AMD's Ryzen 7 9850X3D promises the fastest gaming performance yet, with higher clocks and a small price bump. But does it deliver real gains, or is it just more hype?
AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D Review: For the FPS Chasers
- Thread starter Steve
- Start date
For those waiting for this small performance boost and bragging rights a 4% price bump is nothing.
…400% RAM and 200% SDD price bumps are more painful.
…400% RAM and 200% SDD price bumps are more painful.
Thatsdisgusting
Posts: 534 +616
Oh yeah I forgot GPUs. I hadn't noticed a motherboards increase.
Melkor Unlimited
Posts: 398 +370
They forgot to upgrade their prices.
Actual prices vs. numbers from my invoice for my last build (in € without VAT)
218 € / 251 € = 87% ..... Gigabyte X870 Aorus Elite Wifi 7
73 € / 70 € = 104% ... Arctic Freezer III 420 Black
158 € / 142 € = 105% ... Fractal Design Define 7
330 € / 310 € = 106% ... Ryzen 7 7800 X3D
572 € / 464 € = 123% ... Sapphire RX 9070 Pulse
171 € / 137 € = 124% ... PSU ATX12V 3.1 1000W Platinum+
368 € / 256 € = 143% ... Samsung 990 Pro 4TB
203 € / 104 € = 195% ... WD Black SN770 2TB
885 € / 181 € = 489% ... G.Skill 2x32GB DDR5-6000 CL30
PS: Its not good time to build now
PPS: Not going for 9850X3D
For my use case this would be a complete waste of money. I don't chase FPS at 1080p and when you improve the graphics to get an average of 100 fps or so the CPUs all seem to bunch back together. I'd be more interested in the 65w 9700x.
But I realize I can't speak for everyone, and there are certainly scenarios where it would make sense. Just not for me.
But I realize I can't speak for everyone, and there are certainly scenarios where it would make sense. Just not for me.
My August (+November extras) build then and now:
9800X3D - $479 - $469
RTX 5080 - $929 - $1499
96GB DDR5 - $265 - $1139
2TB SN850X - $150 - $409
4TB SN850X - $259 - $890 (from prior build)
4TB SN850X - $329 - $890 (Nov)
14TB WD Elements - $169 - $329 (Nov)
Meshify 3 - $155 - $155
X870 Tomahawk - $299 - $259
Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 280 - $79 - $105
Corsair RM850x - $144 - $149
That's $3,036 more!!!
218 € / 251 € = -13% ... Gigabyte X870 Aorus Elite Wifi 7
73 € / 70 € = 4% ... Arctic Freezer III 420 Black
158 € / 142 € = 11% ... Fractal Design Define 7
330 € / 310 € = 6% ... Ryzen 7 7800 X3D
572 € / 464 € = 23% ... Sapphire RX 9070 Pulse
171 € / 137 € = 25% ... PSU ATX12V 3.1 1000W Platinum+
368 € / 256 € = 44% ... Samsung 990 Pro 4TB
203 € / 104 € = 95% ... WD Black SN770 2TB
885 € / 181 € = 389% ... G.Skill 2x32GB DDR5-6000 CL30
5% frame increase at 1080p at the cost of a 35% increase in power usage. That by all accounts would be a no go overclock for a daily usage PC. I got my 9800x3d for $399 and it's going to sit in the closet for a year thanks to DDR prices and I would not trade it straight up for a 9850x3d. I also have a 4k monitor so difference would be 0.5% in frame rate based on other reviews. AMD is just not interested in consumers until AI demand is fulfilled.
Whao, it's Steve from Hardware Unboxed... No wonder the review was so thorough! Nice work Steve
Melkor Unlimited
Posts: 398 +370
No need for it.
Its the same or slower than 9800x3D in gaming.
Its the same or slower than 9950X in productivity.
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Performance as expected, decent choice if price is only slightly higher than 9800X3D but if you need to pay 100+ dollars/euro, probably not worth it.
9800X3D with PBO/OC performs almost identical.
You might gain 1-2% in the end on 9850X3D with PBO/OC on.
Zen 6 is probably delayed, which is why AMD bothers with these refreshes. AMD have time tho, till Nova Lake in Q4. They don't need Zen 6 before Nova Lake but Zen 6 X3D will need to come shortly after to counter Nova Lake bLLC chips (lets see if these will be delayed tho)
Because single CCD is most often superior for gaming. No scheduling needed, no core parking, no inter CCD latency.
Even 9800X3D beats 9950X3D by 5% or more in CPU limited gaming scenarios. Minimum fps can be much higher on the 9800X3D.
You only buy 9950X3D if you need the CPU power outside of gaming and 9950X3D Dual 3D cache version probably won't change much as the latency is the biggest problem for dual CCD chips when it comes to gaming. We will see.
CPUs like 9850X3D, 9800X3D and 7800X3D are plug and play, literally, you don't need to think, just play games with the best performance possible; 8 p-cores on a single CCD, no windows scheduling issues, no latency / cross talk and pretty much no games need more than 8 cores anyway, so it is a nobrainer for many.
9800X3D with PBO/OC performs almost identical.
You might gain 1-2% in the end on 9850X3D with PBO/OC on.
Zen 6 is probably delayed, which is why AMD bothers with these refreshes. AMD have time tho, till Nova Lake in Q4. They don't need Zen 6 before Nova Lake but Zen 6 X3D will need to come shortly after to counter Nova Lake bLLC chips (lets see if these will be delayed tho)
Because single CCD is most often superior for gaming. No scheduling needed, no core parking, no inter CCD latency.
Even 9800X3D beats 9950X3D by 5% or more in CPU limited gaming scenarios. Minimum fps can be much higher on the 9800X3D.
You only buy 9950X3D if you need the CPU power outside of gaming and 9950X3D Dual 3D cache version probably won't change much as the latency is the biggest problem for dual CCD chips when it comes to gaming. We will see.
CPUs like 9850X3D, 9800X3D and 7800X3D are plug and play, literally, you don't need to think, just play games with the best performance possible; 8 p-cores on a single CCD, no windows scheduling issues, no latency / cross talk and pretty much no games need more than 8 cores anyway, so it is a nobrainer for many.
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PierreJG
Posts: 117 +38
This is like the 5090 although not as expensive. Just bragging rights. I give there is a market for these type of parts but it is small compared to say for instance the 9800X3D or the 5080 (5080 is half the price of the 5090 here for some odd reason). New builders can benefit if they are willing to pay the extra 20 but it still is well priced.
Saying that 9850 vs 9800 is like 5090 vs 5080 is silly. The 5090 offers around 50% more performance than the 5080. Can't say the same about 9850.
5090 and 5080, huge difference, in price, in specs, in everything. Two completely different products.
9800X3D and 9850X3D, literally the same thing, clocked slightly higher.
No comparison.
9800X3D with PBO 200 performs pretty much on par with a stock 9850X3D. Actually 9800X3D with PBO will probably boost higher in most cases, if Scalar is at x7-10.
9800X3D has a 5.2 all-core boost at stock. If you enable PBO 200, you will be boosting to 5450-5475 MHz on all cores instead.
9850X3D has a 5.6 boost (however it is up to, not on all cores, only on 1-2 threads), looks like all-core boost is 5.4 tops
Little diffference in the end really
I want to see 9850X3D with PBO 200 or manual OC - Can it hold 5.6 GHz on all cores is the question? Even then, the premium for 125-150 MHz more, seems high and the difference in games is probably ~1% (which is margin of error territory)
9800X3D with eCLK OC already runs 5.6-5.7 on all cores, even saw 5.8 GHz on all cores, like 1-1½ years ago
AMD knew 9800X3D had the headroom since day one, literally every single 9800X3D will do 5.4 GHz all core unless cooling is terrible, and even with bad cooling it will probably still run 5.4 all core in games...
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kiniku
Posts: 14 +15
While I get why sites love showcasing peak performance charts with the NVIDIA RTX 5090—a GPU now costing $4,000–$5,000—realism matters for those sticking to budgets.
(reddit.com)
With more affordable GPUs: AMD's X3D advantage over Intel CPUs shrinks dramatically (AMD has acknowledged this themselves).
(tomshardware.com)
At 4K, results end up mostly neck-and-neck anyway.
(tomshardware.com)
Sure, those charts make for flashier headlines, but AMD must be thrilled as uninformed folks keep parroting "AMD is the best gaming CPU."
(tomshardware.com)
Here's hoping Intel's Nova Lake rumors pan out—with massive caches delivering gaming gains across all GPUs, not just ones that could buy you a used car.
(reddit.com)
With more affordable GPUs: AMD's X3D advantage over Intel CPUs shrinks dramatically (AMD has acknowledged this themselves).
(tomshardware.com)
At 4K, results end up mostly neck-and-neck anyway.
(tomshardware.com)
Sure, those charts make for flashier headlines, but AMD must be thrilled as uninformed folks keep parroting "AMD is the best gaming CPU."
(tomshardware.com)
Here's hoping Intel's Nova Lake rumors pan out—with massive caches delivering gaming gains across all GPUs, not just ones that could buy you a used car.
Squid Surprise
Posts: 8,026 +8,297
What’s the OC headroom on one of these? And what’s the OC headroom on the 9800?
My assumption is this is basically a better binned, then overclocked 9800… I’d like to see benchmarks between a “regular” OCd 9800x3d and see if it’s worth bothering…
My assumption is this is basically a better binned, then overclocked 9800… I’d like to see benchmarks between a “regular” OCd 9800x3d and see if it’s worth bothering…
godrilla
Posts: 2,358 +1,794
What bragging rights though? A cpu that runs insignificant delta better, but uses significantly more power and needs better cooling as well as costs significantly more expensive (Amazon, Microcenter and Newegg currently selling at $449 for 9800x3d) Sometime drops to $399 as well and has decent combo deals with hundreds of dollars saved.
Newegg dedicated link 46 bought already
Check this out on @Newegg:AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D - Ryzen 7 9000 Series 8-Core 5.6GHz - Socket AM5 120W - AMD Radeon Graphics Desktop Processor - 100-100001973WOF https://www.newegg.com/amd-ryzen-7-...819113934?Tpk=19-113-934&item=N82E16819113934
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Vulcanproject
Posts: 1,844 +3,612
7800X3D is doing rather well here. 9850X3D has 14 percent more performance in games but significantly more power consumption.
7800X3D with an all core offset will close that performance gap significantly and still sip power. That's a classic chip right there.
7800X3D with an all core offset will close that performance gap significantly and still sip power. That's a classic chip right there.
Holding strong with my 5800x3d+3090+32gb ram , havent seen anything that would make me think I need to upgrade. everything just works
I upgraded from a 7800X3D with PBO to a 9800X3D with OC to 5.5 GHz all core and fps gain were in the 20-30% range post memory tweaking (6400/CL28).
Application performance and shader compilation was also like 25-30% faster if not more.
I even used the same memory, but I could not even get 6200 stable on the 7800X3D for comparison, 6000 was tops. IMC improved on 9000 series.
Why did I do it? Because the upgrade cost me 150 dollars - and it was worth every penny.
7800X3D might use less power (who cares, we are talking 25-50 watts) but runs hotter overall. The relocated 3D cache on 9000X3D means lower temps, higher clockspeeds, unlocked for OC.
My 9800X3D @ 5.5 GHz runs just as cool as my 7800X3D did and it did not even hold 5 GHz on all cores in many workloads and games, 4.7-4.9 GHz even with PBO was typical clockspeeds. 5050 MHz (peak) only in games that did not push CPU much.
9800X3D is like a perfected 7800X3D.
7800X3D is still good but 9800X3D is clearly better. Especially if you tweak/OC.
I won't replace this 9800X3D before we see Zen 6/7 X3D's with 12-16 cores on a single CCD.
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