Last week we mentioned AMD's future plans for CPUs with 3D V-cache based on its latest Zen 5 CPU (aka "Ryzen 9000" series). However, it is interesting to note that AMD itself has stated that its existing Ryzen 7000 X3D chips with 3D V-cache will remain the fastest gaming CPUs, even with the arrival of Zen 5 technology.

Speaking to Tom's Hardware, Donnie Woligroski, AMD's senior technical marketing manager for consumer processors, said that the Ryzen 9000 will not drag the Ryzen 7 7800X3D down from its position as the gaming CPU He stated that the Ryzen 9000 will not When asked if the hot new Ryzen 9000 CPU will be the fastest gaming CPU ever, he replied:

"Is it the fastest in gaming?"

X3D is still the king, but the difference between X3D and non-X3D is much smaller than the general is much smaller than that of the other two. Therefore, the 7800X3D is faster than the 9700X, but not as fast as one might expect.

You might find this surprising. After all, according to AMD, the new Zen 5 architecture improves IPC by 16%. However, this is an average number, not a uniform 16% in all software in all situations. [Furthermore, this is not unprecedented: when AMD introduced its then-new Ryzen 7000 CPU a few years ago, the older Ryzen 7 5800X3D also held the gaming crown until the 7800X3D, with its own V-cache acceleration, was introduced.

That's because additional cache memory can make a big difference, especially in games. In fact, in some titles, the 7800X3D can be more than 35% faster than its closest non-X3D sibling, the 7700X. Admittedly, this is a best-case scenario. However, for many games it is about 20% or more better, and when the CPU is the bottleneck, an improvement of about 15% is usually the minimum.

Given that, it is no great surprise that even the new Zen 5 architecture is not enough to forgo the gaming boost from V-cache; as for what to expect from the Ryzen 9000 with 3D V-cache, AMD is "working to make it even better" explained last week that it did not provide any details other than to say it is working on it.

Some things we might hope for are more cache and perhaps a slightly thinner cache chip. The latter might help with thermal management, which in turn might mean that the 3D V-cache variant would operate with less of a clockspeed shortage than its traditional siblings. Or it may not be deficient at all.

What we can say with certainty is that if the Zen 5's gaming performance supports 3D V-cache at least as well as previous AMD CPU architectures, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D will be an absolute gaming monster.