AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a flagship desktop microprocessor designed by AMD. It was announced in January 2025 at CES and released on 12 March 2025 as part of the Ryzen 9000 series. The processor targets both gaming and content creation workloads and features AMD's second-generation 3D V-Cache technology.[1]
The Ryzen 9 9950X3D is based on the Zen 5 “Granite Ridge” architecture. It incorporates 16 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock frequency of approximately 4.3GHz and boost speeds reaching up to 5.7GHz.[2]
One of its two core complex dies (CCDs) includes AMD's stacked 3D V-Cache, resulting in a total of around 128 MB of L3 cache and for a total of 145MB of CPU cache. The processor has a default thermal design power (TDP) of 170 W and is compatible with the AM5 socket platform, supporting DDR5 memory.
Design and innovations
The 9950X3D introduces AMD's second-generation 3D V-Cache implementation, which repositions the cache layers to improve thermal characteristics compared with earlier models. This design allows higher sustained boost clocks under load.
The asymmetric cache distribution—where only one CCD carries the additional stacked cache—offers a balance between cache-sensitive gaming workloads and multi-threaded productivity applications.[3]
Performance
AMD markets the Ryzen 9 9950X3D as a processor suitable for both gamers and creators. In gaming benchmarks, it delivers performance comparable to the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, while its higher core count provides a notable advantage in content creation tasks such as video editing and 3D rendering.[4]
Reception
At launch, AMD described the Ryzen 9 9950X3D as “the world's best processor for gamers and creators.” With a launch price of US$699, it competes against Intel's Core Ultra 9 lineup. Reviewers highlighted its strong balance of gaming and productivity performance, though noted that its advantage in gaming over less expensive X3D models was modest.[5]
Limitations
The processor's high power consumption and thermal output require robust cooling solutions and high-quality motherboards with strong power delivery. For users focused exclusively on gaming, lower-cost X3D models may provide comparable frame rates at a reduced price.[6]
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