We all knew it was coming. A string of rumors over the past several months has pointed to AMD releasing the Ryzen 7 9800X3D on November 7, but the company itself just confirmed the new CPU. It’s looking for a spot among the best processors, packing 3D V-Cache on top of an eight-core Zen 5 CPU in order to improve gaming performance.
True to rumors we’ve seen this week, AMD is pricing the CPU at $479, which is nearly $30 more expensive than the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. AMD claims that the new chip provides an average gaming increase of 8% over the last-gen CPU, and 20% faster gaming performance compared to Intel’s recent Core Ultra 9 285K. In addition, AMD says that minimum frame rates are up, with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D improving 1% lows in The Last of Us Part One by 31%.
AMD is using its second generation of 3D V-Cache, which comes with a pretty big change. Instead of stacking the cache on top of the processor, the cache is now a single die that sits below the processor. This, according to AMD, helps keep the cores cooler on the processor, allowing the CPU to hit a 5.2GHz maximum boost clock speed. This change also allows AMD to open up overclocking. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the first 3D V-Cache processor that’s fully unlocked for overclocking.
That’s the major change this time around. Outside of using the new Zen 5 architecture, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is largely the same as its last-gen counterpart. It comes with a total of 104MB of cache, along with eight cores and 16 threads. It also has the same 120-watt thermal design power (TDP), though as we saw with the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, there’s a good chance the CPU will run below that power limit while gaming.
Excited to announce the next chapter in gaming greatness! The world’s best gaming processor, the @AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is here to power our community to new heights. Let’s level up together! 🚀🎮 pic.twitter.com/2ykzt6UeFc
— Jack Huynh (@JackMHuynh) October 31, 2024
It might not be as efficient, however. By placing the cache below the CPU, AMD is able to more effectively cool the cores, and therefore, push them harder. That calls for more power. That’s especially true if you dive into fully overclocking the CPU, which up to this point has only been an option through AMD’s Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) on 3D V-Cache processors.
As is always the case with prerelease benchmarks, we’ll have to wait until we can strap the Ryzen 7 9800X3D in the test bench to see how it truly performs. An 8% uplift in gaming performance is promising, however, especially considering that the Ryzen 7 7800X3D has remained uncontested in gaming, even in the face of the Core Ultra 9 285K and Ryzen 9 9950X.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.