The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is another 16-core beast with 144MB of 3D V-cache

After pioneering the use of 3D V-cache in CPUs — specifically, by stacking L3 cache modules on top of each other — AMD is adding another super-powered desktop CPU to the mix at CES 2025: the Ryzen 9 9950X3D. While it's not as groundbreaking as last year's 7950X3D, which managed to reach the same clock speeds as its siblings with 2D cache, the 9950X3D still stands out when compared to the competition from Intel. It features 16 Zen 5 CPU cores, a max boost speed of 5.7GHz, and most importantly, a whopping 144MB of total cache.

AMD

AMD's 3D V-cache technology allows its CPUs to juggle more data quickly without reaching out to RAM, since its cache is attached directly to the CPU package. AMD claims the 9950X3D is on average 20 percent faster than Intel's Core i9 285K across 40 different games. It's also 8 percent faster than the 7950X3D, so it's not exactly a compelling upgrade for anyone lucky enough to own that processor. When it comes to content creation, AMD claims the 9950X3D is 10 percent faster than Intel's 285K across a suite of 20 apps, including Photoshop's Pugetbench as well as Geekbench.

AMD

AMD also announced slightly slower 9900X3D chip with 12 cores, a 5.5GHz max boost speed and 140MB of cache. Consider it the slightly more sensible alternative to the 9950X3D's extravagant cache. Both chips will be available in the first quarter.

The company hasn't forgotten about laptops, either. At CES, AMD unveiled its "Fire Range" HX3D chips which will arrive in the first half of 2025. They'll be spearheaded by the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D with 16 cores and 144MB of total cache.

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