The prices of AMD’s fastest gaming CPUs are in free fall right now, and this latest AMD Ryzen CPU deal enables you to save a massive 30% on the MSRP of the flagship AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D. This top-dog chip not only has 16 of AMD’s mighty Zen 4 cores at its disposal, but it also has AMD’s 3D V-cache tech to boost gaming frame rates.
This means there’s a huge 64MB of extra high-speed memory on top of the usual 32MB of L3 cache inside this AMD CPU, and we found this extra cache provided a significant boost to gaming performance in our Ryzen 7 7800X3D review, gaining it the top place on our guide to the best gaming CPU.
The Ryzen 9 7950X3D is the cream of the crop, though, with eight more cores than the 7800X3D, as well as a much higher boost clock speed of up to 5.7GHz, compared with just 5GHz on the 7800X3D. You simply can’t buy a more powerful AMD Ryzen gaming CPU right now, and this latest deal sees the Ryzen 9 7950X3D price drop to just $486.82, a huge 30% reduction on the launch MSRP of $699.
You can usually buy this CPU for around the $599 mark these days, and that’s the price on AMD’s web store, but this is the first time we’ve seen it drop below the $499 level. The CPU is currently available from Amazon and NewEgg for $492, but you can then get an extra $5 off at NewEgg if you apply the code SSDMMDTAZ28, bringing the total cost down to this CPU’s lowest-ever price of $486.82.
The current indications from AMD are that its Zen 4 X3D chips, such as the 7950X3D, will beat the first Zen 5 CPUs in games, which are due to be released in July 2024, with the first Zen 5 X3D CPUs not expected to arrive until September. Either way, $492 is a fantastic price for a 16-core CPU that can do it all, with loads of performance for multi-threaded software, and great gaming frame rates.
It does come with a word of warning, though, which is that this 16-core CPU is divided into two eight-core chiplets under its metal heatspreader, and only one of these chiplets has the big stack of 3D V-cache on it. That means only eight of its cores have access to all that extra cache, although this is still better than the six cores in the 12-core Ryzen 9 7900X3D. It also means there are occasional inefficiencies if a game passes a thread to the chiplet without the extra cache, unlike on the 7800X3D, but this is still an exceptionally powerful gaming CPU.
There are discounts available on many of AMD’s X3D CPUs right now, with the Zen 5 launch looming on the horizon. While pricing of the eight-core Ryzen 7 5800X3D and 7800X3D remain steady, a recent Ryzen 9 7900X3D deal saw the chip going for just $329, while the Ryzen 7 5700X3D price has even dropped below $200. If you’ve been waiting for the right price before buying an X3D gaming CPU, then now is the time to do it.
If you’re planning to buy a new CPU while the prices are so low, make sure you also read our full guide on how to build a gaming PC, where we take you through the whole process, including how to install a new CPU.