Amd ryzen 3 vs intel core i3 (gaming performance comparison + benchmark)

AMD Ryzen 3 processors have arrived to complete the new Zen-based family and offer users a very affordable alternative with excellent performance. The two models announced are the Ryzen 3 1200 and the Ryzen 3 1300X consisting of 4 physical cores. How do they behave with respect to the Core i3 that are their natural rivals?

We've put together this article to try to find the answer and see which is the best option for tight budgets.

Index of contents

AMD Ryzen 3 vs Intel Core i3 Low-end duel?

AMD Ryzen 3 1200 and 1300X are two processors with very similar characteristics. Both are made up of a total of 4 physical cores and 4 processing threads as they lack the SMT technology that duplicates the logical cores. To achieve this AMD has deactivated two cores of each CCX complex that forms the Summit Ridge die and has deactivated half the cache memory of each CCX, with this we have a total of 8 MB of L3 cache.

The Ryzen 3 1200 operates at base and turbo frequencies of 3.1 GHz and 3.4 GHz respectively, while the Ryzen 3 1300X operates at 3.4 GHz and 3.7 GHz. This is the only major difference in addition to a more aggressive XFR mode for the latter. Both processors come with the multiplier unlocked for easier overclocking.

We now turn to look at the Intel Core i3 7100 and Core i3 7300 processors, both have 2 physical cores with Hyperthreading technology so they have 4 logical cores. We continue with 3 MB of L3 cache in both cases and the impossibility of overclocking when the multiplier is blocked. The difference is found in the operating frequency, the Core i3 7100 complies with 3.9 GHz while the Core i3 7300 operates at 4 GHz. In this case there is no base speed and turbo so they will always work at the mentioned frequencies.

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As we can see Ryzen 3 has the advantage of having twice as many physical cores although the Core i3 works at higher frequencies, especially when all the threads are used since in this case the frequencies of the AMD silicon are very modest. The great advantage of Ryzen 3 is that it allows overclocking and this can make a quite important difference since having a very low power consumption we will need to spend a lot of money on an overclocking heatsink.

Benchmarks and games

To see and analyze the performance of the processors, there is nothing better than passing a complete battery of benchmarks and games, with which we can evaluate their potential both single-threaded and multi-threaded in different conditions. The following tables collect the results obtained by the four processors in question.

Analysis of the results and conclusions about AMD Ryzen 3 vs Intel Core i3

As we can see the four processors offer quite similar performance, the Intel Core i3 have a little advantage in tests that use one or two cores and the Ryzen 3 have an advantage when using more than two cores. We can say that the Ryzen 3 are more complete processors and with better performance in general, although the differences are quite small in general. The great advantage of Ryzen 3 is that they can be overclocked and with this their performance can improve remarkably, something that is impossible to do with the Core i3, so we have a rather important point in favor of Ryzen 3 in this regard.

The next step is to look at the prices, the Ryzen 3 1200 and Ryzen 3 1300X have prices of approximately 115 euros and 140 euros, on the other hand the Core i3 7100 and Core i3 7300 have prices of approximately 110 euros and 150 for what that we can affirm that there is no significant difference between the prices of Ryzen 3 and Core i3.

For this reason we believe that Ryzen 3 1200 is the best option, its price is extremely tight, it offers us four cores and we can improve its performance by overclocking. AMD has brought us a low range with excellent features that allows us to create a very competitive team in all kinds of tasks without spending a lot of money.

Source: Hardwarcanucks