Here is the first look at an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D processor with 3D Vertical Cache in its retail PIB box. These chips are packaged differently from the other Ryzen 7000 models. The front face of the box is bright orange with silver accents, and it boldly displays the phrase “3D Vertical Cache technology.” AMD apparently chose this path since the PIB package design for the Ryzen 7 5800X3D appeared too similar to the rest of the lineup and was virtually indistinguishable from that of the 5000G “Cezanne” desktop APUs.

The “Phoenix Point” monolithic silicon, with its 12 CU RDNA3 iGPU and 8-core/16-thread “Zen 4” CPU with a 32 MB on-die L3 cache, is extremely likely to be used in Socket AM5 desktop APUs later this year. These processors’ retail PIB packaging will be yet another recognizable feature. Even though Ryzen 7000 desktop CPUs come with a low-power iGPU as standard, AMD’s then technical marketing director, Robert Hallock, promised us that the company will continue to invest in desktop APUs (processors with strong iGPUs).