Skip to main content

AMD’s new Ryzen 3 processors are the $100 chips your budget gaming rig needs

 

AMD is expanding its third-generation Ryzen desktop processor family with the quad-core Ryzen 3 3100 and Ryzen 3 3300X CPUs. While these new silicon are more affordably priced starting at $100, they still pack plenty of performance.

Recommended Videos

Based on AMD’s Zen 2 architecture, the company claimed that the Ryzen 3 3100 delivers up to 20% better 1080p gaming and 75% better content creation performance when compared to the competing Intel Core i3-9100. This is the same microarchitecture used in the AMD’s new Ryzen 4000 mobile processors as well.

“Taking advantage of the AMD world-class portfolio of technologies, these new Ryzen 3 desktop processors bring the groundbreaking ‘Zen 2’ core architecture to business users, gamers, and creators worldwide, leveraging Simultaneous Multi-threading (SMT) technology for increased productivity,” the company said in a statement. AMD claimed that its latest desktop processors are the fastest Ryzen 3 chips ever made.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Priced at $99 for the Ryzen 3 3100 and $120 for the Ryzen 3 3300X, these new processors finally bring AMD’s 7nm architecture to a price point under $200. The chipsets will be available at various retailers when they launch in May.

Though AMD offered direct performance comparison between the Ryzen 3 3100 and Intel’s Core i3-9100 in a variety of benchmarks, the company did not do this for the more premium 3300X. However, the performance of the 3300X should give AMD an even bigger advantage against Intel’s mainstream processor.

With Intel readying its 10th-gen Comet Lake series processors launch, we’ll have to see if Ryzen 3’s performance leadership will still hold up against newer competition.

Both Ryzen 3 processors use a four-core, eight-thread design and a maximum 65-watt TDP. The Ryzen 3 3100 has a base clock speed of 3.6GHz and a boost speed of 3.9GHz, while the Ryzen 3 3300X starts at a slightly higher 3.8GHz base clock speed and can go up to 4.3GHz.

These processors have 18MB cache, which helps reduce memory latency for faster gaming performance. AMD’s Ryzen family scales up to a premium 16-core, 32-thread design on the Ryzen 9 3950X made for performance seeking gaming enthusiasts.

In addition to the Ryzen 3 processors, AMD also announced that its B550 chipset will be coming in June. Compared to AMD’s premium X570 chipset, B550 gives AMD gamers a cheaper option to obtain PCIe 4.0 performance and speeds. Thanks to PCIe 4.0 support, the B550 delivers twice the bandwidth when compared to the older B450 design, AMD stated.

The AMD B550 will be available beginning June 16 from ODM partners, like ASRock, Asus, Biostar, Colorful, Gigabyte, and MSI.

Chuong Nguyen
Silicon Valley-based technology reporter and Giants baseball fan who splits his time between Northern California and Southern…
AMD ramps up gaming performance with new X3D CPUs, and they’re almost here
AMD Ryzen 9000 CPU

If you're waiting for a chance to upgrade your gaming rig, you don't have to wait much longer. AMD announced that the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and the Ryzen 9 9900X3D will hit store shelves on March 12 for $699 and $599, respectively. First unveiled at CES 2025, these two processors promise huge gains in performance for gamers wanting the best frame rates and visuals they can possibly get.

AMD describes the Ryzen 9 9950X3D as the "ultimate 16-core desktop CPU," and while there might be a bit of hyperbole involved, this is an undeniably powerful piece of hardware. Its 16 cores give it 32 Threads, and it comes with a base clock speed of 4.3GHz that can boost up to 5.7GHz. It also sports a 144MB cache and uses an admittedly high 170W TDP.

Read more
AMD’s upcoming 9950X3D might be surprisingly pricey at launch
The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D installed in a motherboard.

AMD is soon set to launch a couple of its best processors, including the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and the Ryzen 9 9900X3D. According to leakers, their launch date is merely a week away, as the CPUs are said to come out on March 12. Today, we got a peek at the pricing for the top chip in the lineup, the 9950X3D, and it looks like it might cost a hefty amount at launch.

The beastly gaming CPU was spotted by 9550pro on X (Twitter). The leaker used a price plugin to uncover how much it'll cost. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D was shown with a 5599 RMB (Chinese yuan) price tag, which translates to roughly $772 at the time of writing. Meanwhile, the 9900X3D is said to cost 4599 RMB, which means $634 -- nearly $140 less.

Read more
AMD FSR 4 uses AI to offer up to 3.7x gaming performance
AMD's various FSR versions compared

AMD finally shared technical specifications and pricing for its latest RDNA 4-based Radeon RX 9070 series GPUs. After a rather dull announcement at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the company today hosted a special online event where it spoke about architectural details and new features that we can expect from the RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT graphics cards.

Alongside the launch of the Radeon RX 9000 series, AMD also announced key updates to its upscaling and performance-boosting technologies. FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 4 represents a significant shift in AMD’s approach to image upscaling and frame generation, while HYPR-RX receives refinements to further optimize gaming performance.

Read more