AMD Ryzen 3 3100 & 3300X CPU Review

AMD has been going from strength to strength in recent years. The launch of their multi-award-winning Ryzen 1st Gen CPUs was a big turning point for the company. They made some minor improvements for the 2nd Gen CPUs, but it’s this superb 3rd Gen that’s really pushed them into the lead. The 3xxx CPUs have blown us (and others) away since they launched. However, now we have two new models, the Ryzen 3 3100 and the Ryzen 3 3300X that look set to disrupt the affordable CPU market. Not only do they offer great prices, they look set to tangle with some more expensive Intel CPUs such as the i7-7700K.

AMD Ryzen 3 3100 & 3300X

At just $99 the Ryzen 3 3100 is a promising option for affordable PC builds. It offers a competitive 4-cores and 8-threads design, with a boost speed of up to 3.9 GHz. However, it’s the 3300X that has us most excited, as it’s offering up a higher boost of 4.3 GHz, and while it may appear to be a slightly faster version of the 3100, it’s a bit more than that. These CPU’s feature a different CCX configuration.

The Ryzen 3 3100 is a 2_2 configuration, with two cores per CCX. The Ryzen 3 3300X is a 4.0 configuration, was all the cores on a single CCX. That means less core-to-core latency, and a unified L3 cache for the 3300X, which will improve performance more than just a simple MHz increase.

Next-Gen

Of course, AMD is reaping the benefits of their other technologies, even on these more affordable CPUs. Zen Core Architecture, the 7nm FinFET design, great compatibility thanks to the AM4 socket, and of course, PCIe Gen 4.0. What’s also impressive is that both these CPUs have a TDP of just 65W, so even a small or stock cooler should be up to the job of keeping them running great.

Coolers

The CPUs come with the standard Wraith coolers. Nothing too crazy, but again at just 65W TDP, it’s all these CPUs really need! Of course, we’ll be applying our usual Noctua coolers for the purpose of these reviews and fair testing.

AMD Information, Chipsets, Motherboards and More

As you can see, these new CPUs will work on X470, B450, and X570. That’s pretty decent, and you can throw on the new B550 chipset too as we move forwards.