AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D vs Ryzen 7 9800X3D faceoff — an extra $30 buys you very little performance

AMD’s 3D V-Cache processors have been the fastest gaming CPUs on the market for a few years now, with the 8-core Ryzen 7 9800X3D being the current ringleader. The Zen 5-based CPU has been labeled the “gaming king” since its release, but now, that changes.

Enter the Ryzen 7 9850X3D, an 8-core X3D processor on the same architecture that is barely any different from the 9800X3D on paper. Its name gives it away; this is not a next-generation Zen CPU, nor does it provide more cores than the existing 9800X3D. It is a mid-generation release that improves upon the 9800X3D for a little bit of a price premium.

In this particular case, that might just be enough since the 9800X3D is already the fastest gaming CPU that money can buy, so more performance wouldn’t hurt, right? Well, that's what we are here to find out.

Does the Ryzen 7 9850X3D justify its price premium of $30 to $70 over the 9800X3D? Does it even perform better, or is it just marketing hype? Let’s get into the details.

Features and Specifications: AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D vs AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

On paper, it is hard to separate the new Ryzen 7 9850X3D from the old 9800X3D. They are both CPUs from the Ryzen 9000 family, built upon the 4nm Zen 5 architecture with a 3D V-Cache implementation on top. Both CPUs use AMD’s new X3D architecture, which places SRAM under the CCD to give the cores direct access to the Integrated Heat Spreader (IHS).

The new Ryzen 7 9850X3D offers 8 cores and 16 threads just like its predecessor. However, the two CPUs do differ in their clock speeds. While the base clock of 4.7 GHz is shared by the two, their boost clock is different, as the new 9850X3D can boost up to 5.6 GHz compared to the 5.2 GHz boost of the 9800X3D. That is the only difference between the two CPUs.

Both CPUs offer 104MB of total onboard cache, of which 96MB is stacked vertically in the form of 3D V-Cache. The two CPUs also share the same 120W TDP rating, with a PPT of 162W. The memory compatibility is the same (officially at DDR5-5600), and both chips slot into the AM5 socket, which you’ll find alongside AMD’s 600- and 800-series chipsets on motherboards.

AMD has priced the 9850X3D at $499, which is a $20 price bump over the $480 MSRP of the 9800X3D. It is important to note that the 9800X3D can be found at around $430 to $470 at the time of writing, which makes the 9850X3D look like a bit of a tough bargain on paper.

By the looks of it, AMD has kept it really simple with the mid-generation release of the 9850X3D. At first glance, it is basically a better-binned 9800X3D that can give you better boost clocks and can potentially sustain a higher clock speed for longer. But does that bump in clock speed translate into real-world benefits? We have the results down below.

⭐Winner: AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D

The Ryzen 7 9850X3D is extremely similar on paper to the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, with the only major difference being the clock speed. Nevertheless, that point is enough for the 9850X3D to take this round. However, specs tell only part of the story.

Gaming Benchmarks and Performance: AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D vs AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

This section of the faceoff will focus purely on the gaming performance of the new Ryzen 7 9850X3D against the former king of the ring, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D.

We tested both CPUs (and some relevant competitors) in a wide array of modern games at 1080p for this comparison. We chose the 1080p resolution specifically to showcase differences in gaming performance and tested with an Nvidia RTX 5090 FE to remove any GPU-imposed bottlenecks.

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Jumping straight into the benchmarks, there are no major surprises when it comes to our 16-game geomean at 1080p. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D slots in right where you would expect for a mid-generation refresh, at the top of the pile. It outperforms the Ryzen 7 9800X3D by 3.2% on average across our tested games, putting out 211.2 FPS against the 204.6 of the 9800X3D.

This isn’t a groundbreaking lead, but it is about what we would consider a run-of-the-mill mid-cycle improvement over the 9800X3D. The lead stays relatively consistent when we dive into individual results as well. For instance, we saw a 2.8% uplift in A Plague Tale: Requiem, 4.7% in F1 2024, and 6.2% in Flight Simulator 24 on average. On the flip side, the two CPUs remained within the margin of error in several titles such as Starfield, Monster Hunter Wilds, DOOM: The Dark Ages, and Cyberpunk 2077.

We are also looking at similar performance scaling when it comes to 1% low numbers in our testing. In our 16-game geomean at 1080p, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D gave a 1% low result of 147 FPS, a 3.52% advantage over the 9800X3D, which ended up at 142 FPS. The 1% low results remain largely consistent and follow the same pattern when we look at individual games separately. A notable exception is in DOOM: The Dark Ages, where the 9850X3D has 12.6% better 1% lows compared to the 9800X3D, while having nearly identical average FPS results.

A major difference between the Ryzen 7 9850X3D and the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the advertised boost clock of 5.6 GHz compared to 5.2 GHz for the latter. In our testing, we found the average CPU clock speed of the 9850X3D to be around 200 MHz faster than the 9800X3D during gaming, which falls a little short of the promises but is understandable due to pre-determined boosting behaviour.

As we’ll dig into in the overclocking section below, both of these CPUs have access to AMD’s Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO), as well as direct multiplier-based overclocking. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is able to make up the performance gap between it and the Ryzen 7 9850X3D with PBO enabled; the Ryzen 7 9850X3D, on the other hand, doesn’t benefit much in games from an even higher maximum boost clock.

On thermals, the 9850X3D averaged 61 degrees Celsius during our gaming tests compared to 58 degrees for its competitor, which is not a major difference considering the improved performance.

What is a major difference, though, is the power draw. One can ignore a CPU that runs a few degrees hotter if it provides a tangible performance benefit. However, it becomes hard to ignore if a CPU draws a whopping 30% more power (106W vs. 81.4W) during gaming while delivering only 3.2% better performance. This gives the new 9850X3D a significantly worse FPS/W rating of 1.99 compared to 2.51 for the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. AMD clearly pushed the clock speeds higher in exchange for a large bump in power draw.

Furthermore, with a price tag of $500 compared to the $470 that you would need to spend for the 9800X3D, the new 9850X3D falls behind its competition in terms of value for money. If we look at our FPS per dollar numbers, the 9850X3D only manages 0.42 FPS/$ compared to the 0.44 FPS/$ result of the 9800X3D. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D also trails other competitors in this space, such as the Ryzen 7 7800X3D and the Core i7-14700K in this category.

⭐Winner: AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is technically slower than the Ryzen 7 9850X3D. It provides much better value and performance per watt. In addition, it’s able to close the gap with the Ryzen 7 9850X3D with PBO enabled, all while selling for between $30 and $70 less. Still, the 9850X3D is faster out of the box, so it earns the win.

Productivity Performance: AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D vs AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

We see an interesting pattern emerge when we compare the productivity performance of the two CPUs across our suite of multi-threaded and single-threaded workload benchmarks. Depending on how the program scales across multiple cores, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D can either be a bit better than the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, or it can be at complete parity.

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First, let’s look at the multi-threaded performance of the two CPUs by analyzing our performance ranking graph. We can see that the Ryzen 7 9850X3D and the 9800X3D end up at the exact same performance level on average, and deliver almost identical scores in our geomean.

The outlook does not change in favor of the Ryzen 7 9850X3D even when we dive into individual benchmarks. The new chip only gains a 1% advantage over its competitor in Cinebench 2024’s multi-core score, while it is about 1.3% slower than the 9800X3D in POV-Ray. The scores are essentially tied in Blender Junkshop, Monster, Classroom, and Corona benchmarks, as well as the HandBrake x265 encoding tests.

This result may appear surprising at first, but it is to be expected from a mid-generation upgrade with no increases to core or thread count. The increase in boost clock does not yield a significant advantage in tasks that scale across multiple cores. However, when we look at single-threaded workloads specifically, the picture changes a bit.

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In our single-threaded performance ranking geomean, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D puts up a score of 259 compared to 243 for the older 9800X3D, an advantage of 6.5%. The bump in boost clock yields a noticeable benefit when we are focused on only a single core. We see this superiority continue within individual benchmark results as well.

Cinebench 2024’s single-core test sees the Ryzen 7 9850X3D gain a nearly 7% advantage over the 9800X3D, while the POV-Ray benchmark yielded similar gains at 6.5%. We also see the 9850X3D complete the Lame audio encoding test nearly 6% faster. In this lightly-threaded productivity apps, the boosted clock of the Ryzen 7 9850X3D offers a clear advantage, even moreso than in games.

While the bump in boost clocks does not translate into superior productivity performance in tasks that scale across multiple cores, there does seem to be a notable advantage for the Ryzen 7 9850X3D in single-threaded or lightly-threaded tasks. Whether or not a 6-7% advantage in single-threaded workloads is worth the $30 (also 6%) price premium over the 9800X3D is up to the potential buyer to decide.

For productivity, however, the 9850X3D is not a CPU that you should go out of your way to buy. It can handle several workloads decently well, but the bulk of the 9850X3D’s value proposition (just like its predecessor) relies on its gaming performance. For the best of both worlds, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D remains AMD’s top CPU.

⭐Winner: AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D

The Ryzen 7 9850X3D marginally beats out the Ryzen 7 9800X3D in productivity tasks on the basis of single-threaded superiority alone. The boosted clocks directly translate into higher performance in lightly-threaded applications, which is something that doesn’t show up in games. Still, higher power consumption applies.

Overclocking: AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D vs AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

Since the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is a mid-generation upgrade, it does not offer any groundbreaking changes in its overclocking suite. The underlying feature set is the same between the Ryzen 7 9850X3D and the 9800X3D.

Just like the rest of the Ryzen 9000 series, the new Ryzen 7 9850X3D is fully unlocked with full support for manual overclocking with multiplier adjustments and voltage tuning. This is a common advantage of the Ryzen 9000 series X3D processors over the previous generations, which were quite limited in terms of overclocking due to the sensitive nature of the onboard cache.

The Ryzen 7 9850X3D can be manually overclocked with multiplier changes, but just like the rest of the Ryzen series, you are better off using Precision Boost Overdrive 2 (PBO2) and letting the CPU dynamically handle the boost clocks in relation to the temperature and available power. You also have access to Curve Optimizer and the new Curve Shaper feature, which is exclusive to Zen 5 CPUs.

While the basic overclocking toolkit remains identical between the Ryzen 7 9850X3D and the 9800X3D, the newer chip does start with a higher boost clock of 5.6 GHz. In our testing, games typically don’t call for more than 5.5GHz on this chip, which is a mark the Ryzen 7 9800X3D can easily hit with PBO enabled. Both support the same overclocking features, but the Ryzen 7 9850X3D has less to gain from them, at least when it comes to gaming. You can see that above in our 16-game geomean.

⭐Winner: Ryzen 7 9800X3D

Both CPUs share the same overclocking toolkit, and they can easily reach boost clocks 200MHz above stock with PBO enabled. In games, however, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D doesn’t benefit from those boosted clocks while the Ryzen 7 9800X3D does.

Power Consumption, Efficiency, and Cooling: AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D vs AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

Both the Ryzen 7 9850X3D and the Ryzen 7 9800X3D carry the same 120W TDP, but as we all know, TDP ratings don’t translate directly into real-world power consumption. We already looked at the power consumption figures during gaming, which saw the 9850X3D consume more power than the 9800X3D, and the same trend can be seen in our multi-core benchmarks.

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In idle conditions, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D consumed 22% more power than the 9800X3D in our tests; however, that result sounds worse than it actually is, as we’re comparing 18W to 22W. In an active idle scenario such as YouTube playback, we saw the difference between the two CPUs shrink to 9% or just 3W.

When we put the CPUs under heavy load, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D really starts to pull away from its sibling. The Cinebench 2024 multi-core render saw the 9850X3D consume around 11% more power than the 9800X3D, while the Linpack test yielded a 6.5% power consumption difference between the two CPUs. The 9850X3D consumed 7% more power in the Blender Monster scene and nearly 20% more power in Junkshop, which is a bit on the concerning side.

However, the 9850X3D does behave a bit better in certain other benchmarks. In the y-cruncher multi-threaded AVX test, the two CPUs are separated by a difference of only 1 watt, which disappears in the single-threaded benchmark. The two CPUs are essentially tied in the HandBrake x265 and SVT_AV1 power tests as well. The Blender Classroom test saw the 9850X3D only consume 3% more power than the 9800X3D, which is a negligible change.

For heavily demanding workloads such as Cinebench and Handbrake, we saw the Ryzen 7 9850X3D peak at around 170W of power, with most tasks consuming between 130W and 140W. It is interesting to note that both Ryzen 9000 CPUs consume much less power than the competing Intel CPUs, owing to their simple arrangement of eight cores in a single CCD. The Ryzen CPUs do consume a bit more power at idle, but that is not really a concerning point.

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A more interesting way to understand the power efficiency of the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is to look at our scatter plots. In the HandBrake x265 scatter plot, we see that the Ryzen 7 9850X3D and 9800X3D essentially lie on the same point, making them similarly efficient in this task. However, in the Blender Classroom scatter plot, the 9800X3D lies a bit to the bottom right of the 9850X3D, which means that it performs better than the latter while consuming a bit less task energy, therefore making it more efficient.

At the end of the day, AMD had to make a tradeoff in order to bump the boost clocks of the 9850X3D, and it seems like they landed on power consumption. The thermals of the 9850X3D seem to be quite similar to the 9800X3D in our testing, but the power consumption is in the range of 5-10% more, with some outliers reaching up to 20%.

⭐Winner: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

With lower overall power consumption and better efficiency, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D takes this round by a small but noticeable margin. Such fine margins do matter when you are looking at a mid-generation upgrade, especially when the competition in the space is fierce.

Pricing: AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D vs AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

AMD has kept it pretty simple with the pricing of the 9850X3D. The mantra seems to be “a little bit more performance for a little bit more money,” and that appears to be the case according to our test results. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D has an MSRP of $499 at the time of writing, while the older Ryzen 7 9800X3D had an MSRP of $479. Today, you’ll find it for as little as $430 and as much as $470.

Typically, the pricing comparison between two CPUs is not as straightforward as just comparing their sticker prices. Usually, it makes sense to compare the platform costs associated with the two CPUs in order to ascertain which CPU provides the overall better value for money. However, since the two CPUs in question are so similar and are compatible with pretty much the same hardware, there is little to separate the two except their going price.

Both these CPUs are compatible with AM5 motherboards, ranging from budget B650 boards at $120-$160 to premium X870 motherboards that can cost anywhere from $300 to $500 and beyond. It would make sense to pick an X870 motherboard with some beefy VRMs for the 9850X3D if you plan to do some overclocking as well.

DDR5 memory is skyrocketing in price at the time of writing, but that is an issue that is common to both our competing CPUs. Where the 9850X3D might differentiate itself is with the cooling solution and power supply of the build. If you plan to overclock the 9850X3D (either manually or with PBO2), we do recommend going with a more competent cooling solution, such as a 360mm AiO liquid cooler, which can cost around $150-200.

As established, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D also consumes 5-10% more power than the 9800X3D on average, and that can also impact the final cost of both systems. You could go with a more capable PSU for the 9850X3D build for surety’s sake, but ultimately, the difference in power consumption between the two CPUs is not enough to justify a step up in PSU wattage.

At the end, it comes down to value. The Ryzen 7 9850X3D costs 6% more than the 9800X3D, and performs about 2-3% better in games while being around 3-6% better in productivity tasks. It basically does what it says on the tin, without any extra bells and whistles. You have to bear the cost of increased power consumption as well, which makes the 9850X3D an unflattering deal all things considered.

⭐Winner: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

With a lower upfront cost, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is still the better bang-for-the-buck CPU. The extra $30 to $70 only seems to be justified if you are constantly chasing the top number in benchmarks.

Bottom Line: AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D vs AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

After running both CPUs through our detailed six-round gauntlet, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D and 9800X3D are in deadlock with three wins each. The edge here goes to the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. Although the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is faster in games, its boosted clock speed only really shines through in lightly-threaded productivity apps. In addition, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D can make up the performance gap with PBO in games, while the Ryzen 7 9850X3D has little to gain from even higher boost clocks.

You could justify either processor, with even more emphasis on the Ryzen 7 9850X3D if you don’t want to overclock. Where the Ryzen 7 9800X3D really pushes ahead is pricing and efficiency. It’s able to offer performance within the low single digits of the Ryzen 7 9850X3D and sometimes match it, all while consuming less power and selling for anywhere from $30 to $70 less.

⭐Winner: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

For absolute peak performance, the Ryzen 7 9850X3D technically comes out on top, even if the margins are sometimes by a fraction of a percentage point. If you’re building an entirely new PC with top-end gaming specs, an extra $50 or so is usually inconsequential; the Ryzen 7 9850X3D does what the Ryzen 7 9800X3D requires PBO for out of the box.

If you’re upgrading, however, there’s little reason to go with the Ryzen 7 9850X3D over the 9800X3D. Because of that, it’s the winner of this comparison, which is one of the closest we’ve ever done.