If you’re in the process of building a new gaming PC, the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D should be your top CPU pick, especially since it’s discounted during the Amazon Spring Sale. For a limited time, this CPU has dropped to $419.95 with free shipping, which is the lowest price I’ve seen since its launch. Even better, it comes with a free voucher code for the highly anticipated Crimson Desert game, which will be released on March 19. The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is widely considered to be one of the best gaming processors on the market and outperforms even pricier AMD and Intel CPUs.
The Gamer’s Choice: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU for $419.95
Includes Crimson Desert
The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D boasts a max boost clock of 5.2GHz with 8 cores, 16 threads, and 104MB of L2-L3 cache. What really makes it excel in games, however, is the 3D-V-Cache technology that’s only found in AMD’s X3D lineup. Despite being the least expensive processor in this stack, the 9800X3D performs nearly identically in games compared to its more expensive siblings. It has the fewest number of cores, but that doesn’t matter for gaming. On Passmark, the 9800X3D has the second highest gaming score, trailing a mere 300 points behind the considerably pricier 9900X3D.
Note that there’s a new 9850X3D that’s now available. We reviewed it and, short answer, you’re not missing out.
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Review by Jacqueline Thomas
“The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is extremely powerful in games, which makes it easier to recommend than other recent processors like the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K or Ryzen 9 9900X. Especially if you’re building a rig with a powerful graphics card, the 9800X3D is going to be the best way to get the most performance out of whichever GPU you pair it with.”
You’re getting Crimson Desert for free
Crimson Desert is an open-world RPG that was released on March 19. It has received polarizing reviews, with the general consensus being that this is an epic game with a massive world, gorgeous visuals, and a plethora of content marred by bugs, glitches, quality of life issues, and an insipid story and characters. I myself have been playing this game and I am really enjoying it despite its flaws. More importantly, my system is equipped with a 9800X3D CPU and an Nvidia GPU. After over 20 hours of playtime, I’ve experienced stable performance and none of the crashes noted in our IGN review. In any case, you’re essentially getting this game for free with this deal, so you have nothing to lose.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
