AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D gaming CPUs arriving next month, leak suggests

A new leak suggests that the new AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D gaming CPUs will launch next month. If the rumor is true, these new 12 and 16-core Zen 5 chips will be available to purchase in just under three weeks time, bringing even more processors with AMD’s powerful 3D V-Cache technology into the high-end CPU market.

It’s the 3D V-Cache technology, more than any other enhancement, that has allowed AMD to dominate with the best gaming CPUs in recent years. Contenders such as the 7800X3D and 9800X3D have consistently beaten the competition so far, with Intel’s latest Core Ultra lineup failing to impress gamers, as our Intel Core Ultra 265K review shows.

This new launch date rumor comes via Weibo by tech leaker Golden Pig Upgrade Pack. In a (very brief) translated statement, the leaker provided details about the 9950X3D launch schedule. This information was subsequently backed up by Videocardz who, via its own sources, suggests that the launch date for the 9950X3D and 9900X3D is set to happen on March 12.

Videocardz also suggests that this launch puts AMD’s latest CPUs in direct competition with the launch of the Intel Core Ultra 200HX on March 12, potentially overshadowing the launch of Intel’s latest CPUs for high-end gaming laptops.

While we expect the 9950X3D and 9900X3D to be powerful CPUs, due in part to their huge number of CPU cores, we still expect the 9800X3D to remain on top for gaming overall. That’s because the all-important 3D V-Cache will only be available to half of the total CPU cores on the new chips, which can cause issues with getting peak performance in games. In comparison, all eight of the the 9800X3D’s cores have access to its 3D V-Cache.

However, these CPUs will still have some serious performance muscle, with the 16-core, 32-thread 9950X3D set to have a top boost clock speed of 5.7GHz, while the 12-core, 24-thread 9900X3D will boost up to 5.5GHz.

We’ll be keen to test the performance of these CPUs once they launch, but in the meantime, you can check out our AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D review for our thoughts on the best CPU for gaming that you can currently buy. You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC hardware news, reviews, and guides, or join our community Discord to stay in the know.