AMD may have just released its new Zen 5 lineup less than two months ago, but the processor that all gamers are waiting for is definitely the Ryzen 7 9800X3D — and it seems to be a lot closer than we thought. A few days after an initial report that the 9800X3D would launch this year, another leak reaffirmed this by sharing promotional material about the CPU. It really looks like AMD is banking on the 9800X3D to be the best processor of the year. This isn’t the only sign of an imminent launch.
A leaked slide comes from Moore’s Law Is Dead, who also cited his own anonymous sources as he talked about the CPU. Before we dive in, remember that all of this has yet to be confirmed by AMD, although the promotional material certainly looks legitimate.
All we have is one slide, but it’s a lot more than we would have gotten if the launch was months away. The slide reveals the packaging for the Ryzen 7 9800X3D accompanied by a quite telling tagline: “This legend is unbeatable.” Moore’s Law Is Dead also claims that AMD refers to its new CPU as the “ultimate processor for elite gaming.” By the sound of it, AMD may not feel threatened by the upcoming launch of the Intel Core Ultra 200 (also known as Arrow Lake) and may expect to retain the crown for the best gaming CPU.
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Aside from the slide, Moore’s Law Is Dead shared a few more interesting tidbits about the processor. Reportedly, the 9800X3D is the only one that’s coming in 2024, having been internally listed on a “2024 Products” page. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D and the 9950X3D, which are also expected to launch this generation, are absent — meaning we might not see them until 2025. This isn’t bad news, really, as many of us never expected to see the 9800X3D as early as late October or early November — which is the current expectation, according to leakers.
The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is said to come with 104MB of combined cache and may finally offer some more serious support for overclocking, as one of the YouTuber’s sources claims that it’s been “designed for increased frequencies.” Surprisingly, although the X3D processors usually sell very well, AMD may bundle it with a game: Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Speaking of sales, Moore’s Law Is Dead isn’t the only source we have that implies an imminent release for the Ryzen 7 9800X3D; the strongest indicator is the rising price and low supply levels of the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. We’ve noted that the 7800X3D has seen a price hike recently, and assumed that it could have had something to do with the launch of the scarcely available Ryzen 5 7600X3D. However, given the new information about the 9800X3D, it’s all starting to add up.
We can’t be certain about anything until AMD itself breaks the news, but given these leaks, we truly might see the Ryzen 7 9800X3D soon. If you were thinking of buying a CPU, it might be better to hold off for now and see how the pricing pans out for the new chip, if and when it’s announced.
