AMD could be about to spring a surprise new 3D V-Cache CPU on us - a budget Ryzen 7000X3D model

AMD is supposedly launching a new 3D V-Cache processor from what's now the last-gen of its CPU line-up (namely Ryzen 7000).

According to a leaker on X, Hoang Anh Phu - admittedly not one of the more common names that crops up - AMD has a Ryzen 5 7600X3D in the works. This will apparently be a 6-core processor that is said to be arriving in early September, which means we should see this chip within two to three weeks, in theory.

Unfortunately, we don't get any info on the exact specs, or any other details at all in fact. We can, however, guess that the broad spec will be in line with the other chips in the 7000X3D range - VideoCardz (which spotted the above tweet) theorizes that it might run with 102MB of total cache, of which 64MB would be 3D V-Cache - and pricing has to make sense in that respect, too.

By which we mean that currently you can get the Ryzen 7 7800X3D for $360 at Newegg, and as VideoCardz points out, it's been down to the $330 mark in recent times. It's likely to drop lower still, perhaps, on Black Friday, especially if the 9800X3D arrives before then, as the rumor mill reckons is something of a possibility. (A timeframe that Intel doubtless fears, as it could extract a lot of wind from the sails of Arrow Lake, if that arrives in October as rumored).

At any rate, given the current state of pricing with the 7800X3D, it seems a fair enough assumption that the Ryzen 7600X3D will likely weigh in under $300 in the US, but we'll just have to wait and see. Ditto for the existence of the chip itself, and whether it's actually about to launch - though given the apparent release being almost upon us, we'd guess if it is real, we'll see more spillage around the 7600X3D in short order.

This isn't the only rumor around 3D V-Cache processors to pop up lately, either, as we've also heard some buzz on the grapevine regarding a Ryzen 5500X3D. This CPU is supposedly set to effectively replace the 5600X3D which, if you recall, was actually a Micro Center exclusive (a limited production run - one that dried up some time back, in fact).

If we do see either a 5500X3D or a 7600X3D - or maybe even both - hopefully they'll be widely available budget gaming CPUs, and not pinned down to a single retailer, which we wouldn't imagine would be the case.