The 9800X3D has unlocked its potential and become the leading processor in the market. The 2nd generation V-Cache gives it the ability to run the CPU core faster and at higher voltages, pushing its performance even further over the 7800X3D and on par with non-X3D chips in non-gaming tasks. The chip’s redesign has now made rendering and productivity tasks much more of a possibility on the X3D, with scores soaring above its predecessor and in line with the rest of AMD’s line-up, improving on one of its previous cruxes.

Raptor Lake ‘Refresh’ is right. There’s nothing too exciting here in comparison to 13th-gen performance. Yes, expect better thermal efficiency and slightly better performance across the board. And yes, it’s another impressive CPU from Intel. It’s not enough to convince us that it’s an essential arrival, but there may be greater differences further down the 14th gen range. The Core i9 14900K is very strong, of course, but then so is the 13900K…and it may well be even cheaper now.

The Core Ultra 9 285K is a great processor; there’s no doubt about it. Even as it cut back on the thread count and hyper-threading, I was worried about its multi-core processing power, but that seems not to be the case, as it leads in benchmarks for multi-core performance. In fact, it’s the single-core performance that sort of disappoints, as it achieves on-par or below-performance compared to its direct competition.

Its switch to TSMC’s much smaller process has led to improved temperatures as compared to its predecessors; that’s even though it still boasts the same high TDP without reaching boiling temperatures and throttling its performance. That should give it some longevity and life without cooking itself, and it also comes from the fact it’s a new socket and generation, which should hopefully give you something down the line if needed.

The 7800X3D is a fantastic chip and much improved over the previous generation. This CPU will smash through any gaming workload you throw at it and be able to handle productivity tasks much better than before, although it still is a little limited in that department.

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X is a CPU that sometimes struggles to find its place in the world; however, it still offers a lot in terms of power and performance. It could be a little more affordable, but it does okay at filling the massive performance gap between the 7600X and the 7900X.

The 9600X does better intergenerationally than its bigger brother, the 9700X. On release it was more set on efficiency than performance. But with the later PPT update, it can push for higher performance at a higher power draw, so you can choose what level to play it at.

The 9950X is certainly a capable CPU with a lot to offer those looking for strong multi-threaded performance. PPBO can ramp this CPU up a few notches, but you’d better be ready to cool it. It eats 240mm AIOs for breakfast when PBO is enabled