Launched earlier this month, the Ryzen 9 9900X and 9950X, released as recently as 14th August, showed performance improvements over their predecessors, lower launch prices and reduced power consumption in multi-threaded applications. However, the new 9000-series CPUs, featuring the Zen 5 architecture, failed to deliver the significant gains seen in previous AMD releases and lagged behind in gaming performance compared to the 3D V-Cache models.

It has been suggested that some of the issues might be due to a fault with Windows 11 but that might take a while to fix. AMD may introduce a BIOS update to increase the power limits of some Ryzen 9000 CPUs, potentially boosting performance.

As a result, any performance enhancements did not justify an upgrade from the previous generation, many of which offered better value due to recent price cuts.

This has led to poor initial sales. In Germany, with a high concentration of retailers, competition for early sales has already driven prices down.

Typically, price drops for new CPUs are not seen until well into their launch cycle, often in the final months before the next generation is introduced. However, websites such as Hardware & Co and Videocardz have noted that prices in Germany were already discounted from launch day prices compared to those provided to German reviewers in Euros.

The Ryzen 9 9900X, which should retail for 539 EUR, was listed on price comparison websites for as low as 499 EUR, a reduction of over seven per cent from the launch price. The Ryzen 7 9700X saw a similar drop, retailing at 379 EUR compared to its 399 EUR launch price, a decrease of around five per cent.

The flagship Ryzen 9 9950X was available for just 699 EUR, down from its launch price of 709 EUR, while the entry-level Ryzen 5 9600X was priced at 299 EUR, a reduction from its launch price of 309 EUR. Other countries in the region have not been as fortunate, with the UK seeing prices in line with those at launch and no significant price cuts reported in the US.

The Ryzen 9000 series was always going to be a tough sell, with Ryzen 7000 pricing dropping significantly and the Ryzen 7000 3D V-Cache models outperforming the Ryzen 9000 series in most games.

A range of Ryzen 9000-series 3D V-Cache models is expected in the coming months. This could further marginalise the initial Ryzen 9000 CPUs, making them less attractive for those building gaming PCs.