Amd Ryzen 3 3100 Good For Gaming

Tom'south Hardware Verdict

The Ryzen 3 3300X and 3100 bring a new course of gaming performance to the low end, serving up enough operation for high-end gaming while leaving room in the budget for a ameliorate GPU.

Pros

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Low pricing
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Peachy gaming performance
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Solder TIM
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Overclocking ceiling
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PCIe 4.0 interface
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Power efficient

Cons

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Lackluster arranged libation

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Brace for the Low-Cease Impact

The Ryzen three 3300X and Ryzen 3 3100 show how much the AMD vs. Intel CPU landscape has changed since AMD'south Zen showtime arrived 3 years ago. At the time, the mainstream desktop had been stuck at 4 cores for a decade, and Intel's market-leading $350 Core i7-7700K served as the halo role. Now AMD's new iv-core, eight-thread Ryzen three 3300X beats the 7700K in every benchmark beyond the board—but for only $120, making information technology a natural fit for our list of best CPUs and the best value gaming chip on the market place. Our Ryzen 3 samples also reached the highest all-cadre frequencies we've seen with a Ryzen processor yet, underlining the untapped potential for enthusiasts.

The company'southward new Ryzen 3 has Intel's Cadre i3 and i5 in the crosshairs. While the Zen 2 architecture and 7nm process take given AMD the cadre count lead in both the mainstream and HEDT segments, its previous depression-finish lineup isn't quite every bit impressive compared to Intel's existing Core i3 processors. That's a state of affairs AMD hopes to rectify with its Ryzen iii series equally information technology braces for Intel'southward looming Comet Lake launch.

The 3300X serves as Ryzen three's new flagship role with iv cores, 8 threads, a 3.8 GHz base and 4.three GHz boost, plus unified cadre blueprint for a mere $120. AMD says this bit tackles Intel's $157 six-cadre/thread Core i5-9400F and provides xx% more than performance, which would exist quite the feat.

The $99 Ryzen three 3100 is the next step down the price ladder with iv cores and eight threads and a 3.8 / 3.ix GHz base/boost frequency, but it's a steep step down on functioning due to a different distribution of cores beyond the chiplet. In either instance, AMD says this bit is 20% faster than the $120 quad-cadre/thread Cadre i3-9100 in gaming and has 75% more performance in threaded productivity work, making the 3100 a price-to-performance hero in its ain right.

	MSRP	Cores / Threads	Base / Boost GHz	TDP	L3 Cache	PCIe
Ryzen 9 3950X	$749	16 / 32	3.five / 4.7	105W	64MB	16+four Gen4
Ryzen 9 3900X	$499	12 / 24	three.8 / 4.half-dozen	105W	64MB	16+iv Gen4
Ryzen nine 3900	Northward/A	12 / 24	3.1 / iv.iii	65W	64MB	16+four Gen4
Ryzen seven 3800X	$339	8 / 16	3.9 / four.5	105W	32MB	16+4 Gen4
Ryzen 7 3700X	$329	8 / sixteen	3.6 / 4.4	65W	32MB	16+4 Gen4
Ryzen 5 3600X	$249	half dozen / 12	3.8 / 4.four	95W	32MB	16+4 Gen4
Ryzen 5 3600	$199	6 / 12	3.6 / 4.2	65W	32MB	16+4 Gen4
Ryzen 5 3500X	~$190	6 / 6	3.6 / 4.1	65W	35MB	sixteen+four Gen4
Ryzen 3 3300X	$120	four / eight	3.viii / iv.iii	65W	16MB	16+four Gen4
Ryzen 3 3100	$99	4 / 8	3.8 / 3.ix	65W	16MB	xvi+4 Gen4

AMD's Ryzen 3 silicon is just the kickoff of the value prop, though. The chips come with AMD's generally lax segmentation, so you get hyper-threading on both chips (which forced Intel to match with its upcoming processors), a bundled Wraith Stealth cooler (which could be better, honestly), and unlocked multipliers that enable overclocking on nigh all AM4 chipsets (except A320). You lot will need a beefier cooler for serious overclocking with the 3300X, though. You also go admission to the PCIe 4.0 interface, which unlocks twice the connectivity bandwidth of comparable Intel chips, and AMD has its upcoming price-conscious B550 motherboards that support the interface. Yet, you lot'll have to wait until June for those.

We're used to the claims of the earth's fastest gaming chips for the halo desktop PC processors, merely the Ryzen iii 3300X is unequivocally the best value we've seen for gamers on a budget, particularly if yous're looking to build a sub-$grand system. Information technology besides serves up enough of operation for typical desktop PC piece of work, too.

Ryzen 3 3300X and Ryzen 3 3100 Specifications and Pricing

Before we jump into the speeds and feeds, it'south important to know that in that location'southward a large architectural deviation betwixt the Ryzen 3 3300X and the 3100, giving the former a big heave in gaming and other latency-sensitive workloads that extend beyond the incremental clock improvements we see on the spec canvass. We'll swoop into that a bit further downwards the folio, but the Ryzen iii 3300X came up equally a far superior bit in our testing, particularly in gaming. In short, it'south well worth spending the extra $twenty on.

Budget	MSRP/Retail	Cores / Threads	Base of operations / Boost GHz	$-Per-Core/Thread	L3 Cache	TDP	PCIe	Memory	Graphics
Cadre i3-10320	$154	iv / 8	3.8 / 4.6	~$39 / ~$19	8	65W	16 Gen3	Dual DDR4-2666	UHD 630 ane.15 GHz
Core i3-10300	$143	four / 8	3.7 / 4.four	~$36 / ~$18	viii	65W	16 Gen3	Dual DDR4-2666	UHD 630 1.15 GHz
Core i3-10100	$122	4 / 8	3.6 / iv.iii	~$31 / ~$15	6	65W	16 Gen3	Dual DDR4-2666	UHD 630 i.1 GHz
Ryzen three 3300X	$120	4 / 8	three.8 / 4.three	~$30 / ~$fifteen	16	65W	24 Gen4	Dual DDR4-3200	N/A
Core i7-7700K	$350	4 / 8	4.2 / four.5	$44 / $22	8	91W	16 Gen3	Dual DDR4-2400	UHD 630–1.xv GHz
Ryzen 3 3100	$99	four / 8	3.viii / 3.9	~$25 / ~$12	16	65W	24 Gen4	Dual DDR4-3200	N/A
Cadre i5-9400/F	$182 / $157	half-dozen / 6	two.ix / 4.ane	~$30 / ~$30	9	65W	sixteen Gen3	Dual DDR4-2666	Due north/A
Core i3-9350K/F	$184 / (opens in new tab)$174	four / iv	4.0 / 4.6	$46 / $46	eight	91W	sixteen Gen3	Dual DDR4-2666	UHD 630 i.xv GHz
Ryzen 3 3400G	$150 / $207 (opens in new tab)	iv / 8	3.vii / 4.2	$37.5 / $nineteen	four	65W	8 Gen3	Dual DDR4-2933	RX Vega 11 ane.4 GHz
Core i3-9100/F	$122 / $78 (opens in new tab)	4 / 4	3.vi / 4.2	$31 / $31	6	65W	16 Gen3	Dual DDR4-2400	UHD 630 ane.1 GHz
Ryzen 3 3200G	$99 / $95 (opens in new tab)	iv / 4	3.half-dozen / 4.0	$25 / $25	four	65W	8 Gen3	Dual DDR4-2933	RX Vega 8 1.25 GHz

The new 65W Ryzen fries lower the bar for entry to Zen 2 from $199 with the Ryzen five 3600 to $99 for the Ryzen 3 3100. The Ryzen 3 chips serve up plenty of performance from their four cores and viii threads, but you'll demand to step upwards a tier to the vi-core 12-thread Ryzen 5 3600 (or higher) if you're looking for intense operation in threaded productivity apps, multitasking, or game streaming/recording.

But if you lot're focused on gaming with a detached GPU and mainstream types of applications, the Ryzen 3 processors fit the neb with surprisingly loftier base of operations clocks that rival Intel's finest Comet Lake chips. The adaptive Precision Boost two clocking mechanism also serves up the all-time performance possible given your other components, similar the cooler, power supply, and motherboard. Both chips come up with 16MB of L3 cache (more info below) and support for up to DDR4-3200 memory at stock settings. The same Ryzen 3000 dual-aqueduct DDR4 memory controllers carry over, and then memory overclocking is simple and a known quantity. AMD'due south Eco Manner, which unlocks better ability/thermal efficiency by downshifting to a lower TDP tier (35W in this case), too looks promising with the 65W Ryzen three models.

If y'all're looking for a processor with integrated graphics, AMD has its previous-gen Zen+ based compages paired with the RX Vega graphics engine in its Ryzen v 3400G and Ryzen 3 3200G APUs. Still, their processing cores aren't nigh every bit fast as the Zen 2 cores in the new Ryzen iii models. Instead, they focus on super low-stop gaming. AMD'southward pending (though not yet officially announced) Ryzen 4000 APUs for the desktop volition come up with the Zen 2 compages in the futurity.

We're on the cusp of Intel's Comet Lake launch, and early on indicators are that Intel will prioritize its high-end processors, so the lower-end chips that autumn into the same subclass as Ryzen iii won't exist immediately available. That leaves united states with a bit of time before nosotros tin encounter the full impact of Intel'south improver of higher clock frequencies and hyper-threading to the Core i3 lineup, in effect creating its ain 'new' Core i7-7700K for the low stop with its $154 Core i3-10320.

But every bit nosotros often see, Intel's pricing sticks out here. Yous'll have to dip downward farther to the $122 Core i3-10100 to find the 3300X price equivalent, and information technology comes with a lower base frequency and less L3 cache. Yous'll have to drop down to Intel's Pentium lineup to discover a sub-$100 fleck that matches the Ryzen 3 3100, though the Core i5-9100F can be constitute on sale at times. And you'll need new boards for those Intel chips, with the new LGA 1200 socket, while AMD's offerings will drop into whatever number of existing AM4 motherboards.

Intel'south Comet Lake chips do wait competitive from a performance standpoint, merely the company inexplicably discarded its overclockable Core i3 processor for this generation. As you'll see today, the overclockable Coffee Lake Refresh i3-9350K is a powerful gaming chip once yous dial upward the voltage and clocks, simply the Ryzen 3 3300X is beastly in its own right: We accomplished a four.5 GHz overclock. That makes Intel'south decision to become rid of an overclockable Core i3 model a possible Achilles heel.

Ryzen three 3300X and 3100 Zen two Architecture

AMD's typical Zen 2 desktop architecture consists of up to two chiplets (CCD), each housing eight 7nm cores, that are tied to a 12nm fundamental I/O Dice (IOD) via the Infinity Fabric. AMD simply disables or enables cores based on the SKU, so this basic design comprises chips from four to 16 cores. This scalable approach also extends out to eight chiplets (64 cores) for data center chips, but AMD only uses a unmarried CCD for the Ryzen iii processors.

AMD splits each CCD into 2 four-core clusters called Cadre Complexes (CCX), and the Ryzen 3 3100 has two active cores nowadays on each CCX (2+2). That ways information technology'due south 16MB of L3 cache is split up across two separate slices (2x8MB), which introduces latency, and inter-cadre latency is higher, too. That slows downwards latency-sensitive applications, like games and applications with heavy thread dependencies.

In contrast, Ryzen 3 3300X's 4 cores are resident on a single CCX (4+0), so it has a unmarried 16MB piece of L3 enshroud and inter-cadre latency is lower. As yous'll see throughout our game suite, that speeds up performance tremendously. We'll as well swoop into a few enshroud and mesh latency measurements on the post-obit page.

This approach helps AMD in the dice-binning process, with die with iv fully-functional cores in a single CCX heading to the premium bin, while the lesser-quality die with defects spread across both CCXs can send as value silicon. Instead of paring dorsum the silicon, AMD uses the same IOD for these fries every bit it does with the regular dual-CCD models, and also uses the same CCDs. That means the new Ryzen iii fries accept a total of ~199mm2 of silicon with ~5.99 billion transistors.

While the clustered cadre approach lends the 3300X the upper manus in performance, it likewise creates thermal density problems when overclocking. That'southward because the 4 cores aren't spread as evenly across the full integrated oestrus spreader (IHS), creating difficulties dissipating the heat that's generated in a comparatively minor area.

AMD'southward new chips use Solder TIM to improve overclocking potential. Equally expected, we found that a capable liquid cooler tin can open up up the heights of overclocking, but the 3300X'southward thermal density could hamper the maximum achievable frequency with some coolers. In either case, nosotros reached 4.v GHz, a record for our lab with ambient cooling and a Ryzen 3000-series processor (without disabling cores). Nevertheless, we weren't able to accomplish whatsoever meaningful overclocking with AMD's Wraith Stealth cooler that will send with the Ryzen 3 CPUs.

AMD B550 Motherboards for Ryzen iii 3300X and 3100

AMD's long-overdue and hotly-anticipated B550 chipset, which offers a lower price of entry for PCIe 4.0-capable motherboards, lands on June sixteen with up to 60 models from the likes of MSI, Asus, Gigabyte, and the usual roster of other vendors. Pricing isn't confirmed yet, but early signs point to much better pricing than the existing X570 platform that's currently the only pathway to PCIe 4.0 support with a Ryzen 3000 fleck.

That leaves Ryzen iii 3300X and 3100 customers with a few options for now. You could drop the chips into the less-expensive B450 or X470 platforms and sacrifice PCIe 4.0 support in exchange for lower pricing, or you tin can purchase a pricey PCIe 4.0-capable X570 motherboard that isn't a good pairing for this class of chip. Otherwise, y'all'll have to await for June to get the best of both worlds with the B550 chipset.

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The Ryzen 3 3300X has sixteen PCIe iv.0 lanes for graphics and an boosted four PCIe 4.0 lanes for storage (M.2 SSD) straight to the CPU, with iv more PCIe lanes linking the CPU with the chipset. With B550, AMD likewise threw in support for dual-GPU configurations on its mid-range motherboards, a first, and upgraded the six general-purpose PCIe 2.0 lanes that hang off the chipset to 4 lanes of PCIe 3.0. The chipset as well now supports USB 3.2 Gen2.

The B550 chipset brings enough of advantages, including support for CPU and memory overclocking, but there'south a large trade-off. Due to BIOS ROM capacity limitations, B550 motherboards volition only support current- and future-gen Ryzen processors. That means pre-Zen 2 processors aren't compatible, which includes the electric current-gen Ryzen 5 3400G and Ryzen iii 3200G APUs.

This isn't an entirely surprising motility. AMD has stuck to its pledge to support the AM4 socket until 2020 just has had compatibility difficulties (particularly with lower-finish boards) as it expands its always-growing roster of motherboards. That's led to varying levels of chip support on dissimilar motherboards, which can be disruptive due to the wild variation in support matrices from dissimilar motherboard makers. Instead of supporting previous-gen chips on B550 platforms and disabling the functionality after, AMD chose to make a difficult cut at the Ryzen 3000 series.

That leaves the B550 chipset without support for entry-level APUs, merely the company strongly hints that the Ryzen 4000 "Renoir" desktop APUs will come to market past early side by side twelvemonth.

Paul Alcorn is the Deputy Managing Editor for Tom'south Hardware US. He writes news and reviews on CPUs, storage and enterprise hardware.