AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D vs Ryzen 7 5800X3D: Which Is the Better CPU?

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Ryzen 7 5800X3D CPUs have 96MB of L3 cache, which boosts their performance in games. Let’s find out which is better.

Picture of Ryzen 7 9800X3D vs Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Ryzen 7 9800X3D vs Ryzen 7 5800X3D (Image via AMD)

Both the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and the Ryzen 7 5800X3D are AMD’s special X3D CPUs designed specifically for gaming, but they belong to two very different generations. Therefore, their performance capabilities are also quite different, especially in gaming. But how significant is that difference? That’s exactly what we plan to find out in this article by doing a detailed comparison of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. Read on to learn more.

Note: Parts of this article are subjective and reflect the writer’s opinions.

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D vs Ryzen 7 5800X3D: Detailed Comparison

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is based on the latest Zen 5 architecture, while the Ryzen 7 5800X3D is designed on the older Zen 3. The former also has a much higher clock speed than the latter. There are more differences between the two processors. Let’s look at their specs to get a better understanding of what they are capable of.

Specs Comparison

Picture of Ryzen 7 5800X3D die
Ryzen 7 5800X3D die (Image via AMD)

Here are the specs of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Ryzen 7 5800X3D:

SpecificationsRyzen 7 9800X3DRyzen 7 5800X3D
ArchitectureZen 5Zen 3
Core/Thread count8/168/16
Max clock speed5.2 GHz4.5 GHz
L3 cache96 MB96 MB
RAM supportDDR5-5600DDR4-3200
PCIe Gen supportGen 5Gen 4
Platform SocketAM5AM4
Thermal design power (TDP)120W Typical | 162W Max105W Typical | 142W Max
Manufacturing nodes4nm, 6nm7nm, 12nm

According to the specs table, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Ryzen 7 5800X3D have the same core count, but the former supports faster DDR5 RAM, PCIe Gen 5 support for faster SSDs, and a higher clock speed. Let’s see how the two CPUs perform in benchmarks.

Also, since the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is built for the AM5 platform, it is somewhat future-proof. However, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D is not, since it supports the older AM4 platform.

Synthetic Performance Comparison

Here’s how the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Ryzen 7 5800X3D perform in popular synthetic benchmarks:

BenchmarksRyzen 7 9800X3DRyzen 7 5800X3D
Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)20731453
Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)2333414804
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)33152113
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)1835011198
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)44313234
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)3999528307

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is around 44% faster than the Ryzen 7 5800X3D in single-core benchmarks, which is a substantial improvement.

However, in multi-core benchmarks, the former delivers 50.3% more performance than the latter, which is even higher than the single-core performance improvement. Therefore, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is faster and the better choice for both productivity and day-to-day usage.

Game Performance Comparison

Here’s how the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Ryzen 7 5800X3D handle some of the popular games on the market:

GamesRyzen 7 9800X3DRyzen 7 5800X3D
The Last Of Us: Part 1190 FPS137 FPS
Hogwarts Legacy85 FPS59 FPS
Cyberpunk 2077221 FPS154 FPS
Hellblade 2167 FPS123 FPS
Horizon Forbidden West230 FPS205 FPS
God Of War347 FPS292 FPS
Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered218 FPS170 FPS
Ghost Of Tsushima209 FPS200 FPS
Starfield142 FPS108 FPS

Note: The two CPUs were tested at 1080p resolution with the RTX 4090 GPU to eliminate any GPU bottleneck. All FPS numbers were sourced from the GAMING BENCH – RGB Tested channel on YouTube.

On average, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D delivers 25% more FPS than the Ryzen 7 5800X3D in nine popular games. However, this is just the average performance. The difference can be as much as 38.6% in some games like The Last of Us: Part 1, which is quite significant.

Price Comparison

Picture of Ryzen 7 9800X3D box
Ryzen 7 9800X3D box (Image via AMD)

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is currently selling $449.99 on Amazon. On the other hand, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D has stopped selling new and can only be purchased on the used market, where it is priced at around $300 to $400, so a direct price comparison is not possible.

Final Verdict on Ryzen 7 9800X3D vs Ryzen 7 5800X3D

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is significantly better than the Ryzen 7 5800X3D in almost every scenario, including productivity, general day-to-day tasks, and gaming. The former is also built on the modern AM5 platform and supports faster DDR5 memory. Therefore, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the better choice.

We cannot recommend the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, not because it is too slow, but because $300 to $400 for a used old CPU is not worth it.


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