speed gap narrow even further in the future.
Asus China/Tony Yu, VideoCardz, Teaser image: Sandro Katalina on Unsplash
