- AMD has announced that its Ryzen 9850X3D CPU will go on sale on January 29
- The new gaming chip is priced at $499 in the US
- It’s a mild bump in cost of around 5% over its predecessor, with a 400MHz jump in boost speed, making it a compelling new option
AMD has announced that its Ryzen 7 9850X3D processor – a chip that PC gamers are excited about as a step up from the 9800X3D – will be out in less than a week – and we’ve got a confirmed price.
VideoCardz reports that AMD’s David McAfee, Corporate VP of Client Channel Business, revealed on the X that “the world’s most advanced gaming processor just got faster” and that the Ryzen 9850X3D will retail for $499 in the US.
The CPU will go on sale on January 29 and the price will be in line with that in other regions. To put the US price into perspective, it’s just shy of the 5% increase on the MSRP that was pegged to the 9800X3D at launch, which is widely considered to be the current top gaming chip on the market.
The Ryzen 9850X3D offers an increase in boost speed to 5.6GHz, meaning it’s 400MHz faster than its predecessor (which ran at 5.2GHz), which is a significant bump. Other than that though, it’s the same spec as the 9800X3D.
Analysis: the price is right – assuming there are no equity issues or inflation
Some people who have bought a Ryzen 9800X3D in recent times may feel that their noses have been put out of joint a bit. Especially considering the chip has held its value—it still sells close to MSRP—and the 9850X3D doesn’t cost much more. At least not in theory, unless stock and availability issues increase the price.
In the end, those who bought the 9800X3D still got an excellent gaming CPU for their money, and the 9850X3D is essentially a higher-binned version (meaning a top-performance sample capable of having the maximum boost speed pushed further, with no other changes to the specs elsewhere as mentioned). In fact, if you were lucky with your 9800X3D, it might even be close to the 9850X3D in terms of gaming performance.
So spare any buyer’s remorse, but that said, the Ryzen 9850X3D is a welcome option to have in terms of the faster boost. And with the price tag nowhere near as high as some rumors led us to wonder – some European retailers had pre-release prices on their product lists as high as €700 (around $820, £600 or AU$1,200) – this is a great release for gamers looking for a fast CPU.
However, always remember that the GPU is the most important part of the equation for games, and the processor only comes more to the fore with certain games (or lower resolutions).
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