At first, we would like to thank AMD for sending out both their AMD Ryzen™ 3 1300X and Ryzen™ 3 1200 quad-core processors for testing and reviewing.

 

 

 

About AMD:

 

“Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Sunnyvale, California, United States, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While initially it manufactured its own processors, the company became fabless after GlobalFoundries was spun off in 2009. AMD's main products include microprocessors, motherboard chipsets, embedded processors and graphics processors for servers, workstations and personal computers, and embedded systems applications.

 

AMD is the second-largest supplier and only significant rival to Intel in the market for x86-based microprocessors. Since acquiring ATI in 2006, AMD and its competitor Nvidia have dominated the discrete Graphics Processor Unit (GPU) market.”

 

By launching the Ryzen 3 series of processors, AMD is also covering the lower-end to mainstream segment and is providing not one but two separate SKUs: 1300X and 1200. Hardware-wise, these are pretty similar to the Ryzen 5 1400 we have tested some time before, but this time SMT is turned off.

 

 

After the launch of the first Ryzen processors, we have seen plenty of improvements via AGESA updates (now at version 1.0.0.6 that supports even higher clocked RAM and PCIe ACS), software patches for certain games and applications (such as Ashes of the Singularity, DOTA 2, Total War: Warhammer, Tomb Raider, ZBrush) but also a new chipset driver package. The driver package, along with the usual contents it does also come with a customized Widnows 10 Ryzen Balanced power plan. Even if we are talking about the low-end segment, the Ryzen 3 1300X and Ryzen 3 1200 CPUs are fully unlocked for overclocking, so it would be interesting to see how they perform later in this review.

 

 

Ryzen 3 1300X

 

 

Okay, so let’s begin with the packaging! The Ryzen 3 1300X has arrived in a similar cardboard box we have seen along with the mainstream and high-end SKUs, but this time it does come with the “3” mark in the lower corner:

 

 

 

On one of the other box sides, we can take a look at the CPU HSF markings, since a cut-out is provided by the manufacturer:

 

 

 

Moving on, AMD informs the user that the box does include not only the AMD processor and installation instructions, but also a thermal solution designed to be used in a desktop PC; further, we do have the information the system that will include this CPU does also require a discrete graphics card:

 

 

 

 

After lifting the top cover of the box, we will get to see the included cooler, but also the small box the CPU is shipped in:

 

 

 

The Ryzen 3 1300X is shipped along with the Wraith Stealth CPU cooler, which is very compact version of the Wraith Spire we have seen along with the Ryzen 5 1500X:

 

 

 

On the top area, we can spot a 5-blade AMD-branded fan, which comes with a black plastic shroud:

 

 

 

The underlying aluminum structure height is half of the one we have seen along with the Wraith Spire, but the mounting system is identical; speaking of the mounting system, it does require the use of the original AM4 backplate:

 

 

 

 

 

On the bottom area, we can observe the orb-like structure, along with the pre-applied circular thermal compound layer:

 

 

 

The CPU is packaged in a separate, smaller cardboard box, which sports the same design as we have seen many times before:

 

 

 

Inside, we will get the installation instructions, but also the transparent plastic mold which contains both CPU and case sticker:

 

 

 

Inside the installation leaflet, we will get instructions for both AM3 and AM4 socket processors:

 

 

 

Let’s take a look in more detail at the “main point of attraction”!

 

 

 

First, we do have the Ryzen sticker, which has been designed for the “3” series:

 

 

 

The Ryzen 3 1300X CPU does look identical versus the more powerful SKUs; inside, we can find two CCX modules, each having two CPUs inactive (due to binning), a total of 8MB of L3 cache, 512K L2 cache per active core, a base frequency of 3.4GHz, an all-core boost of 3.6GHz and one 3.7GHz 2-core boost. Since we are dealing with an “X” SKU, the XFR boost (single core) is more consistent to about 3.9GHz!

 

The processor comes with AMD-specific fonts and I guess that it is not needed to mention again that the manufacturer uses solder between the actual CCXes and the HSF, in order to obtain optimal heat conduction properties:

 

 

 

 

 

The top area of the HSF does contain the full CPU name:

 

 

 

In the lower area, we will be able to spot laser-etched serial numbers, and here we did also found out that our sample was manufactured in China:

 

 

 

If we do look on the side, we can reveal the HSF height along with the black sealing gasket:

 

 

 

The bottom side of the CPU is filled with gold-plated pins (1331 to be more exact) and thanks to their specific placement pattern, the installation of the CPU inside the socket is basically fault-proof:

 

 

 

Ryzen 3 1200

 

As the 1300X, the Ryzen 3 1200 does come with the same packaging model:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside the box, we will not only find the CPU, but also its bundle:

 

 

 

 

Despite the lower-rated specifications, Ryzen 3 1200 is shipped with the same Wraith Stealth CPU cooler:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A single 4-pin PWM connector powers the heatsink fan:

 

 

 

The Ryzen 3 1200 CPU is accompanied by the specific sticker inside a separate cardboard enclosure:

 

 

 

 

AMD has also included an instructions leaflet for both AM3 and AM4 processors:

 

 

 

As the Ryzen 3 1300X before it, the 1200 SKU was also manufactured in China. Let’s talk a bit about this particular model technical specifications: we do have a dual CCX configuration, each having only two cores enabled; as we have seen along with the Ryzen 5 1400 and Ryzen 3 1300X, we’ve got 8MB of L3 cache, 512K L2 cache per core, but the rated clocks are noticeable slower. The Ryzen 3 1200 does come with a base clock of 3.1GHz, an all-core boost of the same 3.1Ghz speed, 3.4GHz 2-core boost and since we are dealing with a non-X SKU, the XFR 1-core boost is only set at 3.45GHz:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this article, we will compare the Ryzen 3 1300X CPU with the other 8MB L3 cache SKU from the Ryzen 5 series, which is the 1400. The Intel Core i5 7600K test scores are also available, for reference purposes.

 

We have used the same GEIL PC4 25600 3200MHz CL16 8GBx2 Samsung B-die based kit running at 2133Mhz (15-15-15-36 timings), one KFA2 GTX 1060 OC 6GB video card, a Cooler Master 850 PSU but also an OCZ Vector 150 240GB SSD for storage purposes/boot. During testing, the system was running on a fresh Windows 10 Creators Update installation, while all hardware was mounted inside a Cooler Master ATCS 840 Tower case. All the hardware was installed on the ASUS Crosshair VI Hero motherboard, which did feature the latest UEFI version at the time of testing, 1403 with AGESA 1.0.0.6.

 

At stock speeds, we did also monitor the CPU multiplier, in order to see if it reaches the rated XFR speed:

 

 

CPU

 

 

Motherboard

 

 

RAM

 

 

CPU IMC

 

 

Chipset

 

 

SouthBridge

 

VGA

 

 

We will also add to the mix the Ryzen 3 1200 SKU.

 

As a test platform, we have used the same GEIL PC4 25600 3200MHz CL16 8GBx2 Samsung B-die based kit running at 2133Mhz (15-15-15-36 timings), one KFA2 GTX 1060 OC 6GB video card, a Cooler Master 850 PSU but also an OCZ Vector 150 240GB SSD for storage purposes/boot. During testing, the system was running on a fresh Windows 10 Creators Update installation, while all hardware was mounted inside a Cooler Master ATCS 840 Tower case. All the hardware was installed on the ASUS Crosshair VI Hero motherboard, which did feature the latest UEFI version at the time of testing, 1403 with AGESA 1.0.0.6.

 

At stock speeds, we did also monitor the CPU multiplier, in order to see if it reaches the rated XFR speed:

 

 

CPU

 

 

Motherboard

 

 

RAM

 

 

CPU IMC

 

 

Chipset

 

 

SouthBridge

 

VGA

 

 

We have started the overclocking stage of the Ryzen 3 1300X by setting the multiplier at 40 and dialing a 1.4 voltage inside the C6H BIOS; to our surprise, the system was fully stable BUT when checking with both AIDA64 and CPU-Z, the multiplier was locked at 15.5 (for an unknown reason). After setting more multiplier values (we were still getting 15.5 in Windows, even if the UEFI setup was showing the speed correctly), we did only raise the multiplier and left the voltage on Auto, to see if we could obtain a higher all-core speed; to our surprise, the multiplier did set itself correctly this time!

 

In order to get the voltage we wanted, we did no longer set a “Manual” voltage but “Offset” in order to obtain 1.394V in load at a frequency of 4GHz. Prime95 has reported full stability at this particular frequency, so we moved further at 4.1GHz. Prime95 did crash at both 1.406V but also at 1.419 so we thought that this is not a possible speed to work with given the increased temperatures.

 

The next step was to check which the lowest voltage for stability at 4GHz is; to our surprise, Prime95 remained stable until 1.375, which did result in a maximum CPU temperature of 67 degrees Celsius.

 

(click to enlarge)

 

Via CPU-Z, we have also performed a validation at this frequency:

 

 

 

The overclocking stage of the Ryzen 3 1200 was a much easier process compared to the 1300X, because Manual voltage setup was possible without getting a low multiplier as a result. First, we did try an all-core 4GHz frequency overclock but we did get Windows boot crashes at both 1.4V and 1.412V so it was needed to go one step lower. At 3.9GHz we have obtained full system stability at 1.4V so we went further down in order to see the minimum possible voltage for this particular speed; we did stop at 1.362V, which has been proven not only Prime95 stable but also error free in all benchmarks we did run afterwards.

 

(click to enlarge)

 

Via CPU-Z, we have also performed a validation at this frequency:

 

 

 

 

AIDA64

Memory

CPU Queen

CPU PhotoWorxx

CPU Zlib

CPU AES

CPU Hash

FPU Julia

FPU Mandel

FPU SinJulia

FP32 Ray-Trace

FP64 Ray-Trace

The CineBench R11.5 rendering benchmark does keep the 7600K but also the Ryzen 5 1400 in top, because it favors high frequencies (in the case of the 7600K) but also the enabled SMT on the 1400 SKU.

 

The updated CineBench R15 does seem to tell the exact same story; due to the higher stock frequencies the Ryzen 3 1300X clearly stays in front of the 1200, but when both are overclocked, the performance is similar.

 

The Blender benchmark does reveal the Ryzen 3 1200 as being the slowest of the bunch, but is very close to the 1300X when overclocked.

 

PCMark Vantage does show another win for the Intel CPU with higher clocks, but also the Ryzen 5 1400 which does have SMT enabled; when the Ryzen 3 CPUs are overclocked though, we can witness quite a healthy performance boost.

 

PCMark 7 does seem to enjoy the Zen architecture more, while the SMT on the 1400 does not seem to offer any performance boost in this particular software.

 

PCMark 8 does leave behind both Ryzen 3 SKUs in all workloads, but the performance difference is not that big, especially when the processors are overclocked.

 

 

CineBench R11.5

CineBench R15

Blender Ryzen Render

PCMark Vantage

PCMark 7

PCMark 8

 

SuperPI utility does show the single-threaded performance of each CPU, so here we can see a clear win for the Intel Core i5 7600K. Due the possibility of a 4GHz overclock on the 1300X, we can see it delivering quite a performance versus the other Ryzen SKUs.

 

The HWBOT X265 encoding benchmark does show small performance differences between the stock Ryzen 5 1400 at stock and the overclocked Ryzen 3 SKUs, while the enabled SMT does really make a difference on the 1400 when overclocked.

 

In 3DMark Vantage (CPU Score), we can see similar performances between the Ryzen 5 1400 and the Intel Core i5 7600K; the Ryzen 3 SKUs are clearly left behind in both stock and overclocked environments, due to the lack of SMT.

 

3DMark 11 does say a similar story in both Performance and Extreme test environments.

 

3DMark 2013 does show the Ryzen 3 SKUs take the lead over the Ryzen 5 1400, especially in the overclocked mode, but lose in Cloud Gate and Fire Strike.

 

The Unigine Valley 3D benchmark puts the Intel processor in the lead and since SMT capabilities do not bring any performance benefits here, we can see the Ryzen 3 1300X and Ryzen 3 1200 taking the lead when overclocked.

 

In Ashes of the Singularity (CPU Focused Benchmark), the R3 SKUs are left behind, because this particular game really makes use of the extra threads.

 

SuperPI XS 32M

X265 Benchmark (HWBOT)

1080P 64-bit Normal

3DMark Vantage

3DMark 11

3DMark 2013

Unigine Valley

Ultra AA Off DX11 1920X1080

Ashes of the Singularity DX12

CPU Focused

 

By using the memory timings of the previously supplied AMD kit (GEIL PC4 25600 3200MHz CL16 8GBx2 Samsung B-die based, 16-16-16-36), we will check out how the performance of both AMD Ryzen 3 1300X and Ryzen 3 1200 does scale when the memory frequency increases. For this aspect, we have included games, CineBench R15 suite for rendering, HWBOT X265 Encoding suite but also SuperPi 32M.

 

 

Bioshock Infinite

 

Tomb Raider

 

Hitman: Absolution

 

Ashes of the Singularity DX12 FHD

CPU Focused

 

CineBench R15 Multicore

 

X265 Benchmark (HWBOT)

1080P 64-bit Normal

 

SuperPI 32M

With the help of the AIDA64 utility, we have been able to check out the memory bandwidth differences at the speeds we have tried during the DDR scaling tests.

2133MHz

2400MHz

2667MHz

2933MHz

 

3200MHz

 

With the help of the AIDA64 utility, we have been able to check out the memory bandwidth differences at the speeds we have tried during the DDR scaling tests.

2133MHz

2400MHz

2667MHz

2933MHz

3200MHz

 

Based on their latest Zen architecture, AMD is proposing a low-end to mainstream segment with their Ryzen 3 SKUs; we are not discussing about a 2-core part but a real 4-core processor (SMT disabled) with dual CCXes, where each CCX module sports two active units. The processors do feature an 8MB L3 cache and are aimed to compete against the Pentium G4560, the Core i3-7100 but also the Core i3-7300 from Intel.

 

Given the low cost of these parts, we were expecting a very low overclocking performance; we were happy to see that we were wrong, since we were able to increase the all-core frequency of the 1300X to 4GHz and the 1200 to 3.9GHz. These speeds were obtained at very safe voltages and temperatures and we could recommend it for 24/7 usage. Here we also need to add that we did not use the boxed coolers but the Deepcool Captain 240EX RGB AIO, which was able to keep the system cool and silent even during insane workloads such as Prime95.

 

 

 

If you remember well from the previous reviews, we were having difficulties of getting 3200MHz RAM to function with the R5 SKUs, but thanks to the latest AGESA updates, running the GeIL EVO X kit on Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 3 at its stock speed was fully possible. In the case of the Ryzen 3 1200 we needed to add a small bump to the SoC voltage though, due to a less-capable memory controller, but the R3 1300X worked like a charm.

 

In productivity tasks, the lack of SMT can be clearly observed versus the Ryzen 5 1400 model, but video encoding seems to take a smaller performance hit; when we have overclocked both SKUs though, Ryzen 3 has become even more competitive.

 

Home users that are not planning to spend a lot on their system (not planning on overclocking either) can clearly go for the Ryzen 3 1300X given its higher stock clocks and this particular processor can be easily paired with a mainstream video card in order to play most games at up to 1080P resolution. Considering the overclocking capabilities of the Ryzen 3 1200 and if the user does also have to his/her disposal an AIO water cooling system (which are not that expensive nowadays), we can get 1300X performances or even exceed it in some workloads, depending on the silicon lottery.

 

Regarding the power consumption for the Ryzen 3 1300X, we have recorded 59.3W in IDLE, 68.1W when playing a 4K clip, 106W when encoding via Handbrake but also an average of 128W when gaming. When overclocked at 4GHz, we have recorded about 65.1W in IDLE, 72.5W when watching a 4K movie clip, 124W when encoding with Handbrake and 138W as average when gaming.

 

Regarding the power consumption for the Ryzen 3 1200, we have recorded 55.2W in IDLE, 64.8W when playing a 4K clip, 88.2W when encoding via Handbrake but also an average of 123W when gaming. When overclocked at 3.9GHz, we have recorded about 64.7W in IDLE, 71.9W when watching a 4K movie clip, 122W when encoding with Handbrake and 135W as average when gaming.

 

These recordings are for the full system, not only the processor.

 

We did mention that these are very affordable SKUs, so here we go: the Ryzen 3 1300X is available for about 139 Euros, while the Ryzen 3 1200 can be had for about 119 Euros. These prices do also include VAT, so we think that they are priced very competitively considering that we are discussing about 4-core parts with quite a bit of overclocking headroom.

 

As a side note, with the launch of the Ryzen 3 series,the AMD A-Series APUs and Athlon processors have been also unveiled for the AM4 socket; most of these will have in store availability by September and will be priced competitively as well.

 

 

AMD Ryzen 3 Series is Recommended for:

 

We would like to thank again to AMD for making this review possible!