Intel has an answer to AMD’s 3D V-Cache, but it isn’t coming to desktop

Intel’s answer to AMD’s 3D V-Cache technology is coming, but don’t expect to see it on a gaming-oriented desktop chip

AMD’s V-Cache technology was and is revolutionary. While it isn’t without its downsides, it has proved to be transformative for AMD in many areas of the CPU market. Now, it looks like Intel is preparing to launch processors with its answer to AMD’s V-Cache technology. That will make 2025 an exciting year for the CPU market—well, some areas of the CPU market.

AMD’s X3D technology is available in the desktop and server CPU markets. Within the desktop CPU market, AMD’s V-Cache (X3D) CPUs specifically target gamers. Within the server CPU market, they target a broad range of workloads. Recently, Cloudflare announced that their new 12th-generation servers will use AMD’s Genoa-X CPUs, primarily due to the performance and efficiency improvements that AMD’s 3D V-Cache technology delivered.

With their competing technology, Intel will target the server market, a large market where its benefits can impact many workloads. This is a high-margin market, so it makes sense for Intel to target it specifically. In 2025, Intel’s Clearwater Forest is likely to feature a new caching technology from Intel, and we don’t expect to see the same tech on desktop.

The AMD CPUs are tailored to a very specific target group and that is gamers. We are aware that this technology can bring a lot to gamers, but that always comes with certain drawbacks and certain disadvantages and compromises that you have to make. In this case, it is good if I have an X3D CPU, which may not be as strong in applications. We are aware of this and we still have this technology. That means that next year there will be a CPU, for the first time, that has a cache tile, but not in the desktop.

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In the server, it is simply a different market and a different market breadth that can potentially be addressed than is the case with desktop CPUs.

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But that’s not an extremely large mass market for us. You still have to see that we sell a lot of CPUs that aren’t necessarily used for gaming.

– Florian Maislinger, Tech Communications Manager at Intel – via Hardware LUXX

Why aren’t Intel making an X3D-style gaming chip with a V-Cache equivalent?

Until now, AMD’s X3D CPUs have been explicitly targeted at gamers. Until the release of AMD’s Ryzen 9000 series of V-Cache enhanced CPUs, AMD’s X3D CPUs suffered from major decreases in maximum CPU clock speeds. This resulted in reduced overall application performance. This changed with the release of AMD’s Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which featured higher clock speeds than its predecessor.

Intel’s Florian Maislinger has stated that AMD’s X3D technology has “certain drawbacks,” leading to compromised CPU performance when all workloads are considered. Intel wants to create strong CPUs for the overall market and does not want to compromise overall performance by explicitly targeting gamers.

Does Intel’s argument make sense?

Yes and no. Yes, Intel is right to consider the drawbacks of new cache technologies when designing new CPUs. If they don’t want to target gamers specifically, they need to design a chip that can deliver the best overall system performance. After all, not all PC users are gamers. That said, Intel’s statement here is saying that they won’t make an X3D-Like desktop CPU for gamers, not that they can’t.

AMD has removed many of the disadvantages of their X3D gaming CPUs with the release of their Ryzen 7 9800X3D. It delivers similar performance to its non-X3D counterpart in applications and proves that such a CPU can be good for gamers and productivity-focused PC users alike. Is Intel wrong not to make a gaming-focused X3D-like CPU? Maybe… If nothing else, the lack of such a CPU is eroding the perception of the Intel brand, especially among gamers.

You can join the discussion on Intel’s plans to counter AMD’s 3D V-Cache technology on the OC3D Forums.