AMD is 'working actively on really cool differentiators' to make the next generation of 3D V-cache 'even better'

PC enthusiasts know that if you want thebest gaming CPU, then you really can't go wrong with the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. Its mighty gaming chops are helped in no small way by the additional 64MB of 3D V-cache, so when AMD announced its new Zen 5 architecture, many hoped there would be some info on Ryzen 9000X3D models. That never happened, but AMD did tell us that it's «working actively on really cool differentiators» to make 3D V-cache «even better.»

While at Computex 2024 in Taiwan, we chatted for a while with Donny Woligroski, AMD's senior technical marketing manager. When we got around to talking about plans for 3D V-cache versions of Zen 5 chips, he was especially enthusiastic about the technology.

«The X3D stuff, we have a lot to say about it. The best part about it is we're not just resting on laurels. We're improving what we can do with X3D, it's really exciting and I'm super looking forward to talking to people about that.»

Woligroski couldn't go into any specifics, but he did continue talking about what AMD is doing regarding 3D V-cache. «It's not like, hey, we've also added X3D to a chip. We are working actively on really cool differentiators to make it even better. We're working on X3D, we're improving it.»

While that might all sound like bluster about nothing, one can't expect AMD to say «Nah, we'll just use the same stuff as last time» or anything like that. At least, it's said that it's working on making it better. The obvious questions to ask are what could those differentiators be and how can the current 3D V-cache be made better?

One possible answer to the first question is that AMD could be working on implementing different sizes of 3D V-cache, to increase the level of differentiation between the various X3D models. At the moment, no matter whether it's a Ryzen 5 5600X3D, Ryzen 9 7950X3D, or an EPYC 9684X with 1GB of L3 cache, the 3D V-cache slice is always 64MB in size.

A product in which V-cache is notably missing is AMD's APUs, like the Ryzen 8040U