AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D review: a fantastic premium performer, but its price holds it back

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D is an fantabulous CPU for gaming which holds up erstwhile compared to the 2 flagship options from Team Red and Blue respectively, however, its terms constituent isn't assertive capable to wholesale urge implicit the 7950X fixed the price-to-performance difference.

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AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D: One-minute review

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D is the mediate kid of the existent 3D V-Cache processors from Team Red alongside the 7800X3D and the 7950X3D. It launched alongside the remainder of the enactment backmost successful February of this twelvemonth and offers heightened gaming performance, but comes astatine a price. 

Without a doubt, it is 1 of the best processors for gaming connected the market. But adjacent arsenic gamers are going to beryllium capable to get the astir retired of this chip, it's productivity show isn't excessively atrocious either. 

Armed with a importantly little TDP than the remainder of the existent AMD Zen 4 lineup, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D packs successful 12 cores and 24 threads connected a 120W TDP with a basal timepiece velocity of 4.4 GHz retired of the box, and that's honestly the halfway entreaty of this chip. 

It's much powerfulness businesslike and offers amended earthy gaming show than its non-3D counterpart, but the summation of AMD's 3D V-cache means it tin clasp up with acold pricier processors arsenic well. 

It should beryllium stated that overall, you're falling into 1 of 2 camps with the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D, arsenic it is awesome for gaming, but won't needfully acceptable the satellite connected occurrence with the creativity oregon productivity broadside of things astatine the higher extremity of the spectrum. 

The earthy gaming show astatine its $599 / £479.99 / AU$859.99 terms constituent is decent, but chances are if you're spending this overmuch connected a CPU purely for gaming, you could reason that an other $100 / £130 / AU$279 for the top-end 7950X3D could beryllium a amended stake instead. 

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D: Price and availability

• Comparable terms to the Intel Core i9-13900K
• $50 /  £50 / AU$64 much than basal 7900X

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D was released connected February 28, 2023, and presently retails for $599 / £479.99 / AU$859.99. 

That's astir $100 / £130 / AU$279 little than the flagship AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D which features 16 cores and 32 threads. As a constituent of comparison, this AMD processor comes successful a small cheaper than the Intel Core i9-13900K successful the UK and Australia, wherever it presently sells astatine £699 / AU$929, and is conscionable $10 much costly successful the US. 

That is lone 1 broadside of the story, though. That's due to the fact that the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D requires an upgrade to the latest AM5 socket, which means an wholly caller motherboard arsenic good arsenic the exclusive usage of DDR5 RAM, and the best DDR5 RAM isn't inexpensive (even if it has travel down successful price). 

Essentially, you'll beryllium gathering an wholly caller strategy astir the spot arsenic there's nary much backward compatibility with AM4 arsenic we saw with the 2 erstwhile Ryzen processor generations (though the best CPU coolers for AM4 processors volition inactive enactment with the caller AMD chips). 

This is owing to AMD's modulation from a PGA to LGA socket, which conscionable means that the processor nary longer has pins the mode erstwhile generations did, overmuch similar with the best Intel processors. 

• Price score: 3.5 / 5

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D: Chipset & features

• Improved powerfulness efficiency 
• Zen 4 3D V-cache for nether $600 / £500 / AU$900

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D features a batch of the aforesaid wide strokes arsenic its non-3D variant. You're getting the aforesaid 12 cores and 24 threads connected the AM5 socket with a full boost timepiece of up to 5.6GHz. The halfway quality here, however, is the 3D V-Cache which doubles the banal version's 64MB L3 Cache for a full of 128MB. 

The higher the L3 cache is, the amended gaming oregon intensive processing workloads tin perform, that's due to the fact that it's the largest level of cache disposable connected a processor.

Added cache aside, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D is besides importantly much power-efficient than immoderate existent non-3D Zen 4 processors available, arsenic it clocks successful with a Thermal Design Power (TDP) of 120W, which is overmuch little than the substantially higher 170W of its banal variant. 

While a higher TDP usually relates to higher performance, the inclusion of the added 3D V-cache means that the processor tin entree a larger excavation of superfast cache memory, which is adjacent much utile erstwhile gaming than conscionable throwing earthy powerfulness astatine the problem. With its ain dedicated other cache, determination are less fetch operations to the PC's main memory, truthful the spot runs much efficiently, and perchance cooler nether load. 

This is reflected erstwhile contrasted against the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X's halfway timepiece velocity of 4.7 GHz to the 3D variant's 4.4 GHz. It's a small slower retired of the container contempt the overclocking imaginable being the same, however, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D is inactive acold faster than immoderate of the existent Alder Lake oregon Raptor Lake processors successful presumption of the earthy speed. 

Ultimately, the reduced representation latency means that you're getting a spot that runs cooler, draws little power, and performs amended acknowledgment to the summation of the 2nd procreation of AMD's V-cache. 

• Design & features score: 4 / 5

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D: Performance

You won't beryllium shocked to perceive that the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D is 1 of the astir susceptible CPUs for gaming that I've ever used, holding its ain against the flagship 7950X and the Intel Core i9-13900K. 

This is evidenced by immoderate of the astir awesome synthetic scores to day successful industry-standard programs specified arsenic GeekBench 6, PCMark10, and Cinebench R23, among others, and you tin spot however the Ryzen 9 7900X3D compares to competing high-end processors below. 

Where the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D falls down the Intel Core i9-13900K and the 7950X3D successful presumption of the productivity benchmarks, the spread is greatly closed with the earthy gaming performance. Turning to the gaming benchmarks, this chip's 3D V-cache makes each the quality successful demanding titles specified arsenic F1 2022, Returnal, and Total War: Warhammer 3. 

As with our different CPU reviews, the games tested successful the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D reappraisal are tested astatine 1080p astatine the lowest graphics settings successful bid to isolate the processor's publication to gaming performance. Below, you tin spot however this chipset compares to the best AMD processor and champion Intel processor respectively. 

Compared to the much costly chipsets, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D perfectly holds its ain with the 7950X3D and the 13900K, with the largest spread disposable seen with however AMD's flagship handles Returnal. This is apt owed to the information that the 7950X3D utilizes an further 4 cores and 8 threads, and Total War bid has ever been Intel's strongest gaming benchmark, which remains the lawsuit here. 

Still, with the Ryzen 9 7900X3D, we're inactive talking astir an implicit powerhouse of a CPU, with framerates good supra 100fps successful demanding games, and upwards of 400fps successful tamer titles. Realistically, you tin expect this spot to beryllium an implicit behemoth for 1080p, though you'll get diminishing returns astatine 1440p and 4K if you don't person the beefiest video paper successful your rig that tin support up with the processor. 

Overall, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D is an awesome processor for the wealth which is decidedly geared much toward gaming than productivity oregon creativity tasks. If you're purely funny successful playing games past this processor offers beardown price-to-performance astatine the $600 / £480 / AU$860 mark, but with the Ryzen 9 7950X3D truthful adjacent successful price, a batch of buyers retired determination are apt to beryllium torn. 

• Performance score: 4 / 5

Should you bargain the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D?

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Also Consider

If my AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D reappraisal has you considering different options, present are 2 much processors to consider.

How I tested the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D

• Used successful main gaming PC rig for astir a month 
• Played a assortment of titles including those benchmarked 
• Industry modular synthetic benchmark tests 

We pridefulness ourselves connected our independency and our rigorous review-testing process, offering up semipermanent attraction to the products we reappraisal and making definite our reviews are updated and maintained - careless of erstwhile a instrumentality was released, if you tin inactive bargain it, it's connected our radar.

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First reviewed September 2023