Do I really need to sing the praises of AMD’s Ryzen 7 7800X3D? I mean, it’s not just us who think it’s the best gaming CPU you can buy, as it regularly tops the charts in other reviews and ‘Best of’ lists.

You might, though, be wondering just what makes it so special. After all, it’s just a regular Ryzen 7 7700X processor with an extra slice of L3 cache bonded to the core chiplet. Well, first of all, the 7700X is a fine CPU in its own right, but the additional 64MB of 3D V-cache elevates it into a gaming god.

Underneath that cache, you’ve got eight cores, 16 threads, running with a base clock of 4.2 GHz and a boost of 5.0 GHz. That’s a little bit slower than the regular 7700X but the addition of the V-cache increases the chiplet’s thermal resistance a bit, so AMD lowered the base and boost clocks to counter this.

It also increases the chip’s energy consumption, which is why it has a 120 W thermal design power (TPD), compared to 105 W for the Ryzen 7 7700X. Admittedly, 15 W isn’t very much but that’s still a bit more heat going into your gaming den, every second.

But none of that matters when you give the Ryzen 7 7800X3D the right game to show what it’s really capable of.

In games that are very memory sensitive, the 7800X3D’s extra cache can really help and in anything with lots of simulation/path-finding routines, such as Factorio, the 3D V-cache acts like a veritable turbo button on performance.

And at just $345 at Amazon, it’s an absolute steal. If you’ve got an AM5-based gaming PC and you’ve been wondering whether it’s worth getting a 3D V-cache chip, then now is as good a time as any to take the plunge. Unlike Intel’s chips, where the peak power consumption is way higher than the standard TDP, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D will barely run much above 120 W, making it far easier to keep cool.

In fact, there’s only one thing that spoils the V-cache party. Well, two, if you count the fact that Intel’s Core i7 14700K is a better chip for serious productivity tasks (thanks to having more threads and a higher boost clock).

We’re not far off seeing AMD launch its Zen 5 architecture and even if that’s only a little bit faster than Zen 4, it’s still quicker. However, AMD traditionally takes a good while to launch 3D V-cache versions of its best chips, so I don’t think we’ll see a Ryzen 7 9800X3D for a good while.

So get a 7800X3D, and enjoy fabulous gaming chops for years.

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