AMD has cornered the PC gaming market with its Ryzen X3D processors (CPU), and the Ryzen 7 7800X3D remains one of the most popular chips around thanks to awesome performance and a modest price.
Performance hasn't changed (that's a good thing), but the price has come down significantly at Amazon. With a massive 29% discount and a $319.99 price that's as low as it's been since May 2024, it's a perfect time to give your PC the gaming CPU it craves.
AMD's Ryzen 7 7800X3D is a good buy at full price, never mind at 29% off
Whenever I see the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU on sale, I get a warm feeling inside knowing that more gamers are going to experience the magic of 3D V-Cache.
3D V-Cache is a proprietary AMD technology that changes the design of the CPU's L3 cache, stacking it vertically rather than horizontally. This allows the CPU to access data stored in the cache quickly and more efficiently.
And because there's so much extra L3 cache compared to normal — the 7800X3D has 96MB, whereas something like the Core Ultra 7 265K has just 30MB — the CPU doesn't have to lean on slow system memory nearly as much as usual.
These two benefits of AMD's 3D V-Cache directly boost PC gaming performance to the point that I've sworn off any other types of CPUs for personal use, barring a miraculous breakthrough elsewhere.
I use the newer Ryzen 7 9800X3D in my personal gaming PC to great effect, but at $120 more than the 7800X3D, AMD's slightly older chip is a way better deal that can land you average gaming performance within about 10% of the newer CPU.
For more information, including performance charts and further buying advice, I recommend checking out my AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D vs. 7800X3D comparison.
The 7800X3D that's so cheap right now is built on AMD's Zen 4 architecture, which offers modern DDR5 RAM and PCIe 5.0 support. Motherboards supporting the 7800X3D include A620, X670, B840, B850, B650, and X870, giving you plenty of options from which to choose.
The 7800X3D's 8 cores, 16 threads, and 5GHz boost clock aren't just for gaming, either. While you can certainly find a CPU that's better tuned for a life of productivity — something like the Ryzen 7 9700X we reviewed is a solid choice — the 7800X3D will certainly do a great job outside of gaming.
I'll wrap up this awesome deal highlight with a quote from our AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D review:
You'll benefit from cross-compatibility with CPU coolers designed for AM4 sockets with this AM5 beast, but the Ryzen 7 7800X3D locks you out of DDR4 memory options. Given how much outrageous raw gaming performance is on offer from this processor, it's not an unreasonable request for an upgrade. You'll benefit from the opposition if you rely on productivity apps, but AMD isn't pretending to appeal to that crowd.
I have no idea how long the 7800X3D will remain at its $319 sale price, which is only the second time in its history that it's dropped so low at Amazon. If you're looking to upgrade your PC with a powerful CPU, I wouldn't wait too much longer, as pricing history suggests the chip doesn't usually remain this affordable for long.
Should I buy the Ryzen 7 9800X3D instead?
AMD's Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the Zen 5 version of the 7800X3D, bringing extra efficiency and performance to the table that directly benefits PC gamers. You won't regret buying the 9800X3D at about $460 (as long as you're not stepping outside of your set budget), but those who want to maximize value should definitely consider the discounted 7800X3D first.
Which GPU should I pair with the Ryzen 7 7800X3D?
The Ryzen 7 7800X3D is a powerful CPU, and you don't want to bottleneck it with a weak graphics card. On NVIDIA's side, the XX70 and XX80 cards are a beautiful pairing, while on AMD's side I'd recommend checking out the Radeon RX 7800 XT, RX 7900 XTX, or the newer 9070 XT.
As always, you can first upgrade your CPU, and if your GPU can't keep up, you can chart a course to make the other upgrade happen ASAP.
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