Ryzen 3 3rd generation...

Today we are talking about the most interesting topic “3rd gen Ryzen 3 processors”.

Let’s talk about the variants and their respective pricing first. So 3rd gen Ryzen 3 comes in “Ryzen 3 3100” and “Ryzen 3 3300X” with price tags $100 and $120 respectively and both of them include a wraith stealth cooler in the box, which is pretty neat. Statistically, Ryzen 3 3300X is 20% more expensive than its brother but the real question is whether it is worth 20 extra bucks. Before answering that let’s adhere to the technology and architecture involved in these processors.

So both of these processors have zen 2 architecture with 7nm process technology which, AMD claims, provides 1.25X more performance, provided with the same power, than the previous gen.

Both of these processors have 4 cores and 8 threads which, three years ago, was present in intel’s high-end gaming processor. They both have a total of 18 MB cache. However, 3100 has a base clock of 3.6GHZ with a max boost of 3.9GHZ while on the other hand, its elder brother has a 3.8GHZ base clock with a max boost of 4.3GHZ. Additionally, it has recently come to news that the 3100 was over-clocked to a max of 5.9GHZ, which is pretty insane, obviously using liquid nitrogen but still remarkable.

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Now comes the question of why pay 20% more? If we look from the performance standpoint, both the Ryzen 3 feature a single CCD-Core Complex Die. Ryzen 3100 contains two active CCX, also known as Core Complex, with a 2 + 2 arrangement as stated by AMD with 2 cores in one CCX and 2 cores in the other. However, 3300X contains one active CCX with four cores in that one CCX. This allows for reducing core-to-core latency since all the cores are housed in the same CCX and also unifies all the 16 MB cache. This is the key feature in Ryzen 3300X which takes over Ryzen 3 3100 apart from the increased clock speeds.

It definitely explains the extra $20 and might as well be worth more than that.

It basically competes with core i7-7700k which can be purchased for approximately $350 used. However, looking into Ryzen 3 3300X, it is definitely a dealbreaker since you get the same 4 cores 8 threads, and in some places better performance than core i7. However, its main competitor will be core i3 10th  gen. Core i3 10320 will retail for just above $150 with 4 core 8 thread and intel’s latest architecture “Comet Lake”. It has the same old 14nm process technology but the core clocks are just above Ryzen 3 3300X with a base of 3.8GHz and 4.6 GHz with max turbo frequency. So by paying $30 more you just get slightly better clock speeds. However, when these new 10th gen lineups are released and put to test only then will we find out whether these enhance clock speeds are worth the extra money.