AMD has next-generation X3D processors inbound to follow its imminent Ryzen 9000 CPUs, but the chatter on the grapevine is that they’ll stick with the same configuration as current 7000X3D chips – with the same models available, boasting the same amount of 3D V-Cache.
The 3D V-Cache is the special ingredient that makes an X3D processor, and helps to push it faster for certain tasks – notably PC gaming – but Team Red will stick with the same loadouts for Ryzen 9000X3D, or so Wccftech believes.
The tech site states that this is from the usual anonymous sources – so stay skeptical, as ever – who have also spilled details on the chips that’ll form the next-gen Zen 5 3D V-Cache offerings.
We’re told there’ll be a trio of processors comprising the flagship Ryzen 9 9950X3D (16-cores), Ryzen 9 9900X3D (12-cores), and Ryzen 7 9800X3D (8-cores).
With AMD sticking to its cache specs from the current generation, this means the 9800X3D will, in theory, run with 64MB of 3D V-Cache and a total of 96MB of L3 cache.
Analysis: Not a rehash...
That line-up of processors is as expected, really, sticking with the current formula for the three available X3D chips. Mind you, some eyebrows have been raised at the 9900X3D, seeing as the 7900X3D wasn’t well-received (as we outlined in our review back at the time, there are reasons why the 12-core variant didn’t make sense).
The news about the amount of 3D V-Cache used with 9000X3D, and Team Red supposedly sticking with the same loadouts, is more surprising, though, especially given some previous speculation that AMD might ramp up said cache.
However, even if 9000X3D processors do come to fruition exactly as rumored here, that doesn’t mean they won’t be any faster than 7000X3D. It’s a new generation of silicon, and AMD must ensure that the processors are quicker – that is, of course, a given.
Architectural improvements will give 9000X3D CPUs a clear boost over current-gen 3D V-Cache, and what’s more, we’ve already been told that AMD has other tricks up its sleeve for making some of the best gaming CPUs even faster.
Remember that AMD marketing exec Donny Woligroski has already said that Ryzen 9000X3D has some “really, really cool updates” and that “we’re working on iterating and not just rehashing it,” so those are promising hints indeed.
Those additional features are likely to include overclocking, and the ability to manually juice up X3D for the first time ever (subject to some limitations, no doubt, based on how 3D V-Cache works).
If the rumors are right, 9000X3D processors could arrive much sooner than we thought, too, perhaps debuting in September.
