AMD strikes back with 7 new chips, Ryzen 7 5800X3D with radical V-Cache tech

After months of teasing its revolutionary new V-Cache technology, AMD finally unveiled the final key details about the product that serves as its flagship on Tuesday morning. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D will hit the streets on April 20, wielding a massive slab of memory cache directly bonded to the top of the 8-core chip package and a $449 suggested price—the same cost as the non-3D version of the 5800X, which launched in 2020.

And, surprise! AMD also announced a slew of affordable new Ryzen 3, 5, and 7 processors to flesh out its processor lineup now that Intel’s 12th-gen “Alder Lake” CPUs are here and kicking butt, and is finally extending official Ryzen 5000 support to older AM4 motherboards. Phew.

Ryzen 7 5800X3D

But first, the star of the show. AMD already released most of the pertinent details about the Ryzen 7 5800X3D at CES 2022. Its clock speeds come in slightly lower than the original 5800X’s, but all that extra L3 memory (96MB in total) should provide a massive boost in gaming performance specifically.

AMD’s press release calls the 5800X3D the “world’s most advanced desktop gaming processor,” claiming that it delivers “the fastest 1080p gaming across select titles when compared to others in the market.” We’ll need to wait for independent reviewers to verify those claims, of course, but there’s every reason to believe that so much additional on-chip memory will indeed supercharge performance in many—but not all—games.

Gordon Mah Ung broke down the pertinent technical details in his original CES report:

“It’s truly notable that the Ryzen 7 5800X3D manages [to outperform the Ryzen 9 5900X and Core i9-12900K]. The 8-core, single-CCD CPU has a base clock of 3.4GHz and a boost clock of 4.5GHz with a 105-watt TDP. That’s a 400MHz reduction in base clock and a 200MHz reduction in boost clock compared to a stock Ryzen 7 5800X chip. And, for the AMD numbers, that’s about a 6 percent reduction in clocks against the Ryzen 9 5900X, which also features 64MB of L3 cache between its two 6-core CCDs.”

AMD’s CES numbers showed the Ryzen 7 5800X3D outpacing the 5900X by 20 to 40 percent in select games and the 12900K by 10 to 20 percent in some titles. In others, it drew dead even with Intel’s $600-plus flagship.

Don’t expect a V-Cache-equipped version of the 5900X or 5950X, though. AMD’s Rob Hallock and Frank Azor joined our Full Nerd podcast during CES and, as part of the many insights revealed, said that the V-Cache tech is intended mostly to improve gaming performance more than content creation tasks, hence the decision to introduce it in this 8-core form. Check out the full interview below or read our deeper dive into the radical Ryzen V-Cache tech with AMD Fellow Sam Naffziger.

Ryzen rising

Simply revealing a price for the Ryzen 7 5800X3D wouldn’t make for a very compelling announcement. AMD also revealed a wide range of new desktop processors, using a mixture of Zen 2 and Zen 3 cores to plug the gaps in its lineup. AMD’s original Ryzen 5000 lineup was criticized for its higher prices and limited product range. Those were understandable in the midst of a chip shortage, especially with Intel’s 11th-gen Core chips providing little competition, but now that Alder Lake is here, AMD called in the reinforcements.

The cavalry includes the long-desired Ryzen 7 5700X for $299 as well as a new $154 APU with integrated Radeon graphics. The original Ryzen 5000 APUs were limited to pricier models, flipping the script for what have traditionally been more affordable chips.

The Ryzen 3 and 5 processors shown in the chart above will hit the streets on April 4, complete with a bundled Wraith Stealth cooler. AMD didn’t specify a launch date for the 5700X, but like the company’s other X-series Ryzen 5000 chips, it won’t ship with a cooler.

Expanded Ryzen 5000 motherboard support

Finally, AMD succumbed to calls for it to open official Ryzen 5000 support to older 300-series AM4 motherboards. “In addition to these exciting new processor releases, AMD announced it is extending support for Ryzen 5000 Series processors on AMD 300 Series chipsets, including all the new desktop processors announced today,” a footnote at the end of the release says. “The latest AMD Ryzen 5000 Series processors will be supported on AMD X370, B350, and A320 chipsets, offering a seamless upgrade path to “Zen 3” performance.  Selective BETA BIOS updates are expected to become available in April.”

It’s a welcome, but unexpected move. AMD had resisted supporting Zen 3-based processors (a.k.a. Ryzen 5000) on older 300-series motherboards, but opening it up now gives the company an extra edge in the battle against Intel. AMD’s 300-series motherboards launched alongside first-gen Ryzen processors. Until today, upgrading to the latest AMD or Intel chips required investing heavily in a new motherboard (and thus a whole new PC build) as well. This expanded support means long-time Ryzen owners now have an option to upgrade to the latest and greatest AMD chips without major hassle—which means they may be less likely to consider Intel’s swell 12th-gen chips as an option when the complete upgrade costs get factored in. Clever.