Zen 4 with 3D V-Cache will be out in a month and a bit
Last week, AMD has unveiled the awaited expansion of the AMD Ryzen 7000 processor family with “X3D” models with 3D V-Cache. It boosts performance in games, so these could be very good (maybe even the best?) gaming PC processors. AMD has disclosed the specs, but hasn’t given the availability date for these models. We already have this information though, perhaps inadvertently, divulged by the company itself on its website.
The Ryzen 7 7800X3D, Ryzen 9 7900X3D and 7950X3D models are already on AMD’s website, although some parameters have still not been listed (the company has not yet disclosed what the 7800X3D model’s base clock speed will be, although the rest has already been revealed). However, Overclock3D.net noticed that at one point, the date when the processors will go on sale, has already been filled in among the other specifications: 14. 2. 2023.
This was apparently an oversight and the date has not yet bee supposed to be publicly known, as it has since then gone missing from the specifications again. Below you can see the already deleted indiscreet version of the specs in the snapshot from Overclock3D.net. This release date is coming out on Valentine’s Day (a gift for gamers?) and probably could already be definite. But still, count on the fact that it may get pushed back. One of the reasons AMD doesn’t want to say the sales start date officially yet might be to preserve the option to push it back even further if needed.
According to Overclock3D, all three models could hopefully be released on this day. AMD is preparing an 8-core, a 12-core and a 16-core. The first model will be fairly straightforward – as with the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, it will be an 8-core with 96MB L3 cache and lower clock speeds, as lower voltages have to be used due to the 3D V-Cache and cooling is probably more difficult as well.
However, the 12-core (7900X3D) and 16-core (7950X3D) will entail the complication that the 3D V-Cache will only be fitted on one of their CPU chiplets, which will thus have increased gaming performance (although the clock speeds on the cores in question will be reduced). The other chiplet will only come with the standard 32MB L3 cache, but in exchange will have the same maximum turbo clock (5.6–5.7 GHz) for applications as on the regular 7900X and 7950X CPUs. AMD states that the AM5 platform and chipset drivers will in some manner help with getting games and applications properly placed on the cores of the chiplet on which they will perform better, but only time will tell how well that will work. We discuss this more in this article:
While the date has seemingly been determined now, we still don’t know the prices AMD will charge for these special gaming processors. Since the standard Ryzen 7000X models are now discounted, we could see AMD offering the X3D models at their original prices (399 USD, 549 USD, 699 USD). But AMD can ask for more as well (though the market and the laws of supply and demand could then reduce this again over time, as it did with the normal models).
Updated (13/01/2023): no Valentine gifts
Looks like we have to také that Valentine’s date back. AMD issued an official statement on the matter, saying that the date listed in the specifications was incorrect. Officially, the company has no set date (which is not new in itself), but uncharacteristically enough, it also says outright that there will definitely not be a February 14 release.
This kind of error doesn’t happen very often, and it’s odd that the date of the listing would be wrong if it’s already have been stated. Although it’s true that AMD has been having some incidents lately where it got some parameters wrong in the specs (the CES 23 presentation had some pretty major errors, for example wrong cache capacities of the processors being given).
With this, we are unfortunately back to not knowing when these processors will go on sale. However, AMD has said before that it should happen in February, so there’s at least that rough framing. Hopefully the release won’t be hit by a new delay that would push it beyond that horizon.
Sources: VideoCardz, Overclock3D
Jan Olšan, editor for Cnews.cz
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