The Best Gaming CPU May Get Even Better

When gamers are surfing around for lingering deals looking for the best CPU, there’s simply no comparison. The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D still has its square butt on the throne of the fastest, most efficient gaming CPU available today. AMD seems like it’s not doing much to change that with a supposed sequel, even if the chipmaker is being awkwardly quiet about its future plans.

AMD self-leaked the first reveal of its Ryzen 7 9850X3D CPU on its own French support page, which was picked up by X user Olrak29 on Sunday. By Monday, AMD removed the listing, but not before chip connoisseurs could pore over the supposed specs of the new chip refresh. It’s yet another 8-core, 16-thread CPU for the AM5 socket. Just like the 9800X3D, it runs at a top 120W TDP (thermal design power) and contains 96MB of L3 Cache (L3 is the largest version of memory storage on a single processor). All together, the rumors suggest the chip will have the same specs as before until you look at the clock speeds. The new CPU could run at up to 5.6GHz, 400MHz more than the 9800X3D.

AMD’s second-gen 3D V-cache has proved again and again it works better for gaming than anything coming out of Intel. The technology creates a special stacked cache for the CPU, allowing it more, faster, and more efficient memory, which proves especially important for gaming-related tasks. Compared to the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, the 9850X3D will seem like a barebones refresh. The one lingering factor is cost. The 9800X3D has a suggested retail price of $480, which is by no means cheap.

Which is why I’m less enthused about yet another costly CPU than I would be if we had further confirmation of a lower-end AMD processor bearing the X3D moniker. Just a year ago, the Ryzen 7 5700X3D, built for the older AM4 socket with its lower clock speed, proved to be a great option compared to the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. It offered quality gaming for hundreds of dollars less. Previous leaks of a supposed 9700X3D proved to be bupkis.

There have been several minor rumors from semi-reliable leakers like chi11eddog on X supporting new CPUs, like the 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X3D2. Why the sequel naming convention? Because it would have a so-called “dual 3D-V Cache†equating to 192MB of L3 cache. That’s compared to the measly 128MB L3 cache on the regular 9950X3D. It would also have a whopping 200W power draw compared to the smaller CPU’s 170W. The 9950X3D already costs $700, so I don’t even want to think about what the upgraded version could entail.

We expect AMD to share more details in the coming months. While Qualcomm and Intel have shared information on their upcoming laptop-class chips—Snapdragon X2 and Panther Lake, respectively—AMD has kept quiet. We may get more news during CES 2026, but AMD could spread out the news throughout 2026. PC RAM prices have skyrocketed to the point that once-affordable memory sticks have quadrupled or quintupled in price. It would be nice to have at least one component that wouldn’t force PC gamers to sell a leg or two just to afford an upgrade.