The AMD Ryzen 3 3300X and 3100 CPU Review: A Budget Gaming Bonanza
by Dr. Ian Cutress on May 7, 2020 9:00 AM ESTTest Bed and Setup
As per our processor testing policy, we take a premium category motherboard suitable for the socket, and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the manufacturer's maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.
| Test Setup | |
| AMD Ryzen 3000 | AMD Ryzen 3 3300X AMD Ryzen 3 3100 |
| Motherboard | GIGABYTE X570 I Aorus Pro (1.12e) |
| CPU Cooler | AMD Wraith |
| DRAM | G.Skill FlareX 2x8 GB DDR4-3200 C14 |
| GPU | Sapphire RX 460 2GB (CPU Tests) MSI GTX 1080 Gaming 8G (Gaming Tests) |
| PSU | Corsair AX860i |
| SSD | Crucial MX500 2TB |
| OS | Windows 10 1909 |
Many thanks to...
We must thank the following companies for kindly providing hardware for our multiple test beds. Some of this hardware is not in this test bed specifically, but is used in other testing.
| Hardware Providers | |||
| Sapphire RX 460 Nitro | MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X OC | Crucial MX200 + MX500 SSDs |
Corsair AX860i + AX1200i PSUs |
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| G.Skill RipjawsV, SniperX, FlareX |
Crucial Ballistix DDR4 |
Silverstone Coolers |
Silverstone Fans |
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Ian Cutress - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
4790K 6700K 7700KAll Intel quad core showing generational differences as to where the 3300X and 3100 fit in.
1600X, 1700, 1700X, 1800X are all in our benchmark database, Bench.
It's practically listed on almost every page.
notb - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
And that's obviously great. But with that approach you could just write "3100 and 3300X added to Bench", right? :)I have nothing against the factual layer of this article. Results are as expected and they look consistent.
But it's essentially a story how an entry-level $120 CPU from company A beats a not-so-ancient flagship from company B.
So I'm merely wondering why you decided to write it like this, instead of comparing to wider choice of expensive CPUs from 2017. Because in many of your results 3300X beats 1st gen Ryzens that were even more expensive than the 7700K.
Or you could include older 4C/8T Ryzens (1500X) - showing how much faster Zen2 is.
Instead you've included the older 6-core Ryzens, which are neither similar in core count nor in MSRP.
Ian Cutress - Friday, May 8, 2020 - link
2600/1600 AF is ~$85 at retail (where you can find it), and judging by the comments, VERY popular. That's why this was included.Deicidium369 - Friday, May 8, 2020 - link
Just say AMD GOOD! INTEL BAD! that's all they are looking foreastcoast_pete - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
Some other sites have, and yes, the 3300 gives most of the 1st generation Ryzens a run for their money.Irata - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
This is a highly impressive little CPU for the money.I particularly liked the 3300X‘s good showing. If this is at least in part due to it using only one CCX, this should bode well for Ryzen 3 which should have an eight core CCX.
Look at some tests were Ryzen did not do so well wrt their Intel counterpart like Kraken and Octane - the 3300x now does very well. It even scores slightly better than the 3700x
wr3zzz - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
Does the B550 MB need active cooling? I can't tell from the pic.callmebob - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
Look at the spec graphics. Note the only difference to the old B450 is pretty much that it provides PCIe 3.0 lanes instead of PCIe 2.0.Now, when was the last time you saw a PCIe 3.0-based chipset hub needing active cooling?
As an aside, while i am kinda glad the B550 is finally coming, i am also a bit disappointed in seeing AMD (and their design/manufacturing partners) needing a better part of a year just for managing a bump from PCIe 2.0 to PCIe 3.0. PCIe 3.0 has been in the market for around eight years now; there is no excuse for AMD taking this long to figure out this s*it.
Fritzkier - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
Because their PCIe 3 and 4 was provided by the CPU tho. Or maybe there's an advantage of PCIe lanes provided by the chipset?callmebob - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
Haha, do you even know _how many_ PCIe lanes the CPU provides? Wager a guess whether it is for more than a single x16 slot?