Image: AMD
AMD launched the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D mobile processor for gaming laptops at CES 2025, staking its own, bold claim as the world’s best mobile processor for gaming and content creation.
AMD separately added a pair of new processors, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and the Ryzen 9 9900X3D, to its desktop product lineup during a press conference at the CES show in Las Vegas. Like the 9955HX3D, those chips add massive amounts of on-package V-Cache for powerful gaming performance — leading AMD to boast that they were the world’s best gaming and productivity processors, period. AMD took a similar approach with the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D, packing a slightly smaller amount of cache inside a chip optimized for laptops.
AMD launched the three new “Fire Range” processors for mobile gaming on Monday. The Ryzen 9 9955HX3D leads the way, of course, plus two more conventional processors: the Ryzen 9 9955HX and the Ryzen 9 9850HX. Both of the latter chips use AMD’s more traditional mobile Ryzen architecture, with a sizeable but not eye-popping amount of local cache.
Here’s a short summary of what AMD announced, including the new “Fire Range” processor at the top of the stack:
- Ryzen 9 9955HX3D: 16 cores/32 threads, up to 5.4GHz turbo; 144MB cache; 54W TDP
- Ryzen 9 9955HX: 16 cores/32 threads, up to 5.4GHz turbo; 80MB cache; 54W TDP
- Ryzen 9 9850HX: 12 cores/24 threads, up to 5.2GHz turbo; 76MB cache; 54W TDP
Like AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X3D announcement, AMD left out some key details, namely the base clock speed and price. (Processor makers rarely divulge the price they charge to laptop makers, however.) Since AMD said the chips would be available in the first half of 2025, it presumably will release at least some of these additional details closer to launch. While the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D runs slightly slower than the desktop 9950X3D (5.4GHz vs 5.7GHz turbo) it contains the same amount of V-Cache.
AMD representatives confirmed that these new cores are based on its Zen 5 architecture. AMD launched the Ryzen 7045HX “Dragon Range” Mobile processors in January 2023, which were all Zen 4 chips, leaving room for new Zen 5 CPU cores in future processors. In July 2023, AMD added the mobile Ryzen 9 7945HX3D, which paired AMD’s stacked V-Cache with the HX processor.
Interestingly, AMD did not release any performance estimates for the three new chips, even though the company did so for the desktop Ryzen 9 9950X3D. Those showed (according to AMD) that its chip outperformed Intel’s Core 285K “Arrow Lake” desktop chip by about 20 percent in a mix of gaming benchmarks.
In any event, we’ll have to wait for more detail, especially a head-to-head comparison between AMD’s Fire Range and Intel’s own upcoming Core HX processors for gaming laptops.
“At CES 2025 we are only unveiling ‘Fire Range’ specs,” an AMD representative said in an email. “AMD will be announcing full details about ‘Fire Range,’ including performance and benchmarks, as we get closer to on-shelf.”
Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor, PCWorld
Mark has written for PCWorld for the last decade, with 30 years of experience covering technology. He has authored over 3,500 articles for PCWorld alone, covering PC microprocessors, peripherals, and Microsoft Windows, among other topics. Mark has written for publications including PC Magazine, Byte, eWEEK, Popular Science and Electronic Buyers’ News, where he shared a Jesse H. Neal Award for breaking news. He recently handed over a collection of several dozen Thunderbolt docks and USB-C hubs because his office simply has no more room.
