AMD Ryzen processors with 3D Vertical Cache technology, denoted with the "X3D" brand extension on processor model numbers, are showing unexpected popularity numbers with close to a quarter of respondents to a TechPowerUp Frontpage Poll question saying that they use one. In August, we asked our readers if they use a Ryzen X3D processor. The question was "Are you using an AMD Ryzen X3D CPU with 3D V-Cache?" This was a few months into the launch of the Ryzen 7000X3D processor series that restored the gaming performance leadership for AMD against Intel's 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" processors.

Since the poll went live in August, we've seen 31,862 responses. From these, 14,732, or 46% say that they use a classic Ryzen processor (one without 3D V-cache). followed by 9,780 or 31% saying they use an Intel processor; an impressive 4,316 or 14% saying they use a Socket AM4 Ryzen 5000X3D series processor (5800X3D or 5600X3D); followed by 3,034 or 10% saying they use the latest 7000X3D series "Zen 4" processors. The X3D series together make 7,350 votes, or 23%.

AMD's cheapest Zen 4 X3D processor is shaping up to be its most popular. Sales numbers from Germany's Mindfactory posted by TechEpiphany seemingly shows the recently launched Ryzen 7 7800X3D outselling last year's Ryzen 7 5800X3D nearly 2:1, with 4,720 7800X3Ds selling to the 5800X3D's 2,510 over a few week period. While these figures show sales for only a single region, evidence for this momentum is reflected in other regional retailers as well as some global outlets. On Amazon, for example, the 7800X3D has made a frequent appearance on the top 10 best selling CPUs list, with the rest of the Zen 4 lineup trailing well behind. Newegg reports the 7800X3D to be among the top 5 best selling CPUs on the site at time of writing. Microcenter also shows the 7800X3D and 5800X3D side-by-side in seventh and eighth places respectively for popularity.

Despite recent troubles with the AM5 platform and Zen 4 X3D processors, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is proving to be quite a success for AMD. The 7800X3D in our review was shown to be one of the most efficient processors we've ever tested, and offered gaming performance at or near the top of the charts across the gauntlet of games and resolutions thrown at it. The staggered release of the 7000X3D lineup, with the 7950X3D and 7900X3D launching first and the 7800X3D launching later, gave early signals that AMD knew what they had and wanted to push as many early adopters away from the better value chip as they could. Pricing for the Ryzen 7 7800X3D has been steady since it released, however we've already seen retailers offering discounts on the Ryzen 9 7950X3D and Ryzen 9 7900X3D, as they presumably struggle to sell as well as the more aggressively positioned 7800X3D.

Newegg is selling AMD's top-of-the-range Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPU for $629.99 - so $70 below the usual asking price in the USA - although buyers will have to venture onto the e-tailer's Ebay store in order to pick up some fancy 16-core silicon action, Newegg's main site lists the CPU for the regular sum of $699.99. This weekend's sudden discount represents the lowest ever price for Ryzen 9 7950X3D only two months into its product lifespan. According to Ebay's tracking stats (for this particular product page) only four units have sold in the past 24 hours, and that a "limited quantity" of AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPUs are available to purchase.

TPU's February review of this processor was filled with praise (plus awards: Editor's Choice & Innovation), but the high asking price was a point of contention. This weekend's (likely temporary) discount now gives the potential buyer a little bit of extra value - with the CPU's per core price dropping just under $40, and per thread cost being slightly south of $20. AMD's Ryzen 7000X3D series has been through a bumpy batch since late April - some owners have reported hardware burnouts and AMD is currently working on fixes. Buyer perception could have been affected by recent publicity, so it is possible that Newegg is attempting to get some surplus stock out of the door.

According to investigations undertaken by Igor's Lab and Hardware Busters this week it seems that AMD's problematic lineup of Ryzen 7000 & Ryzen 7000X3D CPUs are consuming unexpected levels of power in short bursts when running in idle mode. In conducting more in-depth tests over the past few days, Igor Wallossek and (outgoing TPU PSU expert) Aristeidis Bitziopoulos have both found that that the aforementioned AMD processors are producing (to the testers' slight concern) power spikes in situations involving minimal computing activity. It is not currently known whether the sharp climbs in power consumption are in any way related to the burnout issues experienced by unlucky overclockers this week.

Aris/crmaris (at Hardware Busters) says that he has tested many of the affected processors in the past, but was not privy to any major problems relating to burnout or power consumption spikes. By running new tests this week, using his own Powenetics v2 board, Aris has found out that: "There are some interesting facts here, which I didn't pay much attention to during the reviews because I only look at the average values and not the peak ones in idle. In the 7950X3D, there is a high spike during idle at 130 W, which is unjustified because the peak CPU load is only 3.53%. Even with the Curve Optimized enabled and a -15 setting, the idle power spike is close to 125 W, so something is happening there. On the 7800X3D, the spike during idle stays low, but this is not the case for the 7900X, which has an idle power spike at 109 W, while the peak CPU load at idle was at 5.12%, so these 109 W are not justified, either."

MSI has been in close contact with the AMD and has referred to their official technical guidance to provide users with a safer and more optimized hardware environment. To achieve this goal, MSI will release a new list of BIOS updates specifically for the AMD Ryzen 7000 series CPU.

According to AMD's design specifications, the Ryzen 7000X3D series CPU does not fully support overclocking or overvoltage adjustments, including CPU ratio and CPU Vcore voltage. However, AMD EXPO technology can be used to optimize memory performance by appropriately increasing the CPU SoC voltage to ensure system stability when operating at higher memory frequencies.

AMD has today released another statement to the press, following on from controversy surrounding faulty Ryzen 7000X3D series processors - unlucky users are reporting hardware burnouts resulting from voltage-assisted overclocking. TPU has provided coverage of this matter this week, and made light of AMD's first statement yesterday. AMD ensures customers that it has fully informed ODM partners (motherboard manufacturers) about up-to-date and correct voltages for the Ryzen processor family - yet user feedback (via online hardware discussions) suggests that standard Ryzen 7000 models are also being affected by the burnout issue - this side topic has not been addressed by AMD (at the time of writing). This second statement repeats the previous one's recommendation that affected users should absolutely make contact with AMD Support personnel:

AMD Statement"We have root caused the issue and have already distributed a new AGESA that puts measures in place on certain power rails on AM5 motherboards to prevent the CPU from operating beyond its specification limits, including a cap on SOC voltage at 1.3 V. None of these changes affect the ability of our Ryzen 7000 Series processors to overclock memory using EXPO or XMP kits or boost performance using PBO technology. We expect all of our ODM partners to release new BIOS for their AM5 boards over the next few days. We recommend all users to check their motherboard manufacturers website and update their BIOS to ensure their system has the most up to date software for their processor.

Anyone whose CPU may have been impacted by this issue should contact AMD customer support. Our customer service team is aware of the situation and prioritizing these cases."

The recent escalating AMD Ryzen 7000X3D Series CPU issue has come to our attention, ASRock treats this type of incident seriously and would like to offer the most updated BIOS across our entire range of AM5 motherboards. ASRock has released new BIOS as well as A-Tuning utility for following AM5 chipset motherboards which limit CPU voltage on certain power rails. We encourage users to update to the new BIOS with the appropriate voltage settings urgently to ensure system stability and durability.

Apart from bringing rock-solid hardware products to PC users, ASRock is also keen on working with AMD and integrating the most up to date technologies into its products. If you're unsure about the risk of using old BIOS version, please seek professional support from ASRock customer service.

AMD late Tuesday released its first media statement on the controversy surrounding Ryzen 7000X3D series processors burning-out as a result of voltage-assisted overclocking. We've covered this in detail, in our older article. The AMD statement reads that the company is aware of the issue, is investigating it, and in the meantime, is getting motherboard- and ODM vendors to ensure that their device firmware/BIOS operate Ryzen 7000X3D processors within the correct voltage tolerances. The statement also called for affected users to reach out to AMD Support.

AMD Statement"We are aware of a limited number of reports online claiming that excess voltage while overclocking may have damaged the motherboard socket and pin pads. We are actively investigating the situation and are working with our ODM partners to ensure voltages applied to Ryzen 7000X3D CPUs via motherboard BIOS settings are within product specifications. Anyone whose CPU may have been impacted by this issue should contact AMD customer support."

Since the highly-expected AMD Ryzen 7000X3D-series CPUs launched by AMD, GIGABYTE has provided the best quality AM5 motherboards to unleash the performance of these best gaming processors. GIGABYTE always work closely with AMD to ensure our motherboard design within AMD's guidelines and provide supreme performance with reliability from all aspect. To consistently deliver the most remarkable and solid platform, GIGABYTE release the new beta BIOS regarding to the recent concerns of potential motherboard damaged issues with Ryzen 7000X3D-series CPUs.

The latest beta BIOS provides a more secure range of SOC voltage settings to reduce the risk of CPU damage due to over-voltage settings. Meanwhile, through the GIGABYTE exclusive Performance Bung in the BIOS option, users can easily optimize the tuning process of CPU voltage setting, while obtain the optimal CPU voltage by AMD PBO2 option, which both help to unleash the foremost performance of Ryzen 7000 X3D CPUs.

BIOSTAR, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, and storage devices, has released a new BIOS update for its X670E VALKYRIE, RACING B650EGTQ, and B650M-SILVER motherboards. This update aims to limit the voltages of AMD Ryzen 7000X3D processors, ensuring improved CPU safety. Recent reports suggest that AMD Ryzen 7000X3D processors are prone to physical damage when overclocked with voltage assistance. This has prompted motherboard vendors to rush BIOS updates with voltage limiters, and BIOSTAR is no exception.

The new BIOS update from BIOSTAR restricts direct voltage to CPU Vcore Voltage, CPU SOC Voltage, and CPU MISC Voltage, preventing over-voltage and reducing the risk of damage to the 7000X3D series CPUs. Additionally, BIOSTAR also has PBO (Precision Boot Overdrive, Default: Auto) function to provide the best performance for 7000X3D series CPUs even under Voltage restrictions.

DOWNLOAD: the latest motherboard BIOS updates for BIOSTAR X670E Valkyrie | BIOSTAR Racing B650E GTQ | BIOSTAR B650M Silver

ASUS has released an official statement regarding the recently discovered issues with AMD Ryzen 7000 series CPUs, especially the Ryzen 7000X3D series. ASUS has also released EFI updates on Friday, that include thermal monitoring mechanism to protect motherboards and CPUs and is working on new updates that should be available soon and define new rules for AMD Expo and SoC voltage, which appear to be the main issue related to the CPU VDDIO/MC voltages.

We have already covered the first reports of damaged Ryzen 7000X3D series CPUs that suffered physical damage, and some motherboard manufacturers have already released new BIOS updates, including MSI. In the meantime, Roman "Der8auer" Hartung has also discovered that the issue might not be just limited to the Ryzen 7000X3D series, but could also impact the Ryzen 7000 X-series CPUs. Although there were no earlier reports on such issues, AMD Expo appears to be the main source of the problem and users can either disable it or manually set the SoC voltage, at least until motherboard makers come up with new BIOS updates or we hear an official statement from AMD.

Earlier this month, AMD wrapped up the launch of its incredible Ryzen 7000X3D processor series, which storms the company's gaming performance competitiveness against Intel back to the top, setting it up for the crucial Spring-Summer season, when PC gamers tend to upgrade and play the latest games. The 3D Vertical Cache memory deployed on the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, 7900X3D, and Ryzen 7 7800X3D, supercharges the gaming performance of these processors, and our testing has shown that the 7800X3D is all that an elite gaming PC build needs if all you're doing is playing games with some domestic productivity on the side; whereas the 7950X3D is for those into heavy content creation and application workloads besides gaming, which means AMD levels up to Intel on both fronts.

We have extensively covered the technical aspects of what 3D Vertical Cache is, and how it works, in our reviews of the 7950X3D and 7800X3D. It is a fast 64 MB slice of SRAM cache stacked on top of the 32 MB on-die L3 cache of "Zen 4" chiplets, which extends the L3 cache size to 96 MB. This has a profound impact on gaming workloads, as the CPU cores have more amount of game data at much lower latency than DRAM. As part of our coverage of the Ryzen 7000X3D processor series, we had the opportunity to interview AMD on some of the technical aspects of Ryzen 7000X3D processor series. We also took the opportunity to ask a few general questions about the Ryzen 7000 desktop processor series itself. You can also catch our interview with Robert Hallock, the former technical marketing head, for some additional questions that you may find relevant.

A newest leak shows more game benchmarks for the Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU that is scheduled to launch on April 6th. This time around, the results come from, what appears to be MSI's own internal testing results, claiming that optimizations can bring anywhere between 9 and 12 percent higher game performance compared to stock settings.

The list includes a total of eight games, tested at stock, EXPO DDR5-600, EXPO DDR5-6000 + High-Efficiency Mode, and EXPO DDR5-6000 + High-Efficiency Mode + Enhanced Mode Boost 3, showing gains of anywhere between 2 and 4 percent. The two modes are MSI profiles for Precision Boost Overdrive.

AMD has revealed more Ryzen 7 7800X3D gaming benchmarks ahead of the official launch scheduled for April 6th. AMD has previously shared some results comparing this 8-core/16-thread Ryzen 7000X3D series SKU with Intel's Core i9-13900K or the predecessor, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, showing up to 24 and 30 percent performance increase.

Now, a new slide has been leaked online, which is a part of AMD's Ryzen 7 7800X3D review guide, comparing it once again with the Intel Core i9-13900K, but going head to head in several more games. At 1080p resolution and high settings, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is anywhere from 2 to 31 percent faster, but there are several games where the Core i9-13900K is also faster, such as CS:GO.