AMD’s Ryzen 3000 CPUs made an enormous impression once they launched final 12 months, with a lot of them dashing straight in my best gaming CPU rankings, whereas the Ryzen 5 3600 continues to be my CPU of selection within the RPS Rig. The solely issues lacking from their preliminary line-up final 12 months had been their entry-level Ryzen Three CPUs. At lengthy final, AMD are lastly filling out their funds CPU ranks with two new processors at the moment – the $99 Ryzen 3 3100 on take a look at right here and the marginally dearer Ryzen 3 3300X at $120.
With 4 cores and eight threads apiece, these CPUs aren’t meant for high-powered gaming rigs, however in case you’re trying to hold prices down in your subsequent PC construct, then they provide a surprisingly good basis for 1080p gaming. Which one must you purchase, although? Here’s how the Ryzen 3 3100 stacks as much as the remainder of the competitors.
Built utilizing the identical Zen 2 structure and 7nm manufacturing course of as the remainder of AMD’s Ryzen 3000 household, the Ryzen 3 3100 is the brand new child of AMD’s desktop CPU household. It might need 4 cores and eight threads at its disposal like its Ryzen 3 3300X sibling, however it is a decidedly extra modest processor relating to general gaming efficiency. As you’ll quickly see beneath, these searching for an economical gaming CPU will likely be significantly better off choosing the marginally dearer Ryzen 3 3300X proper now, because it gives considerably increased body charges for simply one other $20.
Of course, plumbing for any form of AMD Ryzen CPU proper now might sound just a little pre-emptive provided that Intel’s new 10th Gen Comet Lake CPUs are simply edging onto the horizon. These embrace a full suite of budget-oriented Core i3 processors, however I reckon that these trying to construct a PC proper this second will likely be pretty secure in taking place the AMD route. After all, solely Intel’s higher-end Ok sequence of Core i5, Core i7 and Core i9 Comet Lake processors have been confirmed for launch later this month, and there’s presently no telling how lengthy we’ll have to attend for his or her Comet Lake Core i3s to pitch up. As a outcome, we could also be twiddling our thumbs for fairly a while earlier than we will see precisely how they evaluate.
Still, when even the most affordable Comet Lake Core i3 is about to price $122 within the US, the $99 Ryzen 3 3100 and $120 Ryzen 3 3300X have already got a bonus when it comes to general worth. Indeed, the one actual competitors that the Ryzen 3 3100 has in the intervening time is Intel’s older Core i3-9100F, which is a model of their Core i3-9100 CPU that doesn’t include any built-in graphics (and subsequently should be paired with a graphics card as a way to work). This can presently be had for simply $75 at time of writing, which is kind of the discount in comparison with the common Core i3-9100, which prices nearer to $130.
Alas, I haven’t been capable of take a look at both the Core i3-9100 or 9100F but, but when their gaming efficiency is something like Intel’s Core i3-8100 (which I believe it in all probability will likely be given how my different eighth Gen vs ninth Gen CPU benchmarks have performed out to date), then it’s possible that the Ryzen 3 3100 remains to be a greater purchase. Probably (though as I stated above, you must in all probability save up for the Ryzen 3 3300X in case you presumably can, because it simply blows all of those CPUs clear out of the water).
Still, in case you’re adamant about retaining your CPU prices below $100, then there’s nonetheless lots to admire in regards to the Ryzen 3 3100. Indeed, whereas Intel’s i3-8100, i3-9100 and i3-9100F include 4 cores every just like the Ryzen 3 3100, additionally they solely have 4 threads. The Ryzen 3 3100, alternatively, has eight of them, giving it a better capability to multi-task than its Intel rivals.
Now, I’m extra concerned with a CPU’s gaming efficiency than I’m with the way it copes with normal desktop purposes, however I’m going to begin with the latter for a change as a result of the Ryzen 3 3100’s Cinebench R20 scores had been simply so darn spectacular. Indeed, in Cinebench’s single core take a look at, the Ryzen 3 3100 completed with a rating of 446, placing it streaks forward of the Core i3-8100’s rating of 361. It was so fast, in truth, that it even surpassed my Intel Core i5-9600Ok’s inventory results of 429, which is kind of the feat for such an inexpensive CPU.
Its multicore rating of 2269 was additionally nipping on the heels of the i5-9600Ok, which was only a smidge quicker at 2351. The Core i5-9600Ok’s overclocked scores of 504 and 2632 put a bit extra distance between them, however that’s nonetheless a mighty good efficiency all issues thought of. What’s extra, after I overclocked my RAM to 3000MHz, each Cinebench scores remained precisely the identical, so that you’ll nonetheless get glorious desktop efficiency it doesn’t matter what form of RAM you’ve obtained.
The Ryzen 3 3100’s gaming efficiency wasn’t fairly as thrilling, all informed, however that’s solely as a result of it was so overshadowed by the stonking outcomes I obtained from the Ryzen 3 3300X. Of course, as I’ve talked about in earlier CPU evaluations, testing a processor’s gaming efficiency remains to be a little bit of a difficult enterprise, as numerous in-game benchmarks both don’t take a look at your CPU correctly or simply aren’t very correct within the first place. Fortunately, a handful of gaming benchmarks have gotten lots higher at this not too long ago, with the likes of Shadow Of The Tomb Raider, Forza Horizon 4, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and the Total War games all offering an in-depth take a look at your CPU’s efficiency in addition to what your graphics card is doing.
However, there are different elements that may have an effect on gaming efficiency as properly similar to your graphics card, the kind of RAM you’ve obtained and how much storage you’ve obtained your games put in on. I’ve tried to mitigate these results as a lot as I can through the use of an NVMe SSD for my games storage in addition to at the moment’s best graphics card, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. I’ve additionally examined it with my RAM’s default pace of 2133MHz and at its overclocked pace of 3000MHz.
As you may see from the graphs beneath, the Ryzen 3 3100 places in a great displaying at 1080p, matching the Core i3-8100 in Shadow Of The Tomb Raider and Forza Horizon Four and providing considerably extra efficiency in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Its solely actual failing is its Total War: Warhammer II scores, the place it fell fairly a bit behind its Intel rival.
However, this was quickly rectified after I overclocked my RAM to its prime pace of 3000MHz. Here, the Ryzen 3 3100 surpassed the Core i3-8100 on all counts, hitting a median of 98fps in Tomb Raider, 93fps in Total War, 124fps in Forza and an equivalent 57fps in Assassin’s Creed – though I ought to say that I by no means obtained the prospect to check the i3-8100 at this explicit RAM pace, so it’s attainable that you could be not be gaining a lot in any respect.
Really, although, the Ryzen 3 3300X is simply streets forward of the lot of them at 1080p, and in my eyes is greater than price the additional money – each over the Ryzen 3 3100 and the tremendous low cost Core i3-9100F. With speeds like this, there’s actually no purpose why you shouldn’t be placing the Ryzen 3 3300X in your subsequent gaming PC.
