AMD has confirmed that it may make a limited-edition 16-core Ryzen X3D CPU with 3D V-cache on all 16 cores, and that it’s going to investigate whether or not it’s price it, however that it thinks it will likely be a really area of interest product. I had the prospect to meet up with AMD’s senior technical advertising and marketing supervisor of client processors, Donny Woligroski, at CES, the place we mentioned the potential professionals and cons of a restricted version AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D with 3D V-cache on each CCDs.
AMD introduced the brand new Ryzen 9 9950X3D on the tradeshow, coming a few months after we wrote our Ryzen 7 9800X3D evaluation, promising not solely huge multi-threaded efficiency, but additionally quick gaming efficiency due to its 3D V-cache. Nevertheless, the brand new chip nonetheless solely has 3D V-cache for eight of the cores, whereas the opposite eight cores haven’t any 3D V-cache beneath them, however they do have a better clock velocity to take advantage of multi-threaded workloads, resembling video encoding and 3D rendering. That’s arguably the perfect combine if you would like a CPU that may do every part, however may there even be potential for an AMD 16-core X3D CPU the place each core has rapid entry to 3D V-cache?
“All people’s like, ‘Why don’t you make a restricted version?’ and to everyone, I say the identical factor: If I handed you one thing and also you noticed a mean 2% improve perhaps, and I charged you an additional $100 bucks for it, $150, I don’t suppose that will be a constructive evaluation,” Wologroski tells me. “I believe everyone would say ‘Why hassle? Why would you purchase this?’ It’s like a web loss. I believe, ‘what are you doing AMD?’ goes to be the overwhelming response, so I’m scared to demise of it.”
Nevertheless, Woligroski then provides that “I’ve had sufficient individuals request that I’m going to place.. as a result of certain we may do it. I believe what I’d love to do is… I wish to do some inside evaluation, and inside evaluation on what the worth can be, and ask the press: ‘Look, how would you are feeling about this?’ We all know it’s solely going to be a few % distinction, perhaps there’s a pair extra circumstances the place it’s not – we’d have to cost this a lot as a result of it’s a restricted run, restricted version factor, like, I don’t suppose there’s an enormous marketplace for it.”
That’s a good distance from being a affirmation that AMD has a dual-CCD X3D chip ready within the wings, but it surely actually appears as if it’s attainable, and {that a} limited-edition chip may very well be made if the corporate may set up there was a particular marketplace for it. “I wouldn’t purchase it,” admits Woligroski. “I wouldn’t suggest it, except, you understand – there’s not a variety of non-gaming nook circumstances that care about 3D V-cache, or that quantity of cache, proper?”
In the end, AMD thinks it’s acquired the steadiness about proper with the brand new Ryzen 9 9950X3D. “It’s humorous as a result of everyone talks about this,” Woligroski tells me. “For those who had examined a twin CCD with 3D V-cache, it might make nearly no distinction in benchmarks and would improve the worth significantly. And if you’re operating video games, for probably the most half, we’re attempting to squeeze every part onto one die anyway, you don’t actually need extra. You probably have a sport that wants greater than 16 threads, which is fairly uncommon, in these circumstances the penalty isn’t actually sizeable.”
There’s one other query, although, which issues the brand new Ryzen 9 9900X3D. This 12-core CPU not solely has 3D V-cache on simply considered one of its CCDs, however that CCD additionally solely has six cores, which means the cheaper Ryzen 7 9800X3D provides you extra cores with 3D V-cache than the Ryzen 9 chip. Which one would AMD suggest for players?
“For players, I’d say go for the eight cores, each time,” says Donny. “If all you’re doing is gaming, I imply [for] something within the Ryzen 9 collection [we’re] assuming you have got some artistic work to do, assuming you have got some multi-tasking, assuming you have got multi-threading workloads. For those who don’t have these, why would you purchase a Ryzen 9 when it doesn’t make a variety of sense?
“Now I perceive, from a client standpoint, this has acquired a better quantity, so increased quantity higher, proper? Nevertheless it’s as much as gents like your self to clarify that ‘Hey, a 9800X3D is all you want for gaming if that’s your focus. For those who do extra multi-threaded stuff, perhaps a 9900X3D or 9950X3D is extra engaging, however yeah, we’re not attempting to faux.”
Donny additionally claimed that, not like their predecessors, the brand new Ryzen 9 CPUs will provide gaming efficiency that’s persistently on par with the 9800X3D, fixing most of the latency points that brought about issues with chips such because the 7900X3D. “So we’ve a brand new a part of the motive force, there’s a brand new driver replace,” he says, including that AMD had been testing various video games with the brand new driver in comparison with the previous one.
“On the finish of the curve, it’s about the identical for each [drivers],” Donny tells me, “it’s simply the bottoms of the curve, like we’ve the worst video games on one aspect and the perfect, and the curve will get considerably higher, and that’s why, from a gaming perspective, that is most likely the primary era the place, on common, it’s so near the 9800X3D, like I don’t suppose from a gaming perspective you’d discover. There’s all the time one or two circumstances on every finish – perhaps one sport actually likes a variety of cores, perhaps one sport could be very delicate to not having extra threads with the cache, but it surely’s getting fairly rattling shut.”
So there you have got it. In case your primary focus is gaming, simply purchase the 9800X3D, if yow will discover it in inventory. The brand new Ryzen 9 X3D chips are for many who need not solely a superb gaming CPU, but additionally a chip that may deal with closely multi-threaded workloads. Will we ever see a restricted version Ryzen X3D CPU with 3D V-cache on two CCDs? We’ll simply have to attend and see.
Within the meantime, take a look at our information to the perfect gaming CPU if you wish to see which processor most accurately fits your wants now. Plus, if you happen to’re planning to select up the eight-core chip, learn our information on the way to overclock the 9800X3D to see how one can get extra megahertz out of it.
