AMD preps Ryzen 9600X3D for those who want a taste of the fastest gaming CPU for cheap

AMD desktop processors are available across two platforms: socket AM4 and socket AM5. Both of these sockets are still going pretty strong, and the company is offering deals and discounts for both as it continues to release new SKUs for its older platform.

For example, the company launched an affordable X3D processor for AM4 this month with the new 5500X3D. These gaming CPUs from AMD have been a massive success, as both AM4 and AM5 X3D chips are quite popular among gamers, and for good reason, too. They are fast, very fast. The massive chunk of vertical 3D stacked last-level cache (LLC) Level 3 cache helps these processors a ton in scenarios such as gaming.

In our Ryzen 9 9950X3D review, we saw that 300+ frames per second are possible depending on the game title. While we did not review the 8-core 9800X3D, it has been found to be even slightly faster than the 9950X3D and is currently the most powerful gaming CPU on the planet. The Ryzen 9 9800X3D is selling these days for around $440-$500, and that may still be out of budget for many users.

As such, similar to the 5600X3D, which is a 6-core 5000X3D processor cut down from the 8-core 5800X3D, AMD is planning to launch a hexacore Ryzen 5 9600X3D that will have two cores disabled compared to the 9800X3D.

The information has been uncovered from the recent system integrator (SI) graphics driver for the recently launched Radeon AI PRO R9700 discrete GPU. The driver (Windows SI Driver for Radeon AI PRO R9700, Version 25.10.13.01) confirms the existence of 9600X3D as well as a 9600 non-X SKU and several other Ryzen PRO 9000 CPUs. The full list of upcoming CPUs is given below:

Ryzen 5 9600X3D
Ryzen 5 9600
AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 9945
Ryzen 7 PRO 9745
Ryzen 5 PRO 9645
Ryzen 5 PRO 9400

In terms of specs, the core configuration of the 9600X3D will be identical to the Ryzen 9600X and 9600, barring things like clock speeds. However, the six-core X3D will have a lot more L3 cache at 96 MB vs 32 MB on the 9600X and 9600.

There is no information on pricing at the moment.

Source: AMD (spotted by Mellodic Warrior on X)