Intel gaming CPUs reportedly set for AMD 3D V-cache style tech to fight 9800X3D

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. A new rumor has suggested that Intel is looking to replicate the success of AMD's groundbreaking 3D V-cache technology by adding similar functionality to some of its next-gen Nova Lake gaming CPUs, a move that could allow the chipmaker to offer seriously competitive gaming performance compared to AMD's best processors for the first time in years.

That would be seriously good news for Intel, which hasn't had the best few years. As our Intel Core Ultra 7 265K review shows, the company simply hasn't been able to compete against AMD to produce the best gaming CPU lately, even if its latest Arrow Lake CPUs have seen modest improvements since launch. Meanwhile, problems with older 13th and 14th-gen Intel CPUs, which sometimes suffer from catastrophic failures, have caused damage to the company's reputation, despite issuing CPU fixes later on.

Speculation that Intel might be looking to issue gaming CPUs with larger caches, much like 3D V-Cache CPUs from AMD, came via a post on X (formerly Twitter) by Haze2K1, a user responsible for Intel leaks in the past, including a recent Intel Battlemage GPU leak.

Haze2K1, responding to a leak about potential new Intel Core Ultra CPUs, quoted regular tech leaker Harukaze5719's question about whether the CPUs contained "bLLC", or big Last Level Cache, with Haze2K1 confirming that two of the variants would indeed contain the larger L3 caches - another name for LLC.

To put this into context, a larger L3 cache means more program data can be stored directly on the CPU, making it less likely that your CPU will need to page your PC's slower system RAM. This is the real power behind AMD's success with chips like the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, which incorporates an extra 64MB L3 cache stacked on top of the CPU's eight cores, alongside the existing 32MB, massively improving gaming performance by reducing latency overall. The hope for Intel would be that a larger L3 cache also allows for seriously improved gaming performance on Intel systems, something it hasn't been able to deliver strongly enough compared to AMD.

Haze2K1's post would seemingly suggest that only two variants are getting the boosted cache treatment initially, however. According to Haze2K1, both variants would ship with eight P-cores, which are the important ones for gaming, along with either 12 or 16 E-cores for multi-threaded work, and four LP-E (Low Power Efficient) cores for background tasks.

Intel hasn't been able to strongly compete against AMD's 3D V-cache chips so far when it comes to games, so any move to counter it can only be a good thing, but only if it's able to pull it off. Intel hasn't made any announcements about these CPUs just yet, so we'll have to wait and see what the company is cooking up for gamers over the coming months.

Until then, make sure to check out our AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D review to see why we rate it as the best CPU for gamers right now, and why Intel will have to pull something special out of the bag if it wants to be able to beat AMD's 3D V-cache chips any time soon.

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