AMD’s best processor for gaming is right around the corner. Through various leaked benchmarks, we’ve already learned that it might disappoint, and today’s leak only serves to confirm that. According to leaked AMD data, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D may offer a subtle improvement in gaming — although it’ll still be better than what most of the Zen 5 lineup has been able to provide.
VideoCardz was able to obtain what appears to be an official marketing description of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. The blurb reveals things like the predicted improvement in instructions per cycle (IPC), gaming, and multi-threaded workloads. It looks like the real deal, but as with any other leak, it’s important to remember that we’ll only learn the full story once we test the CPU ourselves.
According to the leaked blurb, AMD estimates that the 9800X3D will be up to 8% faster in games. Although AMD refers to this as a “strong generational boost,” many expected something better — something more along the lines of the uplift we’ve seen from the 5800X3D to the 7800X3D.
In our own testing, the 7800X3D was up to 26% faster in some games. On average, most reviewers put it at anywhere between 13% to 25% faster, depending on the testing suite. If AMD’s own estimates predict that the 9800X3D will only win out by 8%, I’m not optimistic about reviewers being able to squeeze a lot more performance out of the chip.
The multi-threaded performance is looking a little better, with a 15% boost compared to the 7800X3D. AMD also reveals that the CPU will support up to DDR5-6000, but the memory overclocking support goes far beyond that, all the way up to DDR5-8000 and above.
The Ryzen 7 9800X3D will work with most AM5 coolers and with all AM5 motherboards, including the latest X870E and X870 boards. The specs are no surprise, given it has eight cores and 16 threads, although the maximum boost clock is lower than some may have expected, maxing out at 5.2GHz. However, leaked benchmarks showed the CPU running up to 5.7GHz, so this could be wrong. I’m more inclined to believe that the benchmarks were inaccurate, though.
Although AMD has yet to confirm that the CPU that’s being released on November 7 is the 9800X3D, every single leak points to it being the first to launch. Even if it’ll end up being a bit of a disappointment, it might still sell well due to the fact that the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is out of stock pretty much everywhere.
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.