KITGURU SHORTLISTS: THE BEST PROCESSOR OF 2024

When KitGuru reviewed AMD’s Zen 5 Ryzen 7 9700X we advised that you wait until they launched the inevitable 3D version of the CPU, as we were sure it would be a banger. What we didn’t know then was that AMD had a new version of 3D V-Cache in the works that would move the dial significantly. Locating the 3D V-Cache under the CPU cores, instead of laying it on top, gives a boost to clock speeds and also helps temperatures.

AMD has carefully chosen a niche for the Ryzen 7 7800X3D as 'The Perfect Gaming Processor' and we struggle to argue with their thinking as it is very good indeed at its job. By contrast the Ryzen 9 7950X3D is described by AMD as 'The Ultimate Processor for Gamers and Creators' and we feel that is also a fair description.

Intel's Core i5-14600K is another solid option for those looking for a relatively affordable CPU that still delivers excellent gaming performance. With six P-cores and twelve E-cores, it's often available below £300, and while it may not deliver much (if any) extra performance over the 13th Gen model, it's still a very solid option to have.

Over the past few generations of AMD Zen technology the various 12-core Ryzen 9s have sometimes done well and other times pretty much been ignored. Thankfully with Ryzen 9 9900X AMD has seen sense and prices the CPU in a rational manner. With Zen 5 the CPUs we have seen appear to be high quality and that closes the gap between the two versions of Ryzen 9 and swings us firmly in favour of the new Ryzen 9 9900X.

Adding a 64MB chunk of extra L3 cache to the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D delivers some astonishing results in gaming, while also delivering solid performance in Cinebench and Blender.The downside is that AMD has had to work hard on the software stack for the chipset drivers to ensure your PC understands which tasks should be sent to which CCD. As we show in our video, it's a rather complex process with a number of variables, any of which could cause complications.