AMD’s new 9950X3D2 has finally been unveiled following months of speculation, leaks, and rumors. At the same time, Intel canceled its planned Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, a new flagship of its own. Coincidence? Some think not, with AMD possibly sitting on this dual-V-Cache CPU for a while, just waiting for the right time to rug-pull Intel before its big announcement.
The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 is a 16-core, 32-thread CPU with two 3D V-Cache chips—one for each internal CCX chiplet. This is something AMD has been asked about for several generations, and rumors of this chip design have circulated since Zen 5 launched in the latter half of 2024. But AMD only now decided to drop it on the market, funnily enough, around the time when Intel was planning its own refreshed top chip.
Instead, we got the 270K and 250K—two fantastic CPUs for gaming and productivity. But the 290K Plus might have eclipsed the 9950X3D and 9950X for production and gaming. But not the 9950X3D2, it seems, as Intel declined to compete.
Credit: AMD
This conspiracy, put forth by the YouTube channel Moore’s Law is Dead, makes a lot of sense from marketing and manufacturing perspectives. It suggests that, even with the 290K cancellation, Intel forced AMD’s hand. There are no enormous performance gains with the new chip, but the 9950X3D2 will be more expensive to produce, so if AMD didn’t have to make it and could instead sell everyone the 9950X3D instead, it would have. But with the 290K looming, AMD responded with its banked chip design, and it was fast enough that Intel was unlikely to compete. So why offer a worse, more expensive flagship that won’t sell?
This is a shame for Intel fans, but for gamers and content creators, the new dual V-cache chip is exciting in a few key ways. It offers better AI and simulation performance—up to 13% faster than the 9950X3D, according to AMD’s numbers. It’s also fast for rendering and compiling, though less than 10% in each case.
The price will likely be in the $1,000 range, which isn’t ideal, but for professionals and gamers who want peak performance everywhere, there’s now an option.
