AMD is expected to formally reveal its Zen 4-based Ryzen 7000-series processors equipped with 3D V-Cache at CES 2023, although it is not yet officially confirmed. However, a South Korean media report says the company is preparing to introduce three new Ryzen 7000 X3D processors with 96 MB or 192 MB L3 cache in January.
The three Ryzen 7000 X3D models will allegedly feature 16, 12, and eight cores, according to Quasarzone, a popular South Korean publication (the report was kindly translated for the world by @harukaze5719). The processors are expected to be unveiled in January, so Intel will likely announce them at CES to attract maximum attention to the new parts and their capabilities.
The report by Quasarzone is somewhat corroborated by a tweet from @All_The_Watts!, which indicates that there are three CPUs incoming and even mentions some of their specifications. It also clarifies that the parts will have clocks similar to regular models, and the Ryzen 7000 X3D processors will ship in March.
- Ryzen 9 7950X3D: 16 MB L2, 192 MB L3, 170W
- Ryzen 9 7900X3D: 12 MB L2, 192 MB L3, 170W
- Ryzen 7 7800X3D: 8 MB L2. 96 MB L3, 170W
While the information looks plausible, keep in mind that we are dealing with unofficial preliminary data, so take it with a grain of salt.
3D V-Cache makes the most sense for memory bandwidth and single-thread performance-depending workloads. For client PCs, this generally means gaming. Indeed, even after AMD launched its latest products, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D is still one of the best CPUs for gaming. Furthermore, the Ryzen 7000 X3D parts are expected to gain even more from 3D V-Cache due to potentially higher bandwidth, further strengthening their performance in the aforementioned workloads and applications.
Launching three Ryzen 7000X3D models with 3D V-Cache and expanding the lineup of X3D CPUs for client PCs from one (in the case of the Ryzen 5000 family) to three (for the Ryzen 7000 series) is an interesting move by AMD.
On the one hand, expanding the family of 3D V-Cache-enabled desktop CPUs will strengthen AMD’s offerings for gaming and will likely democratize their pricing, which will make it easier for AMD to compete against Intel. But on the other hand, they will overlap with processors without 3D V-Cache and cannibalize some sales of parts with higher core counts.