AMD confirms Ryzen 9800X3D at $489 will have the highest clock speeds for 3D V-Cache ever and be fully unlocked to overclock.

AMD announced the Ryzen 7 X3D just hours after motherboard manufacturers did. The Ryzen 7 X3D is the first next-generation 3D V-Cache CPU, and will retail for $479. AMD's June statement about the 9000X3D having'really differentiators' is now clear, as it has a different design than the 7000X3D.

The 9800X3D is priced $30 more than the previous-gen Ryzen 7 7800X3D at launch. It also has a higher base clock of 500 MHz and a 200 MHz boost clock.

Here's how it compares to the 7800X3D.

The 3D V-Cache is still 64 MB, just like in the 7800X3D. The TDP and core count are also the same.

The "revolutionary" change in cache placement makes it "the X3D processor that is fully unlocked" to overclocking, because the processor will be easier to cool without the memory between it and cooling solution.

This is not a small thing. Overclocking 7000X3D chips was almost useless, as you needed to fiddle with PBO and ECLK to make very small gains. This new underside placement should allow for an X3D that is actually worth overclocking.

We'll need to wait and see if these changes, plus its new Zen 5 Architecture and faster clock speeds, justify the price that's $30 more than the 7800X3D was at launch. Only real-world tests will tell us for sure.

Intel Arrow Lake would have to perform horribly to lose the matchup.