AMD Ready to Strike Back: Ryzen 7 9750X and Ryzen 5 9650X Leak with 120W TDP
Just days after Intel officially launched its Core Ultra 200S “Plus” series desktop processors, AMD appears to be preparing a counter-punch. According to reliable leaker chi11eddog, the company is readying two new additions to its Ryzen 9000 (Zen 5) desktop lineup: the Ryzen 7 9750X and the Ryzen 5 9650X.

Unlike a full architectural overhaul, these new SKUs represent a strategic refresh designed to reclaim the performance advantage in the critical mid-range market segment. The primary weapon of choice? A significant bump in power limits and clock speeds.
Specs: More Power, Higher Clocks
Both new processors shed the 65W thermal envelope of their predecessors in favor of a more aggressive 120W TDP. This increase in power budget allows AMD to push frequencies higher and, crucially, sustain them for longer under load.
- AMD Ryzen 7 9750X: This 8-core, 16-thread chip is listed with a base clock of 4.2 GHz and a boost clock of up to 5.6 GHz. Compared to the Ryzen 7 9700X, that’s a 400 MHz increase on the base frequency and a 100 MHz bump on the boost clock.
- AMD Ryzen 5 9650X: The 6-core, 12-thread counterpart features a base clock of 4.3 GHz and a boost of up to 5.5 GHz. This represents the same +400 MHz base and +100 MHz boost improvements over the Ryzen 5 9600X.
New!
— chi11eddog (@g01d3nm4ng0) March 18, 2026
Ryzen 7 9750X, 120W, 8C16T, 32MB L3 cache, 5.6/4.2GHz
Ryzen 5 9650X, 120W, 6C12T, 32MB L3 cache, 5.5/4.3GHz
Both CPUs retain the same core counts and 32 MB of L3 cache as their non-X predecessors.
Why Now? A Direct Response to Intel
The timing of this leak is hardly a coincidence. On March 11, Intel announced its Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Core Ultra 5 250K Plus, which are set to hit retail shelves on March 26, 2026. Those chips also target the same performance segments with increased core counts and higher clock speeds.
By introducing the 9750X and 9650X, AMD is signaling that it intends to keep the pressure on Intel’s new offerings. The higher 120W TDP ensures these new Ryzen chips can deliver more sustained performance, making them a direct competitor for gamers and power users considering Intel’s latest “Plus” series.
Also, Read
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- AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Drops to $429, Widening Value Gap Over 9850X3D
- AMD Ryzen AI 400 APUs Won’t Run Radeon RX 9000 GPUs at Full Speed, Tests Show 30% Performance Loss
While AMD has yet to officially confirm these processors or announce a release date, the leak from a proven source suggests an announcement could be imminent. For builders currently on the fence, the next few weeks could make the battle for the best mid-range CPU very interesting indeed.
Source: chi11eddog