Forget Ryzen 9000, AMD’s next chip could be a Ryzen 5500X3D – and it might just be perfect for a budget gaming PC

AMD may be working on Ryzen 9000 processors now, but there’s also a new CPU coming two generations back – if the new rumor is true.

Yes, the AM4 (the previous CPU socket of the current AM5, which was introduced with the previous generation Ryzen 7000) may still work, as leaker Harukaze5719 on X discovered an EEC (Eurasian Economic Commission) filing showing a Ryzen 5 5500X3D.

In theory, this would be a lower-end, more affordable gaming CPU than the existing 5600X3D (we’ll get to that later), with 3D V-Cache supposedly improving performance in PC games.

According to another leaker, it will be a 6-core (12-thread) processor, just like the 5600X3D (chi11eddogwho made this prediction some time ago), with a base clock speed of 3 GHz and a boost to 4 GHz (along with 96 MB of L3 cache).

Of course, take the alleged spec with spice, and the same goes for the presence of this CPU in the EEC database. Many products are in that database, and some hardware is only speculatively filed, so this is far from a concrete indication that the Ryzen 5 5500X3D is coming.

Analysis: AM4 just refuses to die

There’s a bit more weight behind the 5500X3D processor that AMD is likely releasing, as chi11eddog leaked the specs of the 5700X3D at the same time – and it turns out to be true. The 5700X3D was indeed launched in January 2024, and the leaked specs were spot on too.

So why would AMD continue to squeeze more mileage out of the Ryzen 5000 series like this? Well, the lowest-end 3D V-Cache processor, the 5600X3D, is no longer in stock and was a Micro Center exclusive to begin with – likely because there weren’t that many CPUs rolling off the production line. Mainly because these were built around shaky dies that couldn’t be used in Ryzen 5800X3D chips, so they were shoved into this lesser model with the defective cores disabled.

Essentially, AMD likely has some more of that silicon – perhaps a lot more – and clearly wants to put it to use (rather than throw it away), so it could chart a new course with a 5500X3D that will hopefully be more widely available (not just from the occasional US retailer, as was the case with the 5600X3D). That said, one would imagine the quantity of chips available won’t be huge, but perhaps AMD feels that the audience for a 5500X3D will be a bit limited – given that we’re two generations into CPUs at this point.

However, it could end up being more popular than Team Red expects, as the 5500X3D could still be a great engine for one of the best budget gaming PCs on the AM4 platform.

Remember, we were seriously impressed with the value and gaming prowess of the 5600X3D when it launched a year ago , and while the 5500X3D is considerably slower in terms of clock speeds (400MHz less for boost, in theory), this putative chip shouldn’t be all that far off in terms of speeds. If – and it’s a significant if – it does exist, and AMD is planning to release the CPU soon.

Via Tom’s Hardware

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