If you’ve been holding out for a 9800X3D price drop before upgrading, then now is the time to pounce and grab yourself a great gaming CPU for a bargain price. The venerable chip is now at its lowest ever price on Amazon UK, meaning you can currently pick one up for just £368.97. That’s a solid saving of £81 compared to the £449.99 MSRP, and makes for a tempting upgrade path if you’re currently rocking a budget chip, such as a Ryzen 5 7600, in your system.
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
£449.99 £368.97
“The conqueror of frame rates is here. All hail the new gaming champ.” – Read our review.
We’ve been keeping a close eye on the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D price ever since the 9850X3D was unleashed, and, just as we hoped, it’s been steadily coming down. That’s great news, as while the Ryzen 7 9850X3D is indeed slightly quicker, gaining it a space on our guide to buying the best CPU, there’s really not much in it.
Just like the new chip, the 9800X3D has the same 64MB slice of 3D V-Cache sitting on top of its eight CPU cores, giving it a healthy leg up in gaming performance. The only difference between the two chips is an increase in clock speed. However, unlike its predecessor, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, the 9800X3D’s clock speed is still pretty fast at 5.2GHz, and you can also overclock it if you have enough cooling headroom.
Take a look at the above graph, showing Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail performance, and you can see the advantage of the 9800X3D over the 7800X3D in games, particularly at 1920×1080 and 2560×1440. Not only are the averages higher, but there’s also a ~20fps benefit in the minimums. Thanks to AMD’s Zen 5 architecture, as well as the extra clock speed, the 9800X3D is also a better chip than the 7800X3D for productivity tasks.
We’ve never seen a cheaper price than £368.97 for this acclaimed gaming CPU, and price trackers confirm it’s the cheapest price ever on Amazon UK. If you’re a PC gamer in Ol’ Blighty, this is a great time to bag yourself an X3D CPU upgrade.
Need a decent cooler to go with it? Check out our guide to buying the best CPU cooler for your needs, where we cover loads of affordable options that use both liquid and air to keep your temps in check.
