Today, we pit Intel's current-gen flagship Core Ultra 9 285K vs the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, the hands-down best CPU for gaming on the market, in a heated six-round match to find the winner.

WTF?! Some people prefer to hide their PCs to save desk space or maintain a minimalist aesthetic, but a few modders have taken extreme measures to conceal their rigs inside furniture. The latest example successfully crams a mid-range gaming PC into an unassuming office chair. A recent video from YouTuber and modder "Basically Homeless" showcases one of the most unusual methods for conserving space in a PC gaming battle station: turning the chair into a case mod. Instructions for 3D printing an enclosure to fit inside a FlexiSpot office chair are available to subscribers of the YouTuber's free-tier Patreon. Related reading: FlexiSpot C7 Ergonomic Office Chair Review Luckily, the chair FlexiSpot donated for the video has an opening between the seat cushion and the chair mechanism just wide enough to accommodate a mini-ITX motherboard equipped with a Ryzen 7 9800X3D and 64GB of RAM. Inserting 50mm aluminum standoffs provides enough space for a low-profile cooler, a flex power supply unit (normally used in server racks), and a mini-ITX Nvidia RTX 4060. After some trial and error, Basically Homeless designed and 3D printed a custom enclosure to conceal the PC components between the seat and cylinder with sufficient ventilation and several I/O ports. The I/O port openings support keystone modules, allowing the modder to hot-swap various ports such as HDMI outputs, USB ports, and headphone jacks. However, when using the chair PC normally, the only cable that is partially visible at the bottom is the power cord, which Basically Homeless ran through several holes he cut into the base of the chair. This leaves the display as the last component that normally requires wires, which prompted the most unorthodox step of the entire project. A wireless monitor that receives a video signal over Wi-Fi is one option, but it adds about 10 milliseconds of input lag, which Basically Homeless couldn't accept. So he ran another cable through the lumbar and headrest, which connects to a Bigscreen Beyond VR headset. Even when playing non-VR games, it (or, alternatively, a Meta Quest) can project a virtual 1080p screen in front of the viewer. Impressively, the PC components remain undamaged when reclining, and Basically Homeless doesn't feel them through the seat. However, he might have inadvertently turned it into a heated seat. // Related Stories In principle, the project resembles the Endgame Invisible PC, which modder and YouTuber Matthew Perks installed inside a desk last year. It includes a fold-out monitor, two PSUs, an RTX 4090, and liquid cooling.

The RTX 5060 is here, finally completing the 50-series lineup that debuted five months ago with the 5090. The new "mainstream" graphics card is far from cheap at $299/£270, but ought to offer reasonable performance and efficiency while adding the multi frame generation feature that's exclusive to this generation of GPUs. However, the 5060 also ships with just 8GB of VRAM, which could be a big limitation for those looking to play the latest graphics showcases. Before we get into our results, it's worth mentioning why this review is a little later than normal, coming a few days after the cards officially went on sale on May 19th. Normally, Nvidia or their partners send a graphics card and the necessary drivers anywhere from a couple of days to a week before the embargo date, which is typically a day before the cards go on sale. That's good for us, because it allows us to do the in-depth analysis that we prefer and still publish at the same time as other outlets, and it's good for potential buyers, as they can get a sense of value and performance and therefore make an informed decision about whether to buy a card or not - from what is often a limited supply at launch. For the RTX 5060 launch, Nvidia - via Asus - delivered a card in good time ahead of its release, but the drivers weren't released to reviewers until the card went on sale on May 19th, coinciding with Nvidia's Computex presentation. Without the drivers, the card is a paperweight, so any launch day coverage is necessarily limited - and in many cases, graphics cards went out of stock before the usual tranche of reviews went live from the tech press. It's a frustrating situation all around, and I doubt that even Nvidia's PR department will be thrilled that most reviews start with the same complaint. Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5060 gets the Digital Foundry video review treatment.Watch on YouTube Following the public release of the drivers, we've been benchmarking around the clock to figure out just how performant the new RTX 5060 is, where its strengths and weaknesses lie, and where it falls compared to the rest of the 50-series line-up, prior generation RTX cards and competing AMD models. Looking at the specs, you can see that the RTX 5060 is based around a cut-down version of the same GB206 die that powered the RTX 5060 Ti. The 5060 has 83 percent of the core count and rated power of the full-fat 5060 Ti design, with an innocuous three percent drop to boost clocks and the same 448GB/s of memory bandwidth. Unlike the 5060 Ti, however, which debuted in 8GB and 16GB models, the 5060 is only available with 8GB of frame buffer memory - a limitation we'll discuss in some depth later. For your 16.6 percent reduction to core count and TGP versus the 5060 Ti, you pay around 20 percent less - so the 5060 ought to be slightly better value. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and Monster Hunter World - 1440p resolution. We aren't at native resolution. We aren't on ultra settings, but both 8GB RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti see performance collapse. The 16GB RTX 5060 Ti works fine and delivers good performance - proof positive that 8GB is too much of a limiting factor for these cards. | Image credit: Digital Foundry RTX 5070 Ti RTX 5070 RTX 5060 Ti RTX 5060 Processor GB203 GB205 GB206 GB206 Cores 8,960 6,144 4,608 3,840 Boost Clock 2.45GHz 2.51GHz 2.57GHz 2.50GHz Memory 16GB GDDR7 12GB GDDR7 16GB GDDR7 8GB GDDR78GB GDDR7 Memory Bus Width 256-bit 192-bit 128-bit 128-bit Memory Bandwidth 896GB/s 672GB/s 448GB/s 448GB/s Total Graphics Power 300W 250W 180W 150W PSU Recommendation 750W 650W 450W 450W Price $749/£729 $549/£539 $429/£399 $379/£349$299 Release Date February 20th March 5th April 16th May 19th There's no RTX 5060 Founders Edition, as you'd perhaps expect for a mainstream model, with various third-party cards available in a range of sizes. The RTX 5060 model we received is the Asus Prime model, an over-engineered 2.5-slot, tri-fan design that is nonetheless described as "SFF-ready" due to its relatively modest 268mm length. On top of the robust industrial design, the card features a dual BIOS with "quiet" and "performance" options - always useful. In this case however, the cooler is so large that even the "performance" option is very, very quiet. The card ships with this preset and we recommend it stays there. Hilariously, the manufacturer product page recommends a 750W or 850W Asus power supply, though the specs page for the same model makes a more sane 550W recommendation. Regardless, you'll be good to go with a single eight-pin power connector. In terms of ports, we're looking at the RTX 50-series standard assortment, including one HDMI 2.1b and three DisplayPort 2.1b. Like the RTX 5060 Ti - but not AMD's just-announced Radeon RX 9060 XT - the RTX 5060 uses a PCIe 8x connection. That's perfectly fine on a modern PCIe 5.0 or 4.0 slot, but potentially problematic on earlier motherboards with PCIe 3.0 slots - something we'll test out in more detail on page eight. For our testing, we'll be pairing the RTX 5060 with a bleeding-edge system based around the fastest gaming CPU - the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D. We also have 32GB of Corsair DDR5-6000 CL30 memory, a high-end Asus ROG Crosshair X870E Hero motherboard and a 1000W Corsair PSU. With all that said, let's get into the benchmarks. Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Analysis To see this content please enable targeting cookies.

If you're thinking of jumping on the AMD bandwagon for your next upgrade, now is certainly the right time to do so. Earlier in March, AMD released its highest end model in its latest Zen 5 "X3D" stack: the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D. Although this processor has been out of stock at most retailers since its launch, Amazon has finally listed it back in stock starting today with no markup, although I don't know for how long. This is currently the best gaming chip across both Intel and AMD that it serves as a better option for creators than the previous chart-topper, the 9800X3D.The Creator's Choice: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D CPUMostly out of stock since launch back in MarchAMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D AM5 Desktop Processor$699.00 at AmazonCreative professionals who also want the best gaming chip on the market shouldn't think twice; this is the CPU to get. The new 9950X3D boasts a max boost clock of 5.7GHz with 16 cores, 32 threads, and 144MB of L2-L3 cache. In terms of gaming, it's only a few percentage points better than than the 9800X3D. However, for productivity use, it easily outperforms the other two Zen 5 X3D chips, and anything offered by Intel for that matter.AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Review by Jacqueline Thomas"The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D might be the most powerful gaming processor on the market right now, but that doesn’t mean it has a de facto lead on every other chip on the market. Most people will have no problem getting by with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which just so happens to be much much more affordable at $479. Instead, the 9950X3D is geared towards gamers that both play games and use creative apps like Photoshop and Premiere, the latter of which sees a 15% performance improvement over the 9800X3D."The Gamer's Choice: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPUAMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D AM5 Desktop ProcessorAMD's X3D series processors are gaming optimized thanks to AMD's 3D V-Cache technology. However, since all three CPUs have the 3D V-cache loaded onto a single CCD, you get roughly the same gaming performance across all three chips. The minor differences are mostly due to the difference in clock speed. The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D boasts a max boost clock of 5.2GHz with 8 cores, 16 threads, and 104MB of L2-L3 cache Although perfectly capable of handling multitasking, rendering, and creation, the limited number of cores means they aren't the ideal processors for those tasks. However, this is an absolute monster of a processor for gaming, especially at this price point.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."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.

The Nvidia RTX 5060 is based on the same GB206 silicon as the more expensive 5060 Ti series. This means the 181 mm² die contains 21.9 billion transistors – though not all are active in this model, as the core count has been reduced by 17%. Still, the RTX 5060 features 25% more cores than the previous-gen 4060. Not only that, but thanks to the use of 28 Gbps GDDR7 memory, bandwidth has increased by 65% to 448 GB/s. On paper, this is a $299 graphics card (MSRP) but we'll have to see what's the retail pricing looks like post-launch. This model is also limited to just 8 GB of VRAM, which is bad, however on the upside there is only one configuration available, making it far less of a trap for gamers compared to the more expensive 8GB RTX 5060 Ti. GeForce RTX 5060GeForce RTX 4060GeForce RTX 5060 TiGeForce RTX 4060 Ti Price MSRP $300 $300 $380 / $430 $400 / $500 Release Date May 2025 June 2023 April 2025 May 2023 Process TSMC 4N Die Size (mm2) 181 mm² 158.7 mm² 181 mm² 187.8 mm² Core Config 3840:120:48 3072:96:48 4608:144:48 4352:136:48 L2 Cache (MB) 32 MB 24 MB 32 MB 32 MB GPU Boost Clock 2497 MHz 2460 MHz 2572 MHz 2540 MHz Memory Capacity 8GB 8GB 8GB / 16GB 8GB / 16GB Memory Speed 28 Gbps 17 Gbps 28 Gbps 18 Gbps Memory Type GDDR7 GDDR6 GDDR7 GDDR6 Bus Type / Bandwidth128-bit, 448 GB/s128-bit, 272 GB/s128-bit, 448 GB/s128-bit, 288 GB/s PCIe Bus Interface PCIe 5.0 x8 PCIe 4.0 x8 PCIe 5.0 x8 PCIe 4.0 x8 Total Board Power 145 W 115 W 180 W 160 W Making the VRAM limitation even more problematic is the use of a PCIe 5.0 x8 bus interface. While not ideal even for PCIe 5.0-enabled systems, it becomes a major issue for those on older hardware, especially when restricted to PCIe 3.0. We can explore this further on a later extended review. Believe it or not, we set up an AM5 test system in our hotel room while attending Computex 2025 in Taiwan. We're using a Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor we brought along, paired with a G.Skill Trident Z5 DDR5-6000 CL30 memory kit and our usual test SSD. A big thank you to MSI for providing the additional components needed to make this review possible. It's been a challenging but worthwhile process to put this together – so let's dive into the data… Benchmarks Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 First up is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, where the RTX 5060 averaged just 48 fps at 1080p. That's the same level of performance seen with the much older RTX 3060 Ti, making it only 17% faster than the RTX 4060. Increasing the resolution using the Epic preset isn't really viable. The RTX 5060 simply isn't powerful enough and, with just 8 GB of VRAM, quickly runs out of memory. For example, the 5060 Ti 16 GB model is usable here, while the 8 GB version struggles significantly. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered In Oblivion Remastered, the RTX 5060 delivered an average of 45 fps at 1080p, which is roughly on par with the RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 3070 – about 25% faster than the RTX 4060. At 1440p, VRAM limitations show up again. While 34 fps is technically playable, 1% lows drop to just 18 fps, resulting in a very choppy experience. Delta Force Performance in Delta Force looks much better, with the RTX 5060 hitting 138 fps at 1080p. However, this is still in line with the RTX 3060 Ti and actually a bit slower than the RTX 4060 Ti. At 1440p, the RTX 5060 again lands between the 3060 Ti and 3070, though this time its performance is closer to the 3070. Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl In Stalker 2, the RTX 5060 averaged 47 fps at 1080p – once again similar to the RTX 3060 Ti, and just a 9% improvement over the RTX 4060. At 1440p, the 8 GB VRAM buffer becomes a major bottleneck, dropping average frame rates to just 6 fps. In this state, the game is essentially unplayable. Counter-Strike 2 The RTX 5060 excels as an esports GPU, delivering strong performance in Counter-Strike 2 at 1080p using the medium preset. Impressively, it offers a 27% increase over the RTX 4060 and matches the performance of the older RTX 3070. At 1440p, performance remained excellent, averaging 370 fps – slightly ahead of the Radeon RX 7700 XT. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Space Marine 2 ran very well at 1080p, with the RTX 5060 averaging 100 fps, providing a smooth experience and a 23% improvement over the RTX 4060. At 1440p, performance improved by a massive 33% over the 4060, coming very close to RX 7700 XT levels. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Star Wars Jedi: Survivor also ran smoothly, with 95 fps on average at 1080p. This level of performance puts the RTX 5060 in the same range as the RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 3070. At 1440p, the trend continues: 57 fps on average matches 4060 Ti and 3070 levels and represents a 30% uplift over the RTX 4060 – an impressive result. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 saw the RTX 5060 render 75 fps at 1080p, which was only a 10% uplift over the 4060 and 7% slower than the RTX 3070 – not a great result overall. It's a similar story at 1440p, where performance is essentially on par with the RTX 3060 Ti. That's a disappointing outcome given how much time has passed since that GPU's release. A Plague Tale: Requiem In A Plague Tale: Requiem at 1080p, the RTX 5060 delivered just a 5% improvement over the RTX 3070, making it slightly slower than the 7700 XT. However, it was a significant 36% faster than the RTX 4060. At 1440p, it continued to outperform the 4060 with a 33% advantage, although it only managed to match the performance of the RTX 3070 and 4060 Ti. Starfield Starfield performance was even weaker. At 1080p, the RTX 5060 matched the RTX 3060 Ti with just 55 fps on average. At 1440p, the margin remained narrow, with the RTX 5060 averaging 44 fps – just 5% faster than the 3060 Ti. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Performance in Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p was solid. The RTX 5060 averaged 100 fps, putting it on par with the 4060 Ti and 28% ahead of the RTX 4060. At 1440p, it maintained strong performance with 66 fps on average, again delivering results similar to the 4060 Ti and RTX 3070 – 35% faster than the 4060 in this case. God of War Ragnarök The RTX 5060 delivered surprisingly strong results in God of War Ragnarök at 1080p, averaging 128 fps – an impressive 45% improvement over the RTX 4060. That margin was reduced at 1440p, but the 5060 still came in 32% faster than the 4060, again delivering performance comparable to the RTX 3070 and 4060 Ti. Dying Light 2 Stay Human In Dying Light 2, the RTX 5060 effectively matched the RTX 3070 and 4060 Ti at 1080p. At 1440p, the story remained consistent – though here, the Arc B580 also entered the performance mix. Dragon Age: The Veilguard Interestingly, Dragon Age: The Veilguard proved more difficult. At 1080p, the RTX 5060 rendered just 68 fps, making it only 11% faster than the RTX 4060 and notably slower than both the RTX 3070 and 4060 Ti. At 1440p, the performance gap narrowed, with the 5060 aligning more closely with the RTX 3070 and 4060 Ti, though average frame rates dropped to 49 fps – not exactly impressive. Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered Spider-Man Remastered posed no challenge for the RTX 5060 at 1080p. It averaged 159 fps, narrowly edging out the 4060 Ti and RTX 3070, and delivering a 25% uplift over the RTX 4060. At 1440p, performance remained strong with 110 fps on average. Relative performance was typical, closely matching the Arc B580, 4060 Ti, and RTX 3070. Hogwarts Legacy Performance in Hogwarts Legacy at 1080p was also impressive. The RTX 5060 averaged 101 fps – slightly faster than the RTX 3070, significantly ahead of the 4060 Ti, and 44% faster than the RTX 4060. This game is very memory-intensive, so the high-speed GDDR7 memory is well utilized here. At 1440p, a different bottleneck appears. The RTX 5060 only matched the 4060 Ti, resulting in a 13% performance uplift over the 4060. The Last of Us Part I In The Last of Us Part I, the RTX 5060 delivered 85 fps at 1080p, putting it on par with the 4060 Ti and 25% faster than the RTX 4060. However, at 1440p, performance fell apart. With just 8 GB of VRAM, the 5060 couldn't maintain consistent frame times using ultra-quality settings. Star Wars Outlaws Finally, in Star Wars Outlaws, the RTX 5060 struggled. At 1080p, it rendered only 42 fps – a mere 8% improvement over the RTX 4060. At 1440p, frame rates dropped further to 31 fps, making it 19% faster than the 4060 but still delivering very weak performance overall. Performance Summary 1080p Across the 18 games tested, the RTX 5060 matched the performance of the RTX 4060 Ti and RTX 3070, while coming in 6% slower than the 7700 XT. It was also 22% faster than the RTX 4060, which aligns closely with Nvidia's official claims. 1440p At 1440p, we saw several examples where 8 GB GPUs began to fall apart. In some cases, performance appeared acceptable, but the visual quality suffered due to missing textures that couldn't fit into local video memory. Overall, the RTX 5060 remained on par with the RTX 3070 and 4060 Ti, though it was just 6% faster than Intel's Arc B580 and 27% faster than the RTX 4060. Ray Tracing Performance RT - Alan Wake II As expected, achieving a high-end ray tracing experience is difficult – if not impossible – with the RTX 5060. The GPU simply doesn't have enough power, and its 8 GB of VRAM is insufficient for ray tracing in modern titles. For example, in Alan Wake II at 1080p with DLSS Quality enabled, the RTX 5060 averaged just 36 fps. That made it 20% faster than the RTX 4060, but 14% slower than the 4060 Ti. Those hoping to enable ray tracing at 1440p will be disappointed – it's simply not viable on this GPU. RT - Cyberpunk 2077 Thanks to DLSS, it's possible to approach 60 fps at 1080p in Cyberpunk 2077 using the Ultra RT preset. However, since this relies on upscaling, it's not true 1080p rendering. Performance is comparable to the Arc B580 – not a particularly strong result. At 1440p, ray tracing is off the table. We also encountered VRAM limitations during our brief testing. RT - Spider-Man Remastered Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered is a well-optimized title, and even with ray tracing maxed out, the RTX 5060 managed an impressive 112 fps on average at 1080p – similar to the 4060 Ti. At 1440p, the RTX 5060 performed even better, averaging 109 fps and pulling well ahead of the 4060 Ti. That's a solid result, nearly matching the RTX 4070. Still, you'd typically expect a product labeled "5060" to at least match the previous-generation GPU positioned one tier higher. RT - Dying Light 2 At upscaled 1080p with the high ray tracing preset, Dying Light 2 ran at 72 fps on the RTX 5060 – matching the 7700 XT and 4060 Ti. This is usable performance, though not outstanding, despite being almost 30% faster than the RTX 4060. At 1440p, the RTX 5060 struggled more, delivering just 48 fps on average. This result was still similar to the 7700 XT and 4060 Ti. Cost per Frame MSRP We know MSRP isn't always reflective of reality, especially at launch, but it's still useful for establishing a baseline. If all GPUs were sold at their suggested prices, the Arc B580 would offer the best value, followed by the RX 9070, and then the RTX 5060. At MSRP, the 5060 comes in at a cost per frame of $5.35 – a 21% improvement over the RTX 4060 and a 30% improvement over the RTX 3060. That sounds solid, or at least it would be if the card had more VRAM. We'll come back to that shortly. For now, let's take a look at real retail pricing. Real Retail Pricing (USA) At the time of writing this review, the RTX 5060 was available and in stock on Newegg for $330 – about 10% over MSRP. In the current market, that makes it relatively decent value, assuming you ignore the elephant in the room: the 8 GB VRAM buffer. Even when factoring in the poor results seen in some VRAM-limited games, particularly in titles where missing textures or inconsistent frame times become an issue, the RTX 5060 still manages to be 8% better value than the 7800 XT. That's not a strong showing considering the Radeon GPU comes with 16 GB of VRAM. Compared to the outgoing RX 7600, it's 14% better value, and 21% better value than remaining RTX 4060 stock. So, given today's market conditions, the RTX 5060 offers decent value for buyers looking to purchase a brand-new GPU. But with just 8 GB of VRAM, it's not a product we can recommend at that price. It's Not What You Think So there you have it. On the surface, the RTX 5060 appears to stack up fairly well. If you don't look too closely, you might even call it good value. But deeper analysis reveals a troubled product that will almost certainly age incredibly poorly. As we've clearly established by now, 8 GB of VRAM is simply not enough – and in 2025, it should not exist on any GPU priced above $200. As an esports card, it holds up reasonably well, though if that's your target use case, we'd suggest exploring the second-hand market instead. It's frustrating how good the RTX 5060 could have been. Even with just 12 GB of VRAM, we might have been able to tentatively recommend it at its current price. With 16 GB, it could have been a genuinely solid product. As it stands, the RTX 5060 is effectively a discounted RTX 4060 Ti – offering about 25% savings. That might sound appealing, but nearly two years after the 4060 Ti's release, it's hardly exciting. Looking further back, the 5060 essentially offers RTX 3070-like performance at a 40% discount – but nearly five years have passed since Ampere launched. In our opinion, Nvidia had a clear opportunity to deliver a meaningful upgrade here. Instead, they've recycled the same class of GPU for five years, offering incremental discounts with each release. The real challenge for Nvidia will be the incoming Radeon RX 9060 XT series. If AMD's numbers prove accurate, the RTX 5060 won't be worth considering – it's dead on arrival, at least for buyers who follow real, independent reviews. On that note, Nvidia has handled this launch very poorly. It's been a PR disaster. Ironically, Nvidia's marketing may be more effective than AMD's at convincing GeForce owners to switch to Radeon. In fact, this might be the only way that shift was ever going to happen. That's going to wrap up our review of the RTX 5060. We debated calling it a preview rather than a full review – but claiming an "RTX 5060 preview" feels like a bit of a self-own at this point. So let's call it a quick review. We'll cover more details, including ray tracing performance, power consumption, and overclocking, once we're back from Computex. Needless to say, Steve has outdone himself to deliver a comprehensive and honest look at this GPU under the circumstances. If you've found it helpful, we appreciate your support. Shopping Shortcuts: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 on Amazon Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB on Amazon Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 on Amazon AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT on Amazon AMD Radeon RX 9070 on Amazon Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti on Amazon Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 on Amazon

Menu Home News Hardware Gaming Mobile Finance Deals Reviews How To Wccftech Deals AMD’s 16-Core, 32-Thread Ryzen 9 9950X3D Price Is Slowly Stabilizing, With The Latest Amazon Stock Going For $749.99, A $50 Increase Over Its MSRP, So Do Not Miss Out [Update] Omar Sohail • May 21, 2025 at 03:15pm EDT A couple of months after the Ryzen 7 9800X3D’s release, AMD followed up with the launch of the Ryzen 9 9900X3D and Ryzen 9 9950X3D launch, and as you can imagine, it did not take long for the higher core variants of the desktop manufacturer’s ‘X3D’ range of processors to quickly sell out on Amazon. There have been instances where both of these SKUs have been restocked, but at overly inflated prices. Fortunately, some sanity has prevailed, and the 16-core and 32-thread Ryzen 9 9950X3D has been re-listed on the online retailer for $749.99. Keep in mind that AMD launched the aforementioned CPU at $699, so even if it is available for $749.99, consider yourself lucky because there have been occasions where this part was being sold for over $900. Regardless, if you want to boost your gaming performance and breeze through those taxing productivity-centric applications and have a budget that can accommodate this purchase, then we will always encourage buyers to get hold of the Ryzen 9 9950X3D. This CPU is compatible with the same set of motherboards that can slot in AMD’s non-X3D lineup of processors, so if you have a beefy GPU but still feel that your framerate could be on the higher side, you can pick up the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and say goodbye to those sub-60FPS sessions. This is all possible thanks to the enormous amounts of L3 cache that AMD incorporates in its chip, which is 128GB, allowing for unrivaled gaming performance. At the time of writing, there were ‘50+ carts’ remaining in stock on Amazon, and while that gives you plenty of time, those units can drastically dip in an instant. If you have a certain requirement for this CPU and have the budget to spare, then $749.99 will look like chump change, especially if you plan to keep this processor for several years. Update: The Ryzen 9 9950X3D receives a price reduction by an additional $50, which means that you can get each unit for $699, which is the actual MSRP of the desktop CPU. Now, there is even more good news, because the Ryzen 9 9900X3D has also been restocked on Amazon, and it is available for $599, but limited stock remains for now. Get the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D from Amazon - $699 Get the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D from Amazon - $599 Explore more AMD Ryzen 9000 desktop processors here See the latest technology deals that Amazon has discounted today See what else Amazon has discounted today Deal of the Day Subscribe to get an everyday digest of the latest technology news in your inbox Follow us on Topics Sections Company Some posts on wccftech.com may contain affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com © 2025 WCCF TECH INC. 700 - 401 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada

PC Builds $8000* Disaster Prebuilt PC - Corsair & Origin Fail AgainMay 19, 2025Last Updated: 2025-05-19We test Origin's expensive PC’s thermals, acoustics, power, frequency, and perform a tear-downThe HighlightsOur Origin Genesis PC comes with an RTX 5090, 9800X3D, and 32GB of system memoryDue to poor system thermals, the memory on the GPU fails our testingThe fans in the system don’t ramp up until the liquid-cooled CPU gets warm, which means the air-cooled GPU temperature suffersOriginal MSRP: $6,050+Release Date: January 2025Table of ContentsAutoTOC Our fully custom 3D Emblem Glasses celebrate our 15th Anniversary! We hand-assemble these on the East Coast in the US with a metal badge, strong adhesive, and high-quality pint glass. They pair excellently with our 3D 'Debug' Drink Coasters. Purchases keep us ad-free and directly support our consumer-focused reviews!IntroWe paid $6,050 for Origin PC’s 5090-powered Genesis when it launched, or $6,500 after taxes. Today, a similar build has a list price of $8,396. Markup is $1,700 to $2,500 over DIY. This computer costs as much as an RTX Pro 6000, or a used car, or a brand new Kia Rio with a lifetime warranty in 2008 with passenger doors that fall off…The point is, this is expensive, and it also sucks.Editor's note: This was originally published on May 16, 2025 as a video. This content has been adapted to written format for this article and is unchanged from the original publication.CreditsTest Lead, Host, WritingSteve BurkeVideo Editing, CameraMike GaglioneTesting, WritingJeremy ClaytonCameraTim PhetdaraWriting, Web EditingJimmy ThangThe RTX 5090 is the most valuable thing in this for its 32GB of VRAM, and to show you how much they care about the only reason you’d buy this prebuilt, Origin incinerates the memory at 100 degrees Celsius by choosing to not spin the fans for 8 minutes while under load. The so-called “premium” water cooling includes tubes made out of discolored McDonald’s toy plastic that was left in the sun too long, making it look old, degraded, and dirty.But there are some upsides for this expensive computer. For example, it’s quiet, to its credit, mostly because the fans don’t spin…for 8 minutes.OverviewOriginally, this Origin Genesis pre-built cost $6,488 – and that’s after taxes and a $672 discount off the initial sticker price of $6,722. We ordered it immediately after the RTX 5090 launch, which turned out to be one of the only reliable ways to actually get a 5090 with supply as bad as it was (and continues to be). It took a while to come in, but it did arrive in the usual Origin crate.We reviewed one of these a couple years ago that was a total disaster of a combo. The system had a severely underclocked CPU, ridiculously aggressive fan behavior (which is the opposite of the system we’re reviewing today), chipped paint, and a nearly unserviceable hardline custom liquid cooling loop. Hopefully this one has improved. And hopefully isn’t 1GHz below spec.Parts and PriceOrigin PC RTX 5090 + 9800X3D "Genesis" Part Prices | GamersNexusPart NameRetail Price 4/25MotherboardMSI PRO B650-P WIFI$190CPURyzen 7 9800X3D$480Graphics CardNVIDIA RTX 5090 Founders Edition$2,000RAMCorsair Vengeance DDR5-6000 (2x16GB)$93SSD 1Corsair MP600 CORE XT 1TB PCIe 4 M.2 SSD$70Custom Loop"Hydro X iCUE LINK Cooling" / Pump, Rad, Block, Fittings$712Fans12x Corsair iCUE LINK RX120 120mm Fan$360CaseCorsair 7000D Airflow$240PSUCorsair RM1200x SHIFT 80+ Gold PSU$230RGB/Fan Controller2x Corsair iCUE Link System Hub$118Operating SystemWindows 11N/AT-ShirtORIGIN PC T-ShirtN/AMousepadORIGIN PC Mouse PadN/AShipping"ORIGIN Maximum Protection Shipping Process: ORIGIN Wooden Crate Armor"N/A???"The ORIGIN Difference: Unrivaled Quality & Performance"PricelessTotal retail cost of all parts as of April 2025$4,493We’ll price it out based on the original, pre-tariff $6,050 build before taxes and with a 10% off promo. Keep in mind that the new price is $7,500 to $8,400, depending on when you buy.The good news is that nothing is proprietary – all of its parts are standard. The bad news is that this means we can directly compare it to retail parts which, at the time we wrote this piece, would cost $4,493, making for a $1,557 markup compared to the pre-tax subtotal. That’s a huge amount to pay for someone to screw the parts together. Given the price of the system, the MSI PRO B650-P WIFI motherboard and 1TB SSD are stingy and the 7000D Airflow case is old at this point. The parts don’t match the price.Just two months after we ordered and around when it finally arrived, Origin now offers a totally different case and board with the Gigabyte X870E Aorus Elite. The base SSD is still just 1TB though – only good enough for roughly two or three full Call of Duty installs. The detailed packing sheet lists 22 various water cooling fittings, but, curiously, the build itself only has 15, plus one more in the accessory kit, making it 16 by our count. We don’t know how Origin got 22 here, but it isn’t 22. Hopefully we weren’t charged for 22. Oh, and it apparently comes with “1 Integrated High-Definition.” Good. That’s good. We wouldn’t want 0 integrated high definitions.Similar to last time, you also get “The ORIGIN Difference: Unrivaled Quality & Performance” as a line item. Putting intangible, unachievable promises on the literal receipt is the Origin way: Origin’s quality is certainly rivaled.Against DIY, pricing is extreme and insane as an absolute dollar amount when the other SIs are around $500-$800 markup at the high end. In order for this system to be “worth” $1,500 more than DIY, it would need to be immaculate and it’s not. The only real value the PC offers is the 5090. Finding a 5090 Founders Edition now for $2,000 is an increasingly unlikely scenario. Lately, price increases with scarcity and tariffs have resulted in 5090s closer to $2,800 or more, so the markup with that instead would be $777 if we assume a 5090 costs $2,800. That’s still a big markup, and the motherboard is still disappointing, the tubes are still discolored, the SSD is too small, and it still has problems with the fans not properly spinning, but it’s less insane.Build QualityGetting into the parts choices:This new Genesis has a loop that’s technically set up better than the last one, but it only cools the CPU. That means we have a $6,500 computer with water cooling, but only on the coolest of the two silicon parts -- the one that pulls under 150W. That leaves the 575W RTX 5090 FE to fend for itself, and that doesn’t always go well.Originally, Origin didn’t have the option to water cool the 5090. It’s just a shame that Origin isn’t owned by a gigantic PC hardware company that manufactures its own water cooling components and even has its own factories and is publicly traded and transacts billions of dollars a year to the point that it might have had enough access to make a block... A damn shame. Maybe we’ll buy from a bigger company next time.At least now, with the new sticker price of $8,400, you can spend another $200 and add a water block to the GPU. Problem solved -- turns out, we just needed to spend even more money. Here’s a closer look at Origin’s “premium” cooling solution, complete with saggy routing that looks deflated and discolored tubing that has that well-hydrated catheter tube coloring to it.The fluid is clean and the contents of the block are fine, but the tubing is the problem. In fact, the included drain tube is the correct coloring, making it even more obvious how discolored the loop is.Corsair says its XT Softline tubing is “UV-resistant tubing made to withstand the test of time without any discoloration or deforming.”So clearly something is wrong. Or not “clearly,” actually, seeing as it’s not clear. The tubing looks gross. It shouldn’t look gross. The spare piece in the accessory kit doesn’t look gross. The coolant is even Corsair’s own XL8 clear fluid, making it even more inexcusable.We’re not the only ones to have this problem, though – we found several posts online with the same issue and very little in the way of an official response from Corsair or Origin. We only saw one reply asking the user to contact support.Even without the discoloration, it comes off as looking amateurish from the way it just hangs around the inside of the case. There’s not a lot you can do about long runs of flexible tubing, unless maybe you’re the one building it and have complete control of everything in the pipeline... There is one thing we can compliment about the loop: Origin actually added a ball valve at the bottom underneath the pump for draining and maintenance, which is something that we directly complained about on the previous Origin pre-built. We’re glad to see that get addressed.The fans in the build are part of Corsair’s relatively new LINK family, so they’re all daisy chained together with a single USB-C-esque cable and controlled together in tandem by two of Corsair’s hubs. It’s an interesting (if expensive) system that extends to include the pump and CPU block – both of which have liquid temperature sensors.Tear-down Grab a GN15 Large Anti-Static Modmat to celebrate our 15th Anniversary and for a high-quality PC building work surface. The Modmat features useful PC building diagrams and is anti-static conductive. Purchases directly fund our work! (or consider a direct donation or a Patreon contribution!)We’re starting the tear-down by looking at the cable management side. Opening up the swinging side panel, we noticed masking tape on the dust filter, which we’re actually okay with as it’s to keep it in place during shipping and is removable.  Internally, they’ve included all of the unused PSU cables in the system’s accessories box, which we’ll talk more about down below. The cable routing makes sense and is generally well managed. While they tied the cables together, not all of the ties were tied down to the chassis. The system uses the cable management channel for the 24-pin connector. Overall, it’s clean and they’ve done well here. Looking at the other side of the system, we can see that the power cable leading into the 5090 is mostly seated, and isn’t a concern to us. Removing the water block’s cable, it had a little piece of plastic which acted as a pull tab. That’s actually kind of nice.Removing the screws on the water block reveal that they are captive, which is nice. Looking at the pattern, we can see that they used pre-applied paste via a silk screen. That allowed contact for all 8 legs of the IHS, which looked good with overall even pressure. The block application was also good. Looking at how well all of the cables were seated, everything was fine from the CPU fan header down to the front panel connectors. Removing the heat sync off the NVMe SSD, we didn’t see any plastic on the thermal pad, which is good. Look at the 16GB DDR 6000 RAM modules, they are in the correct slots and Origin outfitted them with Corsair 36-44-44-96 sticks, which are not the greatest timings. Examining the tightness of all the screws on the motherboard, we didn’t encounter any loose screws. Removing the motherboard from the case, everything looked fine. Looking at the motherboard out of the case, it’s a lower-end board than we’d like to see out of a premium system. Looking at the fans, they are immaculately installed, which is partially due to how they’re connected together. This results in a very clean setup.  The back side of the PC has a massive radiator. And overall, the system has very clean cable management and the assembly was mostly good. This relegates the system’s biggest issues being the value and its water-cooling setup. We didn’t drain the loop so we’re going to keep running it and see what it looks like down the road. Thermal BenchmarksSystem Thermals at Steady StateGetting into the benchmarking, we’ll start with thermals.Right away, the 96-degree result on the memory junction is a problem -- especially because this is an average, which means we have spikes periodically to 100 degrees. The technical rating on this memory is 105 degrees for maximum safety spec. This is getting way too close and is hotter than what we saw in our 5090 FE review. This is also when all of the thermal pads are brand new. The Origin pre-built uses a large case with 12 fans, so it should be impossible for the GPU to be this hot. The Ryzen 9800X3D hit 87C at steady-state – which is also not great for how much cooling is in this box. All of the various motherboard and general system temperature sensors fell well within acceptable ranges.Finally, the watercooling parts provide a couple of liquid temperatures. The pump is on the “cool” side of the loop and read 36.7C at steady state, while the coolant in the block on the “hot” side of the loop got up to 41.3C. You typically want liquid temperature to stay under 55C (at the most) to not violate spec on the pump and tubing, so this is fine.We need to plot these over time to uncover some very strange behavior.CPU Temperature vs. Fan Speeds Over TimeCPU temperature during the test starts out on a slow ramp upwards during the idle period. When the CPU load first starts, we see an immediate jump to about 72C, a brief drop, then a long and steady rise from roughly 250 seconds to 750 seconds into the test where it levels off at the 87C mark. The VRM temperature follows the same general curve, but takes longer to reach steady-state. Adding the liquid temperatures to the chart shows the same breakpoints.Finally, adding pump and fan speeds gives us the big reveal for why the curves look like this. The pump stair steps up in speed while the temperatures rise, but the fans don’t even turn on for over 8 minutes into the load’s runtime. Once they’re actually running, they average out to just 530RPM, which is so slow that they might as well be off.This is an awful configuration. Response to liquid temperature isn’t new, but this is done without any thought whatsoever. If you tie all fans to liquid temperature, and if you have parts not cooled by liquid like VRAM on the video card, then you’re going to have a bad time. And that’s the next chart. But before that one, this is an overcorrection from how Origin handled the last custom loop PC we reviewed from the company, which immediately ramped the fans up high as it could as soon as the CPU started doing anything. Maybe now they can find a middle ground since we’ve found the two extremes of thoughtless cooling.GPU Temperature vs. Fan Speeds Over TimeThis chart shows GPU temperatures versus GPU fan speed.The GPU temperature under load rises to around 83C before coming back down when the case fans finally kick on. As a reminder, 83-84 degrees is when NVIDIA starts hard throttling the clocks more than just from GPU Boost, so they’re dropping clocks as a result of this configuration.The 5090’s VRAM already runs hot on an open bench – 89 to 90 degrees Celsius – and that gets pushed up to peak at 100C in the Origin pre-built. This is unacceptable. Adding the GPU fan speed to the chart shows us how the Founders Edition cooler attempts to compensate by temporarily boosting fan speed to 56% during this time, which also means that Origin isn’t even benefiting as much from the noise levels as it should from the slower fans. Balancing them better would benefit noise more.As neat of a party trick as it is to have the case fans stay off unless they’re needed in the loop, Origin should have kept at least one or two running at all times, like rear exhaust, to give the GPU some help. Besides, letting the hot air linger could potentially encourage local hot spots to form on subcomponents that aren’t directly monitored, which can lead to problems.Power At The WallNow we’ll look at full system load power consumption by logging it at the wall – so everything, even efficiency losses from the PSU, is taken into account.Idle, it pulled a relatively high 125W. At the 180 second mark, the CPU load kicks in. There’s a jump at 235 seconds when the GPU load kicks in.We see a slight ramp upwards in power consumption after that, which tracks with increasing leakage as the parts heat up, before settling in at an average of 884W at steady state. AcousticsNext we’ll cover dBA over time as measured in our hemi-anechoic chamber.At idle, the fans are off, which makes for a functionally silent system at the noise floor. The first fans to come on in the system are on the GPU, bringing noise levels up to a still-quiet range of 25-28dBA at 1 meter. The loudest point is 30.5 dBA when the GPU fans briefly ramp and before system fans kick in. CPU Frequency vs. Original ReviewFor CPU frequency, fortunately for Origin, it didn’t randomly throttle it by 1GHz this time. The 9800X3D managed to stay at 5225MHz during the CPU-only load portion of torture test – the same frequency that we recorded in our original review for the CPU so that’ good. At steady state with the GPU dumping over 500W of heat into the case, the average core frequency dropped by 50MHz. If Origin made better use of its dozen or so fans, it should hold onto more of that frequency. BIOS ConfigurationBIOS for the Origin pre-built is set up sensibly, at least. The build date is January 23, which was the latest available in the time between when we ordered the system at the 50 series launch and when the system was actually assembled.Scrutinizing the chosen settings revealed nothing out of line. The DDR5-6000 memory profile was enabled and the rest of the core settings were properly set to Auto. This was all fine.Setup and SoftwareThe Windows install was normal with no bloatware. That’s also good.The desktop had a few things on it. A “Link Windows 10 Key to Microsoft Account” PDF is helpful for people who don’t know what to do if their system shows the Activate Windows watermark. Confusingly, it hasn’t been updated to say “11” instead of “10.” It also shepherds the user towards using a Microsoft account. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but we don’t like how it makes it seem necessary because it’s not and you shouldn’t. There’s also an “Origin PC ReadMe” PDF that doesn’t offer much except coverage for Origin’s ass with disclaimers and points of contact for support. One useful thing is that it points the user to “C:\\ORIGIN PC” to find “important items.”That folder has Origin branded gifs, logos, and wallpapers, as well as CPU-Z, Teamviewer, and a Results folder. Teamviewer is almost certainly for Origin’s support teams to be able to remotely inspect the PC during support calls. It makes sense to have that stuff on there. The results folder contains an OCCT test report that shows a total of 1 hour and 52 minutes of testing. A CPU test for 12 minutes, CPU + RAM, memory, and 3D adaptive tests for 30 minutes each, then finishing with 10 minutes of OCCT’s “power” test, which is a combined full system load. It’s great that Origin actually does testing and provides this log as a baseline for future issues, and just for base expectations. This is good and gives you something to work from. Not having OCCT pre-installed to actually run again for comparison is a support oversight. It’s free for personal use at least, so the user could go download it easily.There weren’t any missing drivers in Device Manager and NVIDIA’s 572.47 driver from February 20 was the latest at the time of the build – both good things. There wasn’t any bundled bloatware installed, so points to Origin for that.iCUE itself isn’t as bad as it used to be, but it’s still clunky, like the preloaded fan profiles not showing their set points. PackagingOn to packaging.The Origin Genesis pre-built came in a massive wooden crate that was big enough for two people to move around. Considering this PC was $6,500 after taxes (at the time), we’re definitely OK with the wooden crate and its QR code opening instructions.Origin uses foam, a fabric cover, a cardboard box within a crate, and the crate for the PC. The case had two packs of expanding foam inside it, allowing the GPU to arrive undamaged and installed. The sticker on the side panel also had clear instructions. These are good things. Unfortunately, there’s a small chip in the paint on top of the case, but not as bad as the last Origin paint issues we had and we think it’s unrelated to the packaging itself.AccessoriesThe accessory kit is basic, and came inside of a box with the overused cringey adage “EAT SLEEP GAME REPEAT” printed on it. Inside are the spare PSU cables (that we’re happy to see included), an AC power cable, stock 5090 FE power adapter, standard motherboard and case accessories, a G1/4 plug tool and extra plugs, and a piece of soft tubing with a fitting on one end that can be used to help drain the cooling loop. All of this is good.Conclusion Visit our Patreon page to contribute a few dollars toward this website's operation (or consider a direct donation or buying something from our GN Store!) Additionally, when you purchase through links to retailers on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission.During this review process, the price went even higher. You already shouldn’t buy this, but just to drive it home:Now, for the same configuration, the Genesis now costs $7,557 after the discount, off the new sticker price of $8,396. That’s an increase of over $1,000, making the premium over current DIY pricing roughly $1,700-$2,500.Now, there are good reasons for the price to go up. Tariffs have a real impact on pricing and we’re going to see it everywhere, and tariffs are also outside of Corsair’s control. We don’t fault them for that. But that doesn’t change the fact that the cost over DIY is so insanely elevated. Even Corsair’s own competitors offer better value than this, like Maingear.At $8,400 sticker price, you’d have to be drunk on whatever is discoloring Origin’s loop to buy it. Nobody should buy this, especially not for gaming. If you’re doing productivity or creative work that would seriously benefit from the 5090’s 32GB of VRAM, then look elsewhere for a better deal. This costs nearly as much as an RTX Pro 6000, which has 96GB of VRAM and is better.It would actually be cheaper to get scalped for a 5090 on Ebay and then buy the whole rest of the computer than to buy this Origin system. That’s how crazy this is.The upcharge, even assuming a 5090 price of $2,800, is just way too high versus other system integrators. Seriously, Alienware is cheaper at this point – by thousands of dollars. Alienware.We can’t recommend this PC. Ignoring the price, the memory on the video card is hitting 100 degrees C in workloads when the fans aren’t turning on because the fans are set to turn on based on the liquid temperature and the liquid doesn’t touch the GPU. For that reason alone, it gets a failing grade. For our thermal testing, pre-builts have to pass the torture test. If they don’t, they instantly fail. That’s how it always works for our pre-built reviews. This system has, unfortunately, instantly failed.

Menu Home News Hardware Gaming Mobile Finance Deals Reviews How To Wccftech Deals Intel’s Spring Gaming Bundle On Amazon Slashes 33 Percent From The Incredibly Powerful Core Ultra 7 265K Desktop Processor, Now Available For A New Low $269.99 Omar Sohail • May 17, 2025 at 07:17am EDT AMD might have surpassed Intel as the preferred brand for gaming desktop processors thanks to its ‘X3D’ range of CPUs, but with just enough of a discount, we believe that you can find a place in your heart for team blue once more. On Amazon, Intel’s Spring Gaming Bundle is live, and you can avail tons of offers on a variety of products, ranging from desktop CPUs, work laptops, gaming laptops, mini PCs, AIOs, and more. While doing our usual hunting around, our eyes immediately caught the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K. The high-end CPU is currently listed at 33 percent off, or a $135 discount on the online retailer, bringing its price down to $269.99. As numerous benchmarks would suggest, the Core Ultra 7 265K is not faster than AMD’s Ryzen 7 9800X3D, but at its updated price, it was never meant to compete with these chips, but provide consumers and creative professionals a more affordable alternative. You can simply save the money you would have otherwise invested in the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and repurpose that sum in a capable graphics card or any other component. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K sports a 20-core hybrid architecture, with eight performance and 12 efficiency cores, and its clock speeds can reach up to 5.50GHz with the right amount of cooling. You get a decent 36MB of L3 cache, plus support for PCIe NVMe Gen 5 SSDs. Both gamers and creative professionals can leverage the extra core count for a number of applications, and only then will you start to notice the value of that 33 percent discount. We cannot confirm when Intel’s Spring Gaming Bundle will end, but you should be on top of this deal right away. Get the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K desktop CPU from Amazon - $269.99 (33 percent off) See more products from Intel’s Spring Gaming Bundle here See the latest technology deals that Amazon has discounted today See what else Amazon has discounted today Deal of the Day Subscribe to get an everyday digest of the latest technology news in your inbox Follow us on Topics Sections Company Some posts on wccftech.com may contain affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com © 2025 WCCF TECH INC. 700 - 401 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Bryan from Tech Yes City tested Ryzen 7000/9000 processors on a few motherboards, revealing a difference in how ASRock motherboards supply SoC voltage in contrast to others. YouTuber Tech Yes City Demonstrates the Difference Between Motherboards from ASRock and Other Vendors; Analysis Indicates Both CPUs and ASRock Boards Cause Physical Damage If you are aware of the reports of dead Ryzen 9000 CPUs, particularly the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, nothing conclusive has been found regarding the issues that are causing these deaths. Perhaps this is one of the first investigations that shed some light on the issue and might help users understand what is actually causing CPU deaths. A few days ago, a popular tech YouTuber, Tech Yes City, reported his first dead Ryzen 9 9950X CPU on an ASRock X870 Steel Legend motherboard. This isn't the first time we have seen a Ryzen 9000 CPU dying on an ASRock motherboard, but there are actually nearly 200 such reports, most of them on Reddit. Bryan tried to find out what actually causes this, more on the ASRock motherboards than on boards from other vendors, and as per his investigation, there is a difference in how the ASRock motherboards handle the SoC voltage request from the CPU. SoC voltage is basically what the SoC section of the CPU needs for operation, and in most cases, it is static. It may fluctuate occasionally, but in the case of ASRock motherboards such as the ASRock X870E Taichi Lite with Ryzen 9800X3D installed, the SoC voltage kept fluctuating all the time. Even though the fluctuation isn't that significant, the upper limit is somewhat higher than what is considered the maximum limit. We can see that the SoC voltage in both cases (Ryzen 7 7700 and Ryzen 9800X3D installed) exceeds 1.250V and comes close to 1.270V. This is higher than what motherboards from other vendors could supply to the SoC of the CPU, and remains mostly near 1.20V, except for the ASUS X870E Crosshair Hero, which has by default added another 50 mV to add more stability. Nonetheless, it doesn't budge and remains constant all the time while the ASRock motherboard keeps fluctuating, which may result in permanent CPU damage, as we have seen before. Nonetheless, it should be kept in mind that it is the CPU that "dictates" how much SoC voltage is needed, and the deaths appear to be the result of how both CPU and motherboard handle the SoC request. Surely, this needs even deeper investigation as it isn't necessarily the only cause of CPU damage. Till then, ASRock might need to fix this through a BIOS update, but in case you want to mitigate the risk yourself, you will have to "enable" the Uncore Voltage from the BIOS. Deal of the Day

Menu Home News Hardware Gaming Mobile Finance Deals Reviews How To Wccftech Deals AMD’s Ryzen 7 9800X3D And Ryzen 9 9900X3D Finally Drop Down To Their Original MSRP On Amazon, Starting From $479 To Boost Your Framerate In The Latest AAA Titles Omar Sohail • May 13, 2025 at 04:07pm EDT For weeks, we were met with continuous disappointment that AMD’s X3D range of desktop gaming processors could not be purchased at the original launch prices. Thankfully, Amazon is now selling both the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D, with the only exception being the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, at their MSRP. The 8-core, 16-thread SKU is listed for $479, with the 12-core, 24-thread version available for $599. However, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D only has a few units remaining in stock, and at the time of writing, we spotted only 15. Now, there are a multitude of Amazon sellers who have listed both the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and the Ryzen 9 9900X3D at lowered prices, but more often than not, these processors do not get shipped to the customers. In light of these incidents, what is so different about these listings? For one thing, both CPUs will be shipped by Amazon, so the guarantee element is always there. Moreover, if you place an order right now, it will only take a little over a week for either the Ryzen 7 9800X3D or the Ryzen 9 9900X3D to reach your doorstep. As for the specifications, AMD’s 8-core, 16-thread CPU offers 96MB of L3 cache, whereas the 12-core, 24-thread part ships with 128MB. The massive amounts of L3 cache are exactly why both these chips deliver unrivaled gaming performance, but the extra core count will come in handy when tackling applications that take advantage of multiple cores. We obviously cannot confirm if these prices will last, but if you want to futureproof your gaming PC, then apart from getting a capable GPU, a Ryzen 7 9800X3D and a Ryzen 9 9900X3D upgrade is equally important, and with the starting price reduced to $479, now is as good as a time as any. Get the Ryzen 7 9800X3D from Amazon - $479 Get the Ryzen 9 9900X3D from Amazon - $599 See the latest technology deals that Amazon has discounted today See what else Amazon has discounted today Deal of the Day Subscribe to get an everyday digest of the latest technology news in your inbox Follow us on Topics Sections Company Some posts on wccftech.com may contain affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com © 2025 WCCF TECH INC. 700 - 401 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada