AMD Ryzen 3 1300X Quad-Core CPU Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The AMD Ryzen 3 1300X Quad-Core AM4 CPU is launching today with an MSRP of just £124.99. That’s noticeably cheaper than Intel’s current crop of quad-cores and even cheaper than their current lineup of i3 CPUs. If you’re looking for a properly affordable budget gaming CPU for a home computer or compact system, this is it.

Overview

I know it’s double the price, but this CPU reminds me of the G3258 from Intel. Of course, it also has double the cores. It’s affordable given its overall specifications and with a great range of B350 motherboards on the market, it’s not going to break the bank there either. When it comes to overclocking, it delivered tangible results, making it a true budget friendly hero in my eyes.

Gaming

When it came to 1080p gaming, the 1300X delivered fantastic results, especially given its price. However, once we applied that modest 3.9 GHz overclock, it managed to squeeze out a few more FPS in every single test and that’s free performance. When we pushed things up to 4K, things got really interesting, with the 1300X letting our GTX 1080 Ti stretch its legs, giving it performance that is comparable to other CPUs we’ve tested.

Hot and Cold?

This CPU was so easy to overclock, just type in a CPU multiplier of 39, and it’ll post. With CPU voltage on Auto it set it to about 1.28v to 1.3v, which is fine. However, with a little trial and error, you can get that much closer to 1.2v manually. Either way, this chip will still run cool and quiet and that’s great for those who can’t afford a big CPU cooler. Of course, keep in mind you can only overclock on B350 or X370 chipsets, although B350 seems like the more logical choice for a CPU in this price range.

Should I buy One?

If you’re building a gaming system or office rig on a tighter budget, this is a good fit for the job. Even if you’re building a smaller HTPC, or spare gaming rig, it seems like a good “project” CPU and I think it’s going to have big appeal. For me, the Ryzen 5 and 7 are more fitting to my needs. Of course, if you spend more time browsing reddit when you should be working and only play games occasionally, the Ryzen 3 is ticking all the right boxes. Those wanting to do rendering, and lots of multitasking should still look at the R5 and R7 series.

Pros

• Fiercely competitive pricing for quad-core CPU
• Robust gaming performance
• Good day-to-day performance
• Very easy to overclock
• Doesn’t use a lot of power
• Easy to keep cool

Cons

• None

“One of the most affordable Ryzen chip we’ve tested to date is also one of the most exciting. If you’re looking for competitive quad-core performance on a budget, you’ll be blown away with what the 1300X has to offer.”