Strange move...

But why? This is just slowing down the adoption of AM5. AMD needs to reduce prices on existing Ryzen 7000 cpus so people can upgrade to a new platform and move on.

Seems like AMD is sitting on a bunch of 5xxx series silicon and doesn't know what to do with it.

This might make a lot of sense. The platform is on its last legs so using it for experimentation is a guaranteed success if they have excess of those cpu cores. I don't know how much 3D V cache costs but If i recall correctly AMD has some problems with 7950X3D's voltages burning cpus and even a few motherboards.

Undying:

But why? This is just slowing down the adoption of AM5. AMD needs to reduce prices on existing Ryzen 7000 cpus so people can upgrade to a new platform and move on.

unsold chips to sell

I'll stick with my 5600X and get as much life I can with AM4. I'll go to AM5 in a couple years.

Truly baffling. I can't think of one good reason to buy these CPUs unless the 5800X3D is out of production. Surely anyone who's thinking of staying on AM4 for a while longer is looking at that one to tie them over.

mackintosh:

Truly baffling. I can't think of one good reason to buy these CPUs unless the 5800X3D is out of production. Surely anyone who's thinking of staying on AM4 for a while longer is looking at that one to tie them over.

Could be a nice budget upgrade for people who are still on CPUs like 2600.

So Intel keeps milking their tock tock tock tock but AMD cannot? There are and will be a lot of people who cannot afford to upgrade to the newest tech. Good old tech at good prices that still hangs with the latest is a good thing.

Vananovion:

Seems like AMD is sitting on a bunch of 5xxx series silicon and doesn't know what to do with it.

Yeah, that's the first thing that came to my mind too - I think they have a load of CPU's that didn't meet the required binning process of the 5800X 3D, so they're trying to create new products that can use this "not so great" silicon. Seems like a good idea as long as there is enough interest & demand for such CPUs at what would need to be significantly lower selling price than current discounted 5800X 3D CPUs.

Vananovion:

Seems like AMD is sitting on a bunch of 5xxx series silicon and doesn't know what to do with it.

not quite the 3d cache is a secondary process, but you need ultra-precise milling of the 5xxx silicon and that just doesn't lay around. it's all about the cost of production, and production at this node is much cheaper while the cost of the 3d cache process has dropped since the days of the 5800x3d what AMD is doing is what i didn't believe when they said it, AM4 isn't dead AMD is doing this to drop the price of entry into enthusiast gaming and to widen it as much as possible.

Undying:

But why? This is just slowing down the adoption of AM5. AMD needs to reduce prices on existing Ryzen 7000 cpus so people can upgrade to a new platform and move on.

Leftovers from the 5800X3D.

Horus-Anhur:

Leftovers from the 5800X3D.

That was my thought as well. Maybe make something out of it to compete with Intel's leftovers (10, 11, 12, 13 series)

I've said it before and I'll say it again: What we need is a G3D model, whether that be 5500, 5600, or 5700. The iGPU with V-cache would be one hell of a good chip. A 5500X3D, meanwhile, is moronic. With so few cores and such low clock speeds, the V-cache is barely going to do anything but it will drive up the cost.

schmidtbag:

I've said it before and I'll say it again: What we need is a G3D model, whether that be 5500, 5600, or 5700. The iGPU with V-cache would be one hell of a good chip. A 5500X3D, meanwhile, is moronic. With so few cores and such low clock speeds, the V-cache is barely going to do anything but it will drive up the cost.

Would the v-cache actually help in that scenario? I dont see igpu being faster becouse cpu has v-cache and 5500x3d having low clocks wont hurt the performance that much. Just look at the 5800x3d that cpu runs 4.4ghz and it still can be fast as ryzen 7000, those cpus runs 5.5ghz.

What they should do is glue them together and make 7850s or something like that.

Undying:

Would the v-cache actually help in that scenario? I dont see igpu being faster becouse cpu has v-cache and 5500x3d having low clocks wont hurt the performance that much. Just look at the 5800x3d that cpu runs 4.4ghz and it still can be fast as ryzen 7000, those cpus runs 5.5ghz.

If the iGPU can tap into the V-cache then yes, it would help substantially. If it becomes limited to just the CPU, I suspect it would make a small difference but not enough to warrant the extra cost. Based on what we know about the 7950X3D, it seems the V-cache is limited to a single chiplet at a time, so really a G3D model would be best where the V-cache is dedicated to the iGPU and not the CPU. EDIT: I just realized that the V-cache might actually help a lot even if it is limited to the CPU chiplet. This is because all assets must go through the CPU first. So, perhaps this will help. After all, the main benefit of DirectStorage was to help bypass the CPU. Remember: memory or cache bandwidth must handily exceed demand in order to not be a bottleneck. There are really only 2 ways to increase demand: more cores or more Hz. So, if you've got half the cores, you effectively halve the bandwidth needs (it's more nuanced than that but I digress). That means on a 5500X3D, the V-cache might actually worsen the performance in many workloads, because it's just getting in the way between the L3 and DRAM. For every layer of cache you add, you're also adding latency.

Is there any software either available now, or in development (other than games) that can take advantage of the V cache?

pegasus1:

Is there any software either available now, or in development (other than games) that can take advantage of the V cache?

Quite a lot. Oddly in Linux, many tasks except for games get a sizeable performance improvement. Some games benefit but not as much as they do in Windows. https://www.phoronix.com/review/amd-5800x3d-linux6

As someone who is using the 5600X3D that received a barrage of, "But why?" comments when it materialized, I can assure everyone that, for gaming, this CPU gives a very good account of itself. I picked it up simply to satisfy my curiosity; just to play around with. True, for most non-gaming applications, the less expensive 5700X would have been the more obvious choice. (I always lean towards the so-called 65W versions of the Ryzen line.) But, for the platform I had in mind, gaming was the primary focus. Simply put, I'd buy it again. At the right price, I think a 5700X3D would be a pretty good pick-up for a gaming-focused 500-series motherboard. I was concerned, after reading about some users experiences with the 5800X3D, that the 5600X3D might be a bit challenging to keep happy from a thermal perspective. It hasn't been an issue at all, so I would suspect a 5700X3D would be just as forgiving. But, time will tell... Now, the only thing I find a bit puzzling about this "AM4 X3D" news is the 5500X3D product. Is this a Cezanne-based, PCIe 3.0 only CPU? Or, has AMD elected to carve-out a new spot in it's Vermeer-based lineup? Having upgraded an older B350 board to the 5500 for very little money, I can endorse that move whole-heartedly. I've nothing bad to say about it, given the proper circumstances. In my case, it superseded a Summit Ridge R5 1600. If the proposed 5500X3D *is* using the Cezanne cores, I must admit that I'm struggling a little bit to rationalize that concept. Are there older AM4 boards that would support this, but not a Vermeer-based processor? I don't know...