Introduction
The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D was launched on January 29th, 2026, with an MSRP of $499. The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D was launched on April 6th, 2023, with an MSRP of $449. Both CPUs are 8-core CPUs, but the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is based on the Zen 4 architecture, while the new Ryzen 7 9850X3D is based on the Zen 5 architecture, both on the AM5 platform, and both have AMD’s 3D V-Cache on board geared for gaming.
With the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D releasing now, almost 3 years later, you might be questioning if the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is an upgrade choice for better gameplay performance in 2026, in the same price range and core configuration. After all, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is technically AMD’s fastest clocked 8-core CPU to date, so the question has to be asked: Is it a good upgrade choice over the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, or are you better off choosing a Ryzen 7 7800X3D brand new even today as a better value?
In today’s gameplay performance review, we will put the Ryzen 7 9850X3D versus Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPUs against each other in 10 modern games, at 1080p on a GeForce RTX 5090 FE to test CPU performance. To see how the Ryzen 7 9850X3D compares to other Ryzen CPUs and the Intel competition, check out our full Ryzen 7 9850X3D CPU Review.
Ryzen 7 7800X3D vs Ryzen 7 9850X3D Specs
| Specification | Ryzen 7 7800X3D | Ryzen 7 9850X3D |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Zen 4 (Raphael) | Zen 5 (Granite Ridge) |
| Process | TSMC 5nm | TSMC 4nm |
| Cores & Threads | 8/16 | 8/16 |
| L3 Cache (3D V-Cache) | 96MB | 96MB (2nd Gen) |
| Frequency | 4.2GHz | 4.7GHz |
| Boost Frequency | 5GHz | 5.6GHz |
| TDP | 120W | 120W |
| PPT | 162W | 162W |
| Release Date | April 6th, 2023 | January 29th, 2026 |
| MSRP | $449 | $499 |
The claim to fame for both the Ryzen 7 7800X3D and Ryzen 7 9850X3D CPUs is the additional L3 cache, called AMD 3D V-Cache, to improve gaming performance. That makes both CPUs made for, and set up to be directly pointed at gamers for the best gaming performance. However, while both CPUs have the same capacity of 3D V-Cache, they operate in two different generations of that cache configuration.
The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D uses AMD’s first-generation 3D V-Cache, which sits atop the single-CCD. Whereas the new AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D utilizes AMD’s newest 2nd Generation 3D V-Cache, which was introduced in the launch of the Ryzen 9000 series X3D CPUs with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. The 3D V-Cache is positioned underneath the single-CCD and has the advantages of allowing better thermals, which in turn allows higher core clock speed boosting.
This, in addition to the newer Zen 5 architecture, TSMC 4nm process, and special binning of the Ryzen 7 9850X3D, allows for the highest boost clocks seen yet on an 8-core CPU from AMD. The Ryzen 7 7800X3D boosts up to only 5GHz, while the Ryzen 7 9850X3D can boost up to 5.6GHz. That’s a nice clock speed potential bump of 12% with the newer Ryzen 7 9850X3D. Even the base frequency is up at 4.7GHz compared to 4.2GHz on the 7800X3D, an increase of 12%. All of this was achieved with the same TDP of 120W and PPT of 162W.
Test Setup
