AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D Review – The Fastest Just Got Even Faster

More than one year after the launch of AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, the chipmaker is back with another new chip – the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D. As the name would suggest, this is a minor spec bump rather than an all-new generation, so temper your expectations. With that being said, let’s see what’s on the table with what looks like an even faster version of the world’s best gaming processor to date.

Specifications & Comparison

AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D vs. AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

Here’s the spec comparison between our subject and its closest counterpart, the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D. (Refer to our Ryzen 7 9800X3D review for comparison against other processor models.)

*Full specification is available on AMD’s processor specification sheet.

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D	AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
Core Configuration	8 cores / 16 threads (1 CCD)
Process Node	CCD: TSMC N4P IOD: TSMC N6
Microarchitecture	Zen 5 “Granite Ridge”
Boost Clock	5.6GHz	5.2GHz
Base Clock	4.7GHz
Cache (L2+L3)	8+96MB
TDP	120W (162W PPT)
Max Temperature (TjMax)	95°C
Memory Support	DDR5-5600 192GB dual-channel
Onboard Graphics	AMD Radeon Graphics 2 CUs (RDNA2) @ 2.2GHz
Neural Processor	None
Usable PCIe Lanes	24x PCIe 5.0
Socket Type	Socket AM5 (LGA1718)
Chipset Support	AMD 600, 800 series

What’s New?

Well, strictly speaking, nothing is truly “new” this time around. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D is pretty much AMD’s version of Core i9 KS-series special, with extra overclock squeezed out of the silicon to offer bonus performance on top of what 9800X3D is already capable of. As seen in our spec comparison chart above, the only difference between the two comes down to boost clock, in which the 9850X3D is +400MHz faster than the year-old model, while everything else stays the same. This 7.7% in boost clock converts to around 2% increase in performance on average, according to AMD’s first-party benchmarks.

In lieu of the latest memory pricing crisis, AMD does have a new selling pitch: you don’t need top-tier RAM kits to get the most out of your system’s performance potential with the Ryzen 7 9850X3D (or any other 3D V-Cache processors in general). They claim the performance difference is practically negligible thanks to the abundantly large L3 cache that keeps most immediate data right within the processor itself, reducing the frequency to exchange data with system RAM that is physically further and takes extra time (we’re talking nanoseconds-scale, but every billionth of a second counts at this kind of speed). To prove their claims, we’ll be testing on this aspect later on.

Test System

CPU	> AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D
Cooling	Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 Flux 30th Anniversary Edition Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Hero
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB DDR5-6000 CL28 (2x16GB)
Storage	ADATA XPG MARS 980 BLADE 1TB
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 1250 V2 Full Modular (ATX12V 2.52) 1250W
Case	VECTOR Bench Case (Open-air chassis)
Operating System	Windows 11 Home 25H2

Benchmarks

Cinebench (Multi-Core)

Starting with Cinebench, we now have three versions to look at: R23, 2024, and the new 2026 version. In terms of multi-core / multi-thread (as it is referred in CB 2026) performance, there’s very little difference between the Ryzen 7 9850X3D and Ryzen 7 9800X3D, as both adheres to the same 120W TDP class, with actual socket power (PPT) hovering somewhere around 150 watts. We measured slightly higher power draw on the 9800X3D, but the variance can likely be attributed to silicon lottery.

Cinebench (Single-Core)

In single-core and single-thread performance, we can see the new Ryzen 7 9850X3D benefitted from the extra +400MHz boost block, with the new chip leading the charts in all measures. The performance scales accordingly to the 7.7% higher boost clock, with CB R23 achieving a 7.4% uplift, CB 2024 gaining 6.7%, CB 2026 single-thread improved by 7.1%, though single-core (which accounts for AMD’s SMT) saw smaller improvement, at just 3.1%.

Power Draw & Thermals

As mentioned in the multi-core comparison, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D draws slightly more power than the new Ryzen 7 9850X3D, but both largely have the same level of multi-core performance. The difference in power draw (and subsequently, thermals) can pretty much be attributed to silicon lottery, as some chips behave slightly better in terms of voltage curve and others less so. Either way, you can always further undervolt it further given that 9850X3D also has full overclocking support, which opens up all the dials and knobs for you to adjust its power behavior.

7-Zip

In 7-Zip, the performance is virtually identical between the Ryzen 7 9850X3D and Ryzen 7 9800X3D, measuring a 0.2% improvement in compression, and 0.9% in decompression. That is to say, the differences are within the margin of error.

3DMark Time Spy

3DMark Time Spy is a fairly solid indicator of what gaming performance may look like, and here the Ryzen 7 9850X3D scores a 2.0% lead over the Ryzen 7 9800X3D; we’ll see if the real-life gaming performance reflects equally later in this article.

Handbrake

Next up is Handbrake, and since video transcoding mainly involves multi-core performance, it’s not unexpected to see miniscule different in terms of time taken to convert videos, in this case from a 4K clip into a H.264 1080p format. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D in this case shaves 1.1% of time required to transcode a 10-minute video, at 2 minutes and 55 seconds.

V-Ray

V-Ray’s CPU benchmark shows similar results as well, with the gap between the two processors at just 1.6%. Again, this is a multi-core workload, which is in line with what we expect.

Gaming (1080p)

As expected, the +400MHz extra clock speed introduces minor performance improvements in CPU-bound games, with the exception being Black Myth: Wukong that is less dependent on clock speed gains. Monster Hunter Wilds, meanwhile, seem to prefer outright clock speed where 9850X3D’s 5.6GHz clock speed benefitted its performance.

Bonus: Gaming (1080p), DDR5-4800 RAM

We’re in an unprecedented memory crisis where RAM pricing has shot through the roof thanks to the AI industry’s shenanigans, so AMD pitched this idea where you can get away with even a stock RAM kit without any perceptible loss in performance. Indeed, when comparing between AMD EXPO on (DDR5-6000 CL28) and JEDEC stock specification (DDR5-4800 CL40) using the G.Skill memory kit, the performance loss on average is 1%, largely in line with AMD’s claims.

However, there are exceptions: Hitman 3 is specially sensitive to CPU and memory performance, so in this case there’s a 4.2% loss in framerates; on the contrary, Black Myth: Wukong is more reliant on GPU performance, so a slower memory practically doesn’t affect its framerates. Do note that this is also applicable to other 3D V-Cache models, like the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, or even the Ryzen 7 7800X3D – the key here is that these models come with extra L3 cache that reduces the need to access system RAM as more data can be kept in the cache, thus improving performance in memory-sensitive applications, like gaming.

Verdict

We have already established that the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the king of gaming processors, so when AMD took the same recipe and amp it up a bit with extra boost clock on top of that, the result is unsurprisingly an even faster processor in Ryzen 7 9850X3D that continues to dominate in gaming performance. The same prerequisites apply: if you want the fastest gaming processor available today, this is it.

As such, same limitations that used to apply for the 9800X3D will continue to apply for the 9850X3D – if you prefer a processor that excels at multi-core performance, and are fine with slightly weaker gaming performance, there’s quite a few other options on the market today that fits that bill. In which case, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D wouldn’t be a top priority in that kind of list.

Let’s address the pricing: AMD raised the MSRP to $499 for the Ryzen 7 9850X3D, which is a $20 bump over the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. AMD hasn’t confirmed the local pricing as of this writing, but we believe it’ll be slightly higher than 9800X3D’s initial RM3,099 asking price – which in itself isn’t exactly cheap to begin with, as far as 8-core processors go. Factoring in the year-old age of 9800X3D which now costs a fair bit less than RM3,000 (we have seen pricing as low as RM2,599 brand-new), it will certainly make 9850X3D a hard sell at launch.

Ultimately, with the miniscule gains you get from having what is effectively an overclocked version of Ryzen 7 9800X3D, it certainly feels like 9850X3D is AMD’s Core i9 KS-series moment. If you want good value, stick to 9800X3D; if you want the fastest gaming processor on planet Earth simply for bragging rights, then there’s no stopping you from buying the Ryzen 7 9850X3D today anyway.

Special thanks to AMD Malaysia for providing the Ryzen 7 9850X3D processor for this review.