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AMD’s Ryzen 7000 X3D 3D V-Cache Processors: What We Know

AMD is set to combat Intel's Raptor Lake through the aid of its forthcoming X3D 3D V-Cache Ryzen 7000 series processors, which may well be the answer it needs
Last Updated on December 1, 2022
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The Ryzen 7000 X3D 3D V-Cache processors are just around the corner. AMD has confirmed it will keep launching this model and gamers will see the real strong side of Team Red. Here’s everything we know about the upcoming Ryzen 7000 X3D 3D V-Cache Processors.

AMD’s Ryzen 7000-series did not sell as expected. This year, Intel’s 13th gen took the podium and outsold Team Red’s Zen 4 processors. However, AMD is not too worried about it because it has an ace up its sleeve: X3D improvements. We’ve already seen these improvements added to other processors in the past.

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D with its 3D V-Cache was a dream come true. This processor showed the gaming world that manufacturers are capable of delivering amazing performances with the available technology. That chip was so good that it is one of the very reasons why new Zen 4 processors are not selling too well. The public still prefers the old tech over the new one, plus the DDR5 RAM price barrier doesn’t help.

Ryzen 7000 X3D 3D V-Cache Processors: Release date

According to Robert Hallock’s information provided in an interview with Forbes, the Ryzen 7000 X3D 3D V-Cache Processor is just around the corner. In the interview, Robert stated that the “3D V-Cache will live on, there will be Zen 4 with 3D V-Cache and it’s not a one-off technology,” when asked about the future of the 3D V-Cache version.

If we connect that statement and the expectation that the CES event is building towards, we can expect AMD’s Ryzen 7000 X3D to be released in January 2023. The truth is that AMD needs to do something to balance the low sales the new chip has had so far. Plus, it needs to show something to battle Intel’s reach with its Raptor Lake processors.

Is Ryzen 7000 X3D 3D V-Cache Processor good for gaming?

We are just recovering from the amazing benchmarks and performance the Ryzen 7 5800X3D showed this year. AMD has demonstrated with its X3D tech that gaming performance can still be improved without the need of changing the architecture at all.

Although Team Red is working constantly on microarchitectural evolutions within its Zen sector, it is also focusing its efforts to upscale the performance by changing other columns of the processors – columns that usually get forgotten.

According to Robert, “there’s this third column of progress that AMD’s been making when we went from monolithic dies to chiplets and mixed nodes and now with stacking and that’s a five/six-year road map in the same way that Zen has been.” So, the Red Team is focused on getting even better results with new efficient ways to upscale its processors.

If the previous Ryzen 5800 X3D was revolutionary, the upcoming Ryzen 7000 X3D will have even more improvement not only in gaming performances but in every general activity. This was, for sure, the Achilles’ heel of the 5800X3D. Despite the great gaming performance, any other activities felt sluggish with the chip. AMD will be fixing that issue with X3D technologies added to its Zen 4 architecture to deliver an overall greater processor.

AMD’s Ryzen 7000 X3D 3D V-Cache Processor: expected specs

It’s too early to show specific information about the new processor. However, we’ve found some information that indicates what specs we would find in the chip.

The ECSM official account on Bilibili revealed that AMD was in the work on two new Ryzen 7000 processors with 3D V-Cache tech. We already knew that information. What was revealing about the post was that, according to ECSM information, AMD will only introduce a six-core and an eight-core Zen 4 SKU with V-Cache. So, putting two and two together, AMD may be limiting the core count in the new V-cache processor.

This rumor gives some light on what SKU AMD might be releasing. If ECSM information is to be believed, AMD might be releasing a Ryzen 5  7600X3D and Ryzen 7 7700X3D with 6 cores and 8 cores, respectively.

Ryzen 5 7600X3D6 cores with 3D V-Cache
Ryzen 7 7700X3D8 cores with 3D V-Cache

Furthermore, the semiconductor engineering professional Tom Wassick stated in a Tweet that it “appears that there are more TSV columns” referring to the Zen 4 CCD. What this means is the new X3D technology will have more space to achieve a better V-Cache bandwidth than the predecessor.

To give a little bit of background the 3D V-Cache is AMD’s way to improve the performance of the processor. The way this works is by stacking an additional SRAM cache on top of a Ryzen CCD. 3D Variable Address Cache is the technology AMD uses to implement a workaround for one of its microchips in a way that triples the range of cache the chip can have. The chip can function more efficiently when games utilize large amounts of L3 Cache.

AMD’s Ryzen 7000 X3D 3D V-Cache Processor: Pricing

Pricing is the other side of the coin in this subject. AMD will keep in mind the tweaks and upgrades they’re doing to the chip alongside the improvement in performance it will show, and those changes must come with a fair price. The good thing is that AMD is good with pricing so we don’t expect too much of a change in this regard.

If we take into account the pricing the 5800X3D had earlier this year, we could make some calculations about how much its successor will cost. When the Ryzen 7 5800X3D was released, it had an initial MSRP of $449. B that time the 5800X had been discounted to around $329-$349 US, a $100 difference. Following this logic, we might see prices as follows:

  • Ryzen 9 7950X3D – $799 US (If released)
  • Ryzen 9 7900X3D – $649 US (If released)
  • Ryzen 7 7800X3D – $449 US
  • Ryzen 5 7600X3D – $349 US

AMD’s Ryzen 7000 X3D 3D V-Cache Processor: Conclusion

We are expecting this new tech to come out in Q1 of 2023, but the truth is that AMD has been really sneaky about this release. We know it is coming, but we just don’t have too much information other than it’s going to be amazing when released.

It is great to see that the company is making an effort to give the public what they want and need: easy-to-access, strong, and fast gaming technology. It is also uplifting to know that thanks to this new addition, many AMD fans and gamers will have access to newer AM5 architectures at a lower price.

Camilo is a contributor for PC Guide. He's been into tech since he was a teen, surfing through the web and local stores trying to find the cheapest way to play the latest Half-Life on his old Windows