If you’ve been eagerly waiting to know more about the highly anticipated, gaming-focused variant of the Ryzen 9000 CPU series, then the recent 9800X3D leaks are likely good news for you.

AMD already confirmed that it was going to announce Ryzen 9000X3D chip variants on November 7, but there won’t be much mystery left when that date finally rolls around. One model in particular was spotted pretty much everywhere this weekend: the Ryzen 7 9800X3D.

The 9800X3D is probably the most anticipated chip in the upcoming series, as the last-gen 7800X3D is one of the most popular CPUs around for its mix of punchy performance and (relatively) affordable price.

According to specs posted by VideoCardz.com, taken from various retailer listings that seem to have been posted early, the 9800X3D uses an 8-core, 16-thread design with a base clock of 4.7GHz boosted up to 5.2GHz at a maximum. That’s in line with last gen with some notable bumps, and it’s faster than the 9700X and sucks down more juice at 120 watts of TDP. The L3 cache, which includes the “special sauce” 3D v-cache that can give a big boost to gaming performance, appears to be the same 32 + 64MB setup as the 7800X3D.

Notably, listings are showing that the 9800X3D has a free multiplier feature. That means that overclocking will probably be unlocked on the system level, something that was lacking in previous X3D variants. In fact, some early overclocking tests have already leaked — with apparently stable speeds reaching up to 5.6GHz. These tests show improvements over the 7800X3D by 8 to 23 percent, though Intel’s Core Ultra 9 series is still beating it out in raw numbers with more primary cores.

Even so, as an easy upgrade to current AM5 systems (compatible with existing motherboards!) that can apparently be overclocked out of the box, there’s reason to be excited for these new X3D chips. But while the leaks are convincing, you might want to curb your enthusiasm and consider all of this unconfirmed until next week.

Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer, PCWorld

Michael is a 10-year veteran of technology journalism, covering everything from Apple to ZTE. On PCWorld he’s the resident keyboard nut, always using a new one for a review and building a new mechanical board or expanding his desktop “battlestation” in his off hours. Michael’s previous bylines include Android Police, Digital Trends, Wired, Lifehacker, and How-To Geek, and he’s covered events like CES and Mobile World Congress live. Michael lives in Pennsylvania where he’s always looking forward to his next kayaking trip.

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