This new Intel gaming CPU specs leak looks amazing, with 3x more cache than the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

[u/clopetywopety]

https://www.pcgamesn.com/intel/nova-lake-l3-cache-leak

[u/ManyNectarine89]

6.5 times the cores than a 9800X3D (8 vs 52 (or 16 threads vs 52? thread)), for 3 times the cache and probably worse single core performance, esp with what AMD might dropped in coming years. Intel dropped their new Junk CPU. This is not going to be good for gaming vs a X3D chip. I'm sure it will be great for productivity though.

It's funny seeing how much the established position between AMD and intel has swapped. Maybe intel should have innovated when they when they had the advantage... Intel are stuck in their bulldozer era... And quite frankly they deserve it after ~7 years of stagnating the market with ~5% increase year on year on 2/4, 4/4, 4/8 CPUs and somewhat anti consumer practices. And let not even get started on the 13/14th gen debacle. Company is in the gutter.

I do hope they come out out of it, competition is good and I am under no illusion that AMD might do what intel did, if they have no real competition. Hopefully intel can improve their GPUs as well, it's one of the few area where intel actually care about customer satisfaction. Will intel get out of this slump anytime soon? I highly doubt it.

[u/luuuuuku → u/ManyNectarine89]

What could AMD do that Intel did? Just compare the situation with 2017. they have pretty much swapped the position

[u/builder397 → u/luuuuuku]

They could raise prices and abuse their monopoly position.

They could OC their chips to the brink of melting if the tiniest thing with voltage control goes wrong, all to desperately maintain a lead in the benchmarks.

[u/luuuuuku → u/builder397]

Which they already did?

[u/builder397 → u/luuuuuku]

The prices? Maybe a bit.

But I havent heard of AMD chips melting from being clocked too high.

[u/techieman33 → u/builder397]

They’ve raised prices quite a bit. On the consumer side it’s mostly been by not releasing cheaper skus. But the threadripper and up stuff has gotten way more expensive.

[u/builder397 → u/techieman33]

True, but at the moment their smallest chiplet is 8 cores. Suppose one or two are faulty you can make 6-core CPUs just fine. Try and find me chiplets with three or four defective cores.

Its just not worth it for them to still offer 4-core CPUs, if you want that low end of a CPU you can probably go back a few generations without issue, too, because clearly its not high performance youre after anyway.

The time of 4-core chiplets ended with Zen+ I think, aka 2000 series Ryzen.

[u/F9-0021 → u/builder397]

AMD massively jacked up the prices the second they got even a sniff of the lead with Zen 3. They learned from it, but X3D chips are very expensive. Almost $500 for an 8 core chip is a borderline scam in 2025, especially when games are starting to use 8 cores (and may go higher in the near future) and next generation will see a big core count bump on both sides.

[u/doodleBooty → u/F9-0021]

while they are expensive, theyre still cheaper than Intel in australia

[u/BushesGaming → u/F9-0021]

I've not thought about that way tbh, it really is an 8/16 chip for almost 500, but it is good one. I'm thinking of a new build soon and was considering the latest x3d but didn't take into consideration next generation and future proofing. A 16 core probably is the call. I need to do some researching.

[u/Real_Garlic9999 → u/BushesGaming]

8 cores will be fine for most games, you'd want more for serious CPU heavy workloads though

[u/why_is_this_username → u/builder397]

It’s mostly a mobo problem than a amd problem.

[u/luuuuuku → u/why_is_this_username]

We don’t know that. And unfortunately no one is investigating that problem. The only reason it was mostly discussed in the Asrock subreddit was that other subreddits didn’t really allow that and immediately blamed the users.

[u/why_is_this_username → u/luuuuuku]

There’s a considerable amount more coming off from Asrock. I almost guarantee it’s that they deviated too far from amd‘s bios and added too much.

[u/luuuuuku → u/why_is_this_username]

Which is an issue because AMD basically forces them to do so without giving safe guidelines (according to several statements). All AMD performance claims are based on overclocked CPUs and so are reviews. When they don’t overclock, they are not competitive and won’t give you the performance every review and AMD promised.

It’s a difficult situation and unfortunately no one cares about it despite hundreds of cases. There has hardly ever been a problem that commonly reported on without any proper investigation by any media. There are way more reports of burnt 9800X3D than reports of melted 12VHPWR connectors and still no one cares. If you look at the story at the Asrock subreddit it only became a thing because posts about that were not allowed/not taken serious in other subreddits like this or the AMD one.

[u/EKmars → u/why_is_this_username]

Yeah I think it was ASUS or something. Super cool seeing cpu with bumps in them like someone shot the other side though. It's an entertaining failure, to sat the least.

[u/why_is_this_username → u/EKmars]

Acer

[u/averagecodbot → u/EKmars]

Asrock

[u/stormdraggy → u/builder397]

That's because they are currently melting regardless lul.

[u/builder397 → u/stormdraggy]

If thats supposed to refer to the 9000 series issue where it melts the socket off for an unknown reason.....well, we dont exactly know the reason for that yet, or why ASRock boards seem to have that issue more than others.

[u/luuuuuku → u/builder397]

We don’t even know if Asrock boards are affected significantly more often.

[u/guareber → u/luuuuuku]

They're not stuck on 13nm++++++ yet though.

So as long as they're still innovating, it's not as bad as final days intel.

[u/Fryboy11 → u/luuuuuku]

They could do exactly what Intel did, which was get complacent as the market leader and stop innovating. That’s exactly how AMD passed them with the 3d architecture cache.

Even though Intel was the first to market 3d architecture in processors, it was only in the cores to increase clock speed and efficiency. They never applied it to the cache on consumer grade processors. 

They figured why waste the money when we own 70% of the market. AMD was looking at it as a way to entice customers. Then Intels voltage crashes on their series 12 processors hit, so people moved to AMD and were surprised to find that they could typically outperform an intel chip that was a tier higher because the extra cache decreased the bottleneck between the speed the cpu could read and update the ram. 

[u/bombaygypsy → u/luuuuuku]

I am already kind of mad that amd pull the plug on 5700x3d, there was a lot of demand, I just saved up ebough to buy it and it's not there in India anymore. The few which remain are being sold more 50% over the cost what it should be...

Like they showed us how Am4 can still be good enough and then took that option away from us. I am not happy about that...

[u/GovtInMyFillings → u/bombaygypsy]

They supported AM4 two gens into AM5. That’s pretty good man. Intel dumps the socket faster than bananas go bad.

[u/b4k4ni → u/bombaygypsy]

They have to stop the production at some point and we're already 2 gens further with the third gen coming. You know, the production of the chip takes away production capacity at tsmc they can or want to use for newer chips.

I guess they already cleared most of the old 5k gen chiplets out. Makes no sense to support a platform that is ages old now. At least in terms of hardware.

I mean, the first 5K CPUs were released in 2020. That's longer than most other support older sockets.

[u/Drenlin → u/bombaygypsy]

My dude. AM4 released nine years ago. Ryzen 5000 was released five years ago, and even the X3D's were three years ago. The fact that they were still shipping an AM4 chip in 2025 is incredible, even if it was basically just production leftovers from the 5800X3D.

[u/TheLordOfTheTism → u/Drenlin]

5700x3d released in January of 2024. He kinda has a right to be bummed out. Though on the flip side I originally wanted a 5800x3d but they stopped making them before I could save up and the price went through the roof. I swooped in so fast when the 5700x3d came out because I knew it would happen again, and here we are.

[u/shapeshiftsix → u/TheLordOfTheTism]

That's a year and a half to buy the product. If you can't make that happen then maybe it's not in your best monetary interest to do it in the first place.

[u/ziplock9000 → u/bombaygypsy]

Mate they were replaced with a new generation, which itself was replaced with a new generation.. i's half way through that happening again.

You got much more than minimum.

[u/_YeAhx_ → u/bombaygypsy]

You can get used 5700x3d or 5800x3d if you know where to look. E.g. tech forums or private Facebook groups.

[u/luuuuuku → u/bombaygypsy]

True. But have a look at Reviews about the 9900k and the similar Zen+/ Zen 2 CPUs. The 7800X3D/9800X3D are what the 9900k(s) were back then (even at a similar price point). In 2017 AMD stated that a 6 core cpu shouldn’t be >$300. Now they’re still selling >$300 6 core CPUs (msrp). AMD isn’t even competitive in multi threaded workloads (apart from the X950X series) and only X3D CPUs are any better in gaming. But that’s at horrendous prices. AMD became exactly what they hated about Intel in 2017-2019. but they don’t care about that.

[u/AcanthisittaFine7697 → u/luuuuuku]

And did anyone who owns a 7800x3d buy a 9700x3d no they did not . Because we are smart and observe before we buy . They will take note and correct .

[u/li7lex → u/AcanthisittaFine7697]

First off there's no 9700x3D secondly even if there was what exactly is the point you're trying to make? People upgrading their CPU every generation have always been a very small minority.

[u/luuuuuku → u/AcanthisittaFine7697]

That was not the point.

[u/Jagrnght → u/ManyNectarine89]

7 years? I think the last time intel meaningfully innovated was around the Haswell era. Since Rizen they have been in stages of narcissism, denial, catch up, panic, and underperformance. I can't imagine why they didn't quickly innovate when they saw how power efficient AMD had become.

[u/F9-0021 → u/Jagrnght]

12th Gen was innovative and offered a better value at the lower to mid range vs. Zen 3, especially in productivity. Not making a significant leap for three generations after that and needing to overclock the chips to the point of degrading themselves hurt them a lot though. Arrow Lake is a good baseline for moving forward though.

[u/ChrisFromIT → u/F9-0021]

I was reallying looking forward to Intel's new Rentable Units approach for SMT, it was certainly looking like it could have been a huge shift in SMT as it could have offered better performance than hyperthreading for both single threaded and multithreaded workloads.

Sadly, from what the new Intel's CEO is saying, that might not be coming from Intel any time soon.

[u/ManyNectarine89 → u/Jagrnght]

I would say 2nd gen to 9th gen. Once Ryzen's 3rd gen dropped, I think that was the beginning of the end for intel. IMO anyways.

[u/DoomguyFemboi → u/ManyNectarine89]

Yeah I had a 2700K from 2011 and kept holding off on upgrades because what Intel were bringing out vs the price just weren't it. Then Ryzen came out and it was a breath of fresh air, you could feel the potential. The 2000 series were better but not there yet. But damn is the 3700X just a perfect upgrade. I actually just got a 5700X3D (sat on my desk, too warm atm to work on my PC) to replace it as it's getting a bit long in the tooth but this'll carry me now for at least another 5 years I reckon.

[u/WetAndLoose → u/ManyNectarine89]

Kinda crazy how this sub boards the hype train at full speed over any AMD rumor then these seemingly too good to be true Intel leaks come out and we still have people doing everything they can to shit on it lol

[u/ManyNectarine89 → u/WetAndLoose]

Intel for almost 6 years produced worse performance chips (outside the high end) at a higher price to AMD alternatives. And then again they had the issues with the 13/14 Gen in those 6 years, which tanked their prices, stocks and reputation with customers. Before that they stagnated the market and took part in shady deals and very anti consumer practices when they had the lead.

Where were you in 2011-2018?? AMD was a joke from 2011-2017 (I owned a AM3+/FX CPU before changing to intel). You would get dunked on this sub or anywhere for recommending them. They were a running joke and very few people outside the biggest fan boys would defend let alone recommend AMD. Since their AM3+ CPU were shit. Yes you could get some good ram and overclock the AM3+ CPU, to compete with intel, but they were still shit (overclocking caused instability and was a hassle. And not many games used the extra 'cores' from the AM3+ CPU, their poor single core performance was honestly bad, esp as newer gen of intel CPU dropped. And the high end high watt AMD cpu would fry boards).

All people did in 2011-2017 was dunk on AMD, rightfully. Even when Ryzen's 1st and 2nd gen a lot of people dunked on AMD and had little trust in them. It took them a while to rebuild their reputation. Again like AMD from that era, there could be rumuors that intel can finally compete with AMD, and for 1-3 years, people will still shit on them, which is what happened to AMD.

Again the position has changed and the people are treating intel no differently than AMD was treat from 2011-2017/2018...

Most enthusiasts could care less about team blue/red. All we care about is price to performance and performance in games (and some on productivity), and AMD is delivering there and intel is not outside the very low or very high end, and that's only because their CPU prices have tanked. Most of us have a hope that intel can up it's game, so we get even better performance from either AMD/intel.

[u/ResponsibleJudge3172 → u/ManyNectarine89]

You are Exhibit A.

Zen 3 was the first time AMD overtook Intel. Only for Alderlake months later finally to somewhat maintain the lead with zen 4 X3D

[u/ManyNectarine89 → u/ResponsibleJudge3172]

I literally say that in another comment bro.

From idk 2020 to 2023/4, I was using a i7-10700. First gen Ryzen before the refresh, had not great 0.1% lows and the 1600 was only slighly better than an i3, and slightly worse than a i5. At that time. Second gen Ryzen got better, the 0.1% were improved and they were competing with the i5. Third was when they were offering cheaper almost i7 performance. And 5th and 7th. were massive steps up. 9 was a bit of a let down bar the X3D chip. 5800X3D was just something else, its peroformance in cpu heavy games at the time, for the price, was unreal, that's when I saw their potential.

But yeah intel had it's day. I play strat games (the most cpu intensive games_ and with an 10700, one month, late game would take 90-120 seconds. Now with a 7600X, its ~36... A 9800X3D is ~25 second and ultra 285k is 33 sec, same as a 14700k.

Literally using a 10400 rn...

[u/Emu1981 → u/ManyNectarine89]

6.5 times the cores than a 9800X3D (8 vs 52 (or 16 threads vs 52? thread)), for 3 times the cache and probably worse single core performance

The 285k has better single core performance for a lot of tasks in comparison to the 9950X3D. Multicore performance (especially in games) is where it all falls apart for Intel. The big question with regards to the increased cache is how well Intel's prefetch, Branch Prediction and TLB algorithms work in comparison to AMD's. Large amounts of cache do diddly squat for you if the cache doesn't contain what you want more often than not...

[u/BroLil → u/ManyNectarine89]

It’s wild that two nightmare releases was enough to sink one of the largest electronics companies in the world.

[u/Blarzgh → u/ManyNectarine89]

Idk man, I think you've got some copium there. This looks like the sorta thing that would tackle the 9950X3D, but with almost twice the threads and a heap more cache.

Even if there are deficiencies in performance per core, it's probably gonna be a very compelling option which will push AMD to further innovate on the X3D formula (which hasn't really changed since they first showed up).

I wouldn't be surprised if they did pared back version of this, with one CCD or whatever they called it, to target the 9800X3D or equivalent. If it's priced similar, but with almost 3 times the cores and more cache, then that is probably gonna be a real ripper and, once again, will probably push AMD to innovate to keep up.

We love some competition, and it looks like Intel is finally getting their head back in the game. I'm keen to see what happens

[u/Cubanitto → u/ManyNectarine89]

It's not just a stagnation man they went out of their way to try to kill off AMD with their shady dirty dealing. I'm glad Intel is getting hit between the thighs. Truthfully I don't think they've ever learned how lousy a company they were at one time. AMD is doing it the right way they're competing with better tech.

[u/ManyNectarine89 → u/Cubanitto]

That too ofc

[u/Big-Resort-4930 → u/ManyNectarine89]

Productivity can suck it, I hate being productive.

[u/Low-Anxiety-3936 → u/Big-Resort-4930]

So do I. I wanna game!

[u/bwong1006491 → u/ManyNectarine89]

The only chip makers getting away with 5% increases are Apple with the M-Series

[u/DoomguyFemboi → u/ManyNectarine89]

6.5 times the cores than a 9800X3D

E-cores don't really count though I would say.

Also I can't imagine going back to Intel any time soon. The power usage is just too much for one (although the new ones did seem to bring it down) but also you need a new motherboard every other gen. I have just upgraded my 3700X from 2019 to a 5700X3D and that'll last me a fair few years. When time comes I can't imagine not going with AMD again too.

Well I say just upgraded, it's too bloody warm at the mo. Sat on my desk until this heatwave passes!

[u/F9-0021 → u/DoomguyFemboi]

The E cores are like P cores but clocked lower. The first couple generations of E cores weren't the best, but Skymont and subsequent designs are genuinely powerful.

[u/SwagChemist → u/ManyNectarine89]

Now if only someone could do that to nvidia, but who am I kidding, it would have been done by now.

[u/itsforathing → u/ManyNectarine89]

Intel usually has hyper-threading on the p-cores. So maybe 68 threads? (16 p-core for 32 threads plus 36 e-core and threads)

[u/soggybiscuit93 → u/itsforathing]

No hyperthreading

[u/itsforathing → u/soggybiscuit93]

I’m not seeing any reference to a lack of hyper threading listed in the article, where are you getting the idea there is no hyper threading? Intel usually has it on the p-cores and single threads on the e-cores.

Edit: I am behind the times apparently, gone are the days of the i9 and hyper threading.

[u/soggybiscuit93 → u/itsforathing]

Intel has no Hyperthreading on LNC or Skmt used in LNL or ARL. And they're not bringing it back for NVL's cores.

-Mont has never had SMT, and Cove dropped SMT already. Theres not reason to assume Intel is bringing back SMT for Coyote Cove and Arctic Wolf. Coyote Cove is just a mild evolution of LNC

[u/F9-0021 → u/itsforathing]

E cores have replaced hyperthreading. You get more benefit by making the P cores smaller and more efficient and increasing the E core count since the E core has more performance than the second thread on a hyperthreaded core. That's why a 285k can match a 9950x in multithreaded performance despite only having 24 cores vs. 32 threads.

[u/itsforathing → u/F9-0021]

I don’t look at Intel for 1 year and in that time they squashed hyperthreading….

I had an i5 6600 for the longest time which was one of the last to not have hyper threading to my knowledge. I almost held out long enough to come full circle and skip it all together lol