With all the talk about upcoming Intel Arrow Lake CPUs lately, I'd kind of forgotten about 9000-series X3D chips. But while next-gen Intel could be exciting, Zen 5 X3D processors are arguably the ones we PC gamers should have our eyes set on. Given the performance of previous generations of AMD's 3D V-Cache chips, there's a pretty good chance of them being some of the best CPUs for gaming.
If the latest rumour's anything to go by, we might not have very long to wait. A leaker on Chinese forum Chiphell called zhangzhonghao (via Tom's Hardware) claims the AMD Ryzen 7 "9800X3D should be released at the end of October".
To be clear, this is just one forum user's unconfirmed report, so we should approach this rumour with an abundance of caution. Equally, though, it's not the first we've heard about an early 9000-X3D release.
Back in June there was rumour that 9000 X3D chips could be with us as early as September. This obviously never happened, but it could lend credence to the idea that a new X3D chip could hit the shelves before 2025. Also, back in August Acer mentioned 9000-series X3D chips in the URL and metadata of one of its webpages, something that would also hint at an approaching release.
The Chiphell user also claims that there will be early-2025 X3D launches, these being the Ryzen 9 9900X3D and 9950X3D. And we all know that early-year launch plans are often CES launch plans, which seems possible if this information turns out to be true.
Tom's Hardware points out that the 9800X3D launching before the top-end X3D chips would be a divergence from how AMD launched the 7000-series X3D chips, which it did the opposite way around by launching the 7950X3D and 7900X3D first. However, this time around the 9600X and 9700X launched before the two top-end chips, so there's already divergence there. Given this, at least some bets are already off.
AMD didn't know back then just how well-received the 7800X3D would be compared to top-end X3D chips, either. It ended up being the single best gaming CPU because it packages its 3D V-Cache (which is great for gaming) on top of a reasonably affordable 8-core chip. Given the love for the 7800X3D, AMD could decide to lead out with a 9800X3D—it's not an outrageous thought.
We don't know what to expect out of the X3D chips other than that they should package heaps of 3D V-Cache on top of the dies which is great for gaming performance. At this year's Computex, AMD told us it's "working actively on really cool differentiators" to make its 3D V-cache "even better", but we have no idea what these differentiators might be.
If the latest rumour turns out to be true, we might find out sooner rather than later. And realistically, even if there's not an October release, all signs thus far have pointed to a launch that's not far beyond the horizon.
