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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callmebob - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
Haha to myself.AMD's B550 slide tricked me for a moment, as it makes it appear as if the CPU only has 20 PCIe lanes total. Which is of course bollocks, Ryzen has 24 PCIe lanes total (20 usable + 4 chipset link).
Does it mean AMD artifically only allows 16 of the 20 CPU PCIe lanes to be used on B550 motherboards? Really? I am confused whether that is a mistake in the slide, or if that will be the actual reality. I hope, and for AMDs sake, it is the former...
DanNeely - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
If you're talking about the "The New AMD B550 chipset" slides, the problem is they're poorly designed and you've misread them. On the left side of the 1st one you've got a box with 20 PCIe lanes 16 for the graphics and 4 for the chipset, then below that you've got a box with what is either 4 lanes for a single 4x 4.0 SSD, 2 sets of 2 lanes for a pair of 2x 4.0 SSDs, or a 2x PCIe link and 2 sata ports. Below that in the list of text it has 16 lanes and 8 lanes as the first two items.Makaveli - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
The cooling fans on the X570 are silent as I've never heard mine once in the 6 month's I've been using it. I wouldn't worry about it.wr3zzz - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
It's less about noise than durability. I've had two MB died on me prematurely in 30+ years and both are due to the little cooling fans dying. Unless you are buying top of the line $1000 MB, those fans are garbage comparing to what's used on GPU and CPU.callmebob - Friday, May 8, 2020 - link
> Unless you are buying top of the line $1000 MBOi, are you still using Zimbabwe dollaroos? ;-)
But yeah, other than the creative pricing i am totally with you in regard to those little teeny fans...
lightningz71 - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
If I’m interested in CPUs in this price range, I’m also considering the following units:2700
2600x
2600
1600AF
3600
While I realize that the intel 10 series isn’t available yet, a low end current 9 series i5 and a higher end 9 series i3 would have also been relevant.
I realize that this was under a short deadline, but at least a couple of comparisons in that range for maybe a few tests would have helped.
For my money, the base 2700 is very hard to beat in this price range. It would only ever loose in things that are strictly single core or strictly AVX2, which are very case specific, and would wipe the floor with the 3300x in anything multi core sensitive, judging by the 2600 tests alone. It can usually be had for within $10 of the msrp of the 3300x.
The 3300x is interesting at $99. The 3100 at $80
Holliday75 - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
Why does everyone spell lose with two "O's"?Namisecond - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
Two not mutually exclusive possibilities:1. English is not their native language
2. They failed at English.
callmebob - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
...because they are playing it loose with the spelling of lose.Also, Double O's posess a certain elgance, sophistication and general badassery. They are also deadly. Ooh, and keep your girl away from them, especially one particular Double O.
Ian Cutress - Thursday, May 7, 2020 - link
When some people say lose, they put all the emphasis on the o, so it sounds longer, so they think one is not enough. Ask them to spell loose straight after, and you get to see some good old gears start clunking into place.