AMD's former pound-for-pound gaming champ hits its historic low again — Ryzen 7 9800X3D offers unmatched value for gamers at $429
A respectable $50 discount on a still-very-capable gaming CPU.
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The Ryzen 7 9800X3D might not be the best gaming CPU in the world ever since its namesake mid-cycle refresh, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D, came out and snatched the crown. But the difference between them is so minor that you might as well get the Ryzen 7 9800X3D if it's cheaper, which is exactly the case right now. Amazon has the Ryzen 7 9800X3D for $429.95 for a limited time, matching the chip's previous all-time historic low price.
The Ryzen 7 9800X3D needs no introduction; it was one of the best CPUs in the world for a long time, beating out every other chip thanks to its massive cache pool. It's an 8-core, 16-thread processor built on AMD's excellent Zen 5 microarchitecture. It can boost up to 5.2 GHz, and unlike the previous X3D chips, this generation is unlocked for overclocking, too. This was made possible by stacking the extra L3 cache beneath the core complex rather than atop it, allowing the CPU cores to sit closer to the IHS.
AMD's 8-core X3D beast is on sale at a great price, giving you basically the best gaming CPU in the world. Technically, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is faster, but the difference shrinks when you leave 1080p benchmarking and actually play at higher, more GPU-bound resolutions. In those situations, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is still a champ all things considered.
One aspect of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D that's often overlooked is that, even though it's not the most value-oriented option in terms of performance per dollar, it is the most efficient. The 9800XD offers the best performance per watt of any gaming processor, including the new Ryzen 7 9850X3D. The average FPS difference between the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Ryzen 7 9850X3D is also just 3%, and that's at 1080p. If you're buying this chip, you're likely running at 1440p or 4K, which will further close the delta.
The Ryzen 7 9850X3D also uses the AM5 platform, which AMD says will be supported for at least one more generation, so you can perform drop-in upgrades if needed. Scoring DDR5 RAM might be a challenge right now, and some get luckier than others, but at least the $50 you're saving here can be spent on one of the best CPU coolers to tame this beast. Scoring the Ryzen 7 9800X3D at just $429 also means you got it for a record-low price on Amazon, so don't wait and grab this amazing deal!
If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.
Hassam Nasir is a die-hard hardware enthusiast with years of experience as a tech editor and writer, focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news. When he’s not working, you’ll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun.
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