Zen 3 refuses to die — AMD quietly adds four new Ryzen chips, including budget CPU F-series options

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AMD launched its Ryzen 9000 series desktop processors in June 2024. The initial lineup includes four high-end chips built on the new Zen 5 architecture.

AMD released new Ryzen 9000 X3D processors, featuring their innovative 3D V-Cache technology, including the highly sought-after Ryzen 7 9800X3D, in early 2025. However, it’s been roughly six months since these chips were last updated or offered by retailers.

I recently noticed something interesting: AMD has quietly launched two new Ryzen 9000 series desktop processors. I first saw the news on Tom’s Hardware, and it seems to be a relatively low-key release.

AMD’s latest processors, the Ryzen 5 9500F and Ryzen 7 9700F, are unique within the Ryzen 9000 series because they include the letter ‘F’ in their name – something we haven’t seen on other chips in this lineup yet.

Even though AMD’s X3D processors come with built-in graphics, the new F-class chips don’t. This means you’ll need to connect them to a separate graphics card for them to work.

CPU Cores / Threads Max. Boost Clock Base Clock Default TDP
AMD Ryzen 7 9700F 8 / 16 Up to 5.5GHz 3.8GHz 65W
AMD Ryzen 5 9500F 6 / 12 Up to 5GHz 3.8GHz 65W

The Ryzen 7 9700F has 8 cores and 16 threads, allowing it to handle multiple tasks smoothly. It can reach speeds up to 5.5GHz, and it’s designed to be energy efficient with a typical power draw of 65W.

The Intel Core i7-9700F and the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X are nearly identical, with the main difference being that the 9700F doesn’t have built-in graphics. Both processors have the same clock speeds, cache size, and can both be overclocked.

The Ryzen 5 9500F is similar to the Ryzen 5 9600X and 9600, as it also has 6 cores and 12 threads. However, it operates at slightly lower speeds. Its maximum base and boost clocks are a bit slower than the 9600X, and it doesn’t quite reach the 5.2GHz boost clock speed of the 9600, topping out at 5GHz.

The new Ryzen 5 9500F includes an AMD Wraith Stealth air cooler, which was previously only bundled with the Ryzen 5 9600.

The new processors are built with AMD’s latest Zen 5 technology and are compatible with AM5 motherboards. The Ryzen 7 9700F will initially be sold in North America, but the Ryzen 5 9500F will be available worldwide.

AMD continues to produce Zen 3 and 4 chips for OEMs

AMD hasn’t just released the new Ryzen 5 9500F and Ryzen 7 9700F processors. They’ve also updated their existing Zen 3 and Zen 4 platforms with some subtle improvements.

I just saw something interesting! A user over on Twitter, @harukaze5719, found some new AMD product listings on Danawa, which is a popular Korean price comparison website. It looks like we’re getting a better idea of when some new AMD gear will be available in South Korea.

Listed are the Ryzen 5 7400F, Ryzen 5 7400, and the aforementioned Ryzen 5 9500F.

The Ryzen 5 7400 is interesting because AMD released the ‘F’ version – which doesn’t have integrated graphics – *after* the regular 7400. This is unusual for AMD, as the Ryzen 5 7400F came out earlier this year.

CPU Cores / Threads Max. Boost Clock Base Clock Default TDP
AMD Ryzen 5 7400F 6 / 12 4.7GHz 3.7GHz 65W
AMD Ryzen 5 7400 6 / 12 4.3GHz 3.3GHz 65W

What really stands out about the Ryzen 5 7400 is its 22MB of combined L2 and L3 cache. This breaks down to 16MB of L3 cache and the standard 6MB of L2 cache.

The Ryzen 5 7400F has 32MB of L3 cache and 6MB of L2 cache, adding up to 38MB total. Compared to that, the newer 7400 model appears to have its cache size significantly reduced, with roughly half the amount.

Since the Ryzen 5 7400F processor has only been released in Asia Pacific, Japan, and China, it’s likely the Ryzen 5 7400 will have the same limited availability.

AMD wasn’t satisfied with only adding new Zen 4 and Zen 5 chips.

AMD didn’t stop at just releasing new Zen 4 and Zen 5 processors. The original Zen 3 architecture, launched nine years ago, continues to perform remarkably well and has even received an updated chip in 2025.

A user named @momomo_us noticed that the Ryzen 5 5600F processor is now available in Asia Pacific and Japan. This release follows the launch of the Ryzen 5 5600, which came out globally in 2022.

The Ryzen 5 5600F processor has 6 cores and 12 threads, allowing it to handle multiple tasks efficiently. It can reach speeds up to 4GHz with a base speed of 3GHz. It also includes 35MB of combined cache memory and has a power draw of 65W.

CPU Cores / Threads Max. Boost Clock Base Clock Default TDP
AMD Ryzen 5 5600F 6 / 12 4.0GHz 3.0GHz 65W
AMD Ryzen 5 5600 6 / 12 4.4GHz 3.5GHz 65W

So, the Ryzen 5 5600F feels like a slightly dialed-down version of the 5600 – it doesn’t quite reach the same clock speeds. What’s really weird, though, is that neither of these chips have built-in graphics. It’s a bit of a head-scratcher with the naming, honestly!

It’s impressive that AMD continues to support its older processors. The Ryzen 5000 series now includes over 20 different CPUs, built with a combination of Vermeer and Cezanne chips, and the underlying Zen 3 architecture has been available for almost a decade.

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2025-09-17 17:11