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AMD unveiled four new Zen 5 CPUs for the desktop at Computex this year, and they’re due to launch “in July.” One of the biggest changes to the lineup compared with the previous Zen 4 chips was the all-new Ryzen 9700X. This particular CPU now has a power-sipping TDP of just 65 watts compared with 105W on the existing Ryzen 7 7700X. AMD is reportedly rethinking that decision and might end up bumping its TDP up to 120W before launch. If this comes to pass, it’ll be the first time in recent memory a CPU designer has increased TDP for a CPU to make it more palatable to its customers.
Word of AMD’s plans comes from Wccftech, which says it’s learned AMD has sent an updated spec to some of its partners for the 9700X, an eight-core, 16-thread CPU. This updated spec bumps the power ceiling by 15W beyond that of the 7700X—quite a jump because it’s almost doubling power consumption at full tilt.
The fly in AMD’s ointment here is not necessarily the previous-gen Ryzen 7 7700X but the 7800X3D. That V-Cache CPU also has eight cores and 16 threads, and with its extra L3 cache, it is the current undisputed champion of gaming for an eight-core CPU. AMD itself has admitted its new Ryzen 9000 CPUs will not beat the 7800X3D in gaming, leaving little chance for the 9700X to fly off store shelves.
The Ryzen 7 9700X finds itself in a tough spot having to compete with the Ryzen 7 7800X3D on the 8-core battlefield..
Credit: AMD
To counter this potentially precarious situation, AMD seems to be considering giving the 9700X a shot in the proverbial socket to overtake its Zen 4-based rivals in at least compute performance, if not gaming. Since it’s doubtful that any of the new Ryzen 9000 CPUs will outpace their X3D predecessors in gaming, AMD can at least lean on the architectural improvements of Zen 5 along with the node shrink from TSMC 5nm to 4nm to improve performance in content creation.
Another factor to consider is that AMD will only be able to bump TDP up by that much if the chip doesn’t suddenly turn into a fire-breathing chip, and going from 65W to 120W is a huge jump. If that’s even possible, it makes us wonder why AMD didn’t just do it in the first place; chip designers are typically loathe to leave performance on the cutting room floor these days.
It’ll be interesting to see if this comes to pass, but we have our doubts. The latest rumors are that AMD is expected to launch on July 15, so a last-minute change like this is impossible given the proximity to the launch date. As Wccftech notes, AMD might just reserve the TDP increase for a future XT version of the chip, which sounds much more plausible.