This may not be Black Friday, or even some Amazon Prime Day deals, but AMD has a sale anyways: the company will be discounting up to $50 off its best Ryzen processors, just because. AMD also confirms that the next-gen Ryzen 9000 X3D parts are on the way, set to be released on November 7, with some vague details provided about them.
AMD does not provide any context for its actions, announcing that the discounts are an “early holiday promotional offer” starting on October 20 and continuing for an unspecified period of time. It will be cutting between $30 to $50 off the Ryzen 5 9600X, Ryzen 7 9700X, Ryzen 9 9900X, and Ryzen 9 9950X.
The discounted prices are listed below:
Is it a bit odd? Yes. AMD did not even mention the final prices for the processors in question: that’s left to channel partners.
An AMD representative said in an email statement: “AMD is providing this promotional pricing to channel partners starting October 20, but final street pricing is dynamic at most retailers – namely, Amazon and Newegg.”
These are the calculations going by, assuming retailers are offering the maximum discount: the Ryzen 5 9600X at $279 is now $249; the Ryzen 7 9700X at $359 is now $329; the Ryzen 9 9900X at $499 is now $469; and the Ryzen 9 9950X at $649 is now $599.
When comparing AMD’s Ryzen 9000 prices to what Intel is charging for the upcoming Arrow Lake processors, the discounts make more sense. While the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor may go up to $589, the rest of the Arrow Lake family is currently in the $300 range.
We don’t know how the Arrow Lake processor from Intel will compare to the Ryzen 9000 family, but Intel has already lowered performance expectations, focusing on power efficiency gains instead. In other words, we expect AMD to charge a premium for Ryzen 9000 based on its potential superior performance, but it’s also possible that the chip manufacturer wants to keep its prices somewhat in line with its main competitor.
Here Comes Ryzen 9000X3D
For those who don’t feel the price is a barrier, AMD offers an alternative: its X3D family with V-Cache memory sets designed to enhance overall performance. And if you consider yourself in that group, know that the Ryzen 9000X3D series is on its way.
A review of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D will tell you everything you need to know about what sets the X3D series apart. These gaming and content creation chips are designed for performance first. Did that chip meet its own expectations? Surprisingly, no. While the 7950X3D often outperforms the Ryzen 7950X, it lags behind Intel Core i9-13900KS and K chips. However, we did achieve an interesting victory in one area when looking back: power efficiency, which wasn’t a concern in desktop processing in 2023 but is certainly in the spotlight now.
The Ryzen 9000X3D family from AMD definitely needs a redemption arc. Here’s what we know officially: it will use AMD’s AM5 socket, support PCI Express 5.0, and DDR5 memory. No surprises there. If leaks are to be believed (via Tom’s Hardware), we will see three new chips announced later on: the 8-core/16-thread 9800X3D, the 12-core/24-thread Ryzen 9 9900X3D, and the 16-core/32-thread Ryzen 9 9950X3D.
When will we hear more about these? AMD has not said anything yet, so we just have to wait and see.
