In just one year, AMD has been planted in the market with one of its most successful and successful consumer processor families of recent times. With the analysis of the new Ryzen 3, we completed the complete review of the three large Ryzen families of 2017 for the consumer market.
So are the Ryzen 3 processors
AMD announced a few days ago the arrival in the market of the third pillar of its strategy to be a real alternative to Intel in all ranges of the consumer market. The Ryzen 3 come to compete directly with the more complete Core i3 providing once again a quality / price ratio that overcomes other reluctance to move to AMD.
For now, the models of the Ryzen 3 family that are put on sale starting today will be the Ryzen 3 1200 and the Ryzen 3 1300X. Both processors are chips with four cores and four wires at 3.1 / 3.4 Ghz the first, and 3.5 / 3.7 GHz the most complete and fast. I remind you that in both cases, as with all Ryzen processors, the multiplier is unlocked as standard for those who want to venture into overclocking.
Both processors have a TDP of 65 W, L3 cache of 8 MB and are sold with the Wraith Stealth HSF heatsink / fan solution included in the package.
The new Ryzen 3 will have an official price of 114 euros for the most elementary model, and 135 euros for the Ryzen 3 1300X. To take as a reference, the Intel Core i3-7100 at 3.9 Ghz is right now for 109 euros, although in this case it is a model with two cores only.
Socket AM4 and SenseMI
The new Ryzen 3 is based on the new AM4 socket . We already talked about its advantages before: it is compatible with the whole new Ryzen family, and it is expected to last several generations, so we ensure a long-term base configuration and updatable in the future regardless of whether we want to change the range of processors or family.
Like the rest of the Ryzen family, the new 1200 and 1300X are based on the 14 nm ZEN architecture, with efficiency and multithreading as the main arguments. They rely on SenseMI technology, with sensors that control temperature and consumption to offer a very low TDP and adapt the tasks of the processor more efficiently. Also this family Ryzen 3 includes the mode boost of series.
Equipment and test configuration
For the test of the new Ryzen 3 1300X processors we have used the same basic equipment as with the higher level Ryzen models. This time we do not have data from the Intel Core i3 processors. The processor donated by AMD, the Ryzen 3 1300X, we put on a Gigabyte GA-AX370-Gaming 5 motherboard. The RAM memory is a Corsair 2×8 GB DDR4-3000 configured for the test at 2400 MHz.
All components have been updated to the latest drivers, including the test motherboard. As an operating system we have used Windows 10 from a clean installation with the latest updates available at the time of the test.
In the graphic section we chose to build a solution according to the Ryzen 3 processor range. And that seems to us to be a GTX 1050 from Nvidia, for example. As for the storage unit, we have a Samsung M.2 SSD of 1 TB capacity.
Operating temperature and consumption
The new Ryzen 3 1300X, with four cores and four wires, indicate in its technical data sheet a TDP of 65 W. It was therefore necessary to test the reputation of efficient Ryzen.
The real consumption measurement is made with the same configuration as in the previous tests in Engadget: average measurements in idle mode (PC only on and performing the tasks in the background of Windows 10), office use and navigation with a 30-40 % CPU load, and finally, an intensive one where we perform a 4K video conversion with Handbrake putting the CPU close to 100% workload.
If we focus now on the operating temperature, the good sensations and basis of the whole Ryzen family are maintained, both in the resting temperature (around 30 degrees) and in operation, where it does not exceed 50 degrees in our tests.
Performance tests of the Ryzen 3 1300X
Our first performance tests with the Ryzen 3 1300X are performed with different synthetic software and concrete tests as protagonists. The results we face both those we got with the Ryzen 7 family as a whole and with the Intel that we have been able to test under the same conditions: i7-7700K and Core i7-6900K.
Synthetic tests and with applications
The comparison is always started with two Javascript tests to quantify the performance of the team in web browsing tasks and HTML5, all of them little demanding.
In view of these results, here we already appreciate a more substantial difference with the Ryzen of higher range, at least more than that which we find between Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7.
If we pass the test with CineBench R15, the Ryzen 3 stand firm when what matters is the frequency of work but move away from the rest of the family when they are the nuclei and threads what matters.
Another suite to measure performance in a synthetic way is PCMark8. Here we see again that when what matters is the frequency of the nuclei, in tests like the Work, the Ryzen 3 more than meet.
Another test where we can assess the level of competition of the Ryzen 1300X at work using a single core or all of them, is the CPU-Z Benchmark. Here again, the high frequency of the Ryzen 3 1300X is reflected in the results with a single core.
Is Ryzen 3 1300X a processor to play?
A question we asked ourselves before the test of the Ryzen 3 1300X is if they would be chips with potential in the game. Its price of just 100 euros makes them interesting if we combine them with a graph. We can not expect game beyond 1080p at moderate rates, but it is feasible if we combine this chip with a graphical solution of affordable price but capable of offering good results at 1080p. In our case, we believe that a good companion would be the GTX 1050 that we had to test along with the processor.
The base test we did was with the game The Division, and this time we can not perform direct confrontation with other processors, which were analyzed with a GTX 1080. Yes we have the reference of the Nvidia graphics with a powerful processor like the Intel Core i7 6700 (Skylake) at 3.4 Ghz. In that case, in the same test we get 34 fps at 1080p, less than 3 fps more than with the Ryzen 3 1300X analyzed in this test.
The figures that this Ryzen 3 1300X shows with other games, according to AMD data using a GTX 1080 chart, are:
Already placed in the market all the Ryzen family of consumption of this 2017, it remains to know now the performance and other characteristics of the Pro family that should reach the market in the second half of this year.