Since the advent of the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, AMD’s 3D V-Cache or X3D lineup has proven to be wildly popular. Now, rumour has it that the red CPU and GPU maker is upping the ante, with plans to beef up its Zen6 X3D models with up to 288MB of L3 Cache.
Why, you ask? It is possible that this rumour came about due to an earlier rumour Intel and its upcoming Nova Lake desktop series – the blue chipmaker could be launching as many as four Nova Lake SKUs with up to 144MB of big last-level cache, or bLLC, which itself is a response to AMD’s 3D V-Cache technology. That, and perhaps because Nova Lake is also expected to debut a 52-core CPU with double that bLLC.
For context, AMD’s current king-of-the-hill X3D CPU, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D comes fitted with 128MB of L3 Cache, and 64MB for the non-X3D 9950X.
In hindsight, the rumour could be a sign of technological hubris on AMD’s part: the company has clearly enjoyed both the steady sales of its X3D CPU, along with its popularity among gamers, and it isn’t about to let its rival take its crown so easily.
Over at the blue team, the chipmaker has had a rough time. Not only did its 15th generation Arrow Lake-S lineup launch with lukewarm performance – they weren’t bad, but they most certainly could have been better – it saw a change in its leadership and cost-cutting exercise that saw the chipmaker tighten its belts.
It also doesn’t help that Intel still doesn’t have a viable answer to AMD’s 3D V-Cache technology, but again, that could change when Nova Lake finally makes its debut.
(Source: HXL via X, Hot Hardware)
