AMD has slashed the prices of its latestRyzen 9000 Series"Granite Ridge" processors just a few months after launch. All four SKUs are now available at below-MSRP prices, offering the perfect opportunity for those looking to upgrade their desktop CPU. The early holiday sale has seen AMD knock $50 off the flagship Ryzen 9950X and up to $30 off for the rest of the models. However, while these are the official discounts from AMD, you can snag some models at an even lower price from other retailers, such asNewegg.
The Ryzen 9000 CPUs launched in August 2024, but demand hasn’t met AMD’s expectations. With a myriad of problems surrounding the launch and minor performance uplifts over the previous generation, especially in gaming, few gamers upgraded to the newer CPUs, while the rest waited for the 3D V-Cache variants instead. The ongoing discounts are AMD’s latest push to bolster demand for its latest AM5 processors, following the release of theRyzen 7 9800X3DandIntel’s Core Ultra 200Sseries processors.
The AMD “Early Holiday Promotion” makes the Ryzen 9000 Series CPUs a more appealing upgrade.
For gamers looking for the best CPU for gaming and productivity, theRyzen 9 9950Xpresents an excellent deal at $599, a sweet $50 discount off its list price. Those shopping onNeweggcan get an additional $15 off with the “BFDDYA54” promo code, bringing AMD’s latest flagship to an all-time lower price of $584. That makes it more affordable than Intel’s flagship $589 Core Ultra 9 285K, while offering better gaming performance. If you want something even more affordable, the Ryzen 9 9900X is an excellent alternative for high-end gaming and productivity builds, and it’s currently retailing at a massive $116 discount at bothAmazonandNewegg.
AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X desktop CPU is the top-of-the-line offering in the latest Ryzen 9000 series of processors. It comes with 16 cores, 32 threads, and a boost clock speed of 5.7 GHz. The CPU has 64MB of L3 cache and a TDP of 170W. It delivers considerably higher multi-core and single-core performance than the Ryzen 9 7950X at the same power draw, which is a testament to its efficiency and IPC count gain claims.
The $359 Ryzen 7 9700X has also dropped to $327 onAmazonand you may save up to $15 more onNeweggwith the “BFDDYA55” promo code. AMD is also undercutting Intel on the low end, with the $279 Ryzen 5 9600X now listed at $249 onAmazonand just $234 onNewegg, again with a special promo code. That’s a big win for Team Red, considering you’ll have to spend $294 for Intel’s most affordable Core Ultra 200S chip, or $309 if you want integrated graphics. However, while AMD may have successfully responded to Intel pricing, they are far from convincing gamers to upgrade to its standard Ryzen 9000 Series chips, considering the newRyzen 7 9800X3Dhas just launched and offers much better gaming performance.
A New King of Gaming CPUs Is Here
AMD officially launched the highly anticipated AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D on November 7, and as expected, it has catapulted to the top of thebest CPU for gamingcharts. If you’re building a PC for pure gaming, the latest X3D V-Cache chip is an excellent choice compared to the standard Ryzen 9000 chips. It delivers outstanding gaming performance, beating both AMD and Intel flagship CPUs by significant margins. While it comes with a price bump, it is still reasonably priced at $479.
However, for those building a high-end rig for demanding productivity workloads such as video editing and AI-related work, the Ryzen 9950X or 9900X are still the superior options. Both flagships top the newly released 9800X3D in multi-core tests, making them more attractive to creators and productivity pros. With the ongoing AMD holiday sale, there has never been a better time to snag one for less money.
