Amd ryzen 5 3400g review in Spanish (full analysis)

AMD has also carried out a refresh to its APU range, some processors with integrated graphics that make up the second generation, and be careful with this, with Zen + architecture at 12 nm, so they are not 7nm. This time we will analyze the AMD Ryzen 5 3400G, the most powerful of the two releases that has Radeon RX Vega 11 graphics as the most powerful of an APU to date, thanks to its 1400 MHz and 11 graphic cores. There is also no lack of SMT technology in its 4 cores and 8 threads at 4.2 GHz.

We expect worthy and interesting results from this APU, and above all an improvement over the previous generation. Let's start with our review!

Before continuing, we must thank AMD Spain for giving us their new CPUs to carry out all our analyzes.

AMD Ryzen 5 3400G technical characteristics

Unboxing

The AMD Ryzen 5 3400G is presented to us in a box that is exactly the same as that used in the new Ryzen 3000, completely square and with the distinctive screen printing of the Ryzen family, so as not to lose the habit. It is built in thin flexible cardboard, and we have the CPU visible on one side of this box, so that the product we buy looks good.

Without further delay, we will open the box to find the product divided into two packages. The first of these is a cardboard box that stores the stock sink, in this case the Wraith Spire. The second element is a considerably rigid plastic package that has the CPU and a sticker on it. Be very careful when removing it so that it does not fall and we do not bend any pin.

Exterior design and encapsulation of the AMD Ryzen 5 3400G

AMD has been loaded with news this 2019, first were the 7nm Ryzen 3000 officially presented at Computex where we attended the Lisa Su event. And then there were two APUs, the one we analyzed today, and the Ryzen 3200G a more discrete CPU in performance both in cores and integrated graphics when having the Vega 8.

First of all, we should not associate the name "3400" with the 3rd generation Ryzen, since this is not the case in this case. It is a CPU that has a refresh to 12 nm FinFET technology, so we are talking about Zen + architecture and not Zen2. This refreshment has served to increase the frequency of the cores and implement the higher level integrated graphics that AMD has, the Radeon RX Vega 11 with an increase in its frequency. So we expect a decent performance from this APU to mount it on multimedia mini PCs, desktops to study, work and even occasionally play at an acceptable quality. We will see if this is so.

As always, we will dedicate at least a few lines to comment on what we have on the upper face of the processor. Not because it was an APU it was going to be different, so AMD has installed an IHD built in copper and aluminum that will allow us to transfer the heat from inside it to the heatsink. The encapsulation used by these CPUs is really big and with a very large swap area.

A novelty that we have compared to the previous generation of CPU with IGP, is that now this IHS is also welded to the internal DIEs, thus removing the layer of thermal paste of yesteryear. This system provides better heat transmission to the outside, by not adding extra thermal resistance between DIE and Heatsink. Also, here there will be no problem with the delid, since it is not a CPU oriented to do this practice. Then we will see if this positively affects the temperature.

If we turn AMD Ryzen 5 3400G around to admire its beautiful pin array, or said in English, Pin Grid Array, corresponding to the outputs of the PGA AM4 socket, the one used for this CPU. These pins are covered with a thin layer of gold to improve the transfer of energy between them, and thus withstand the great intensity that must be moved inside. If you mount an electrolysis process with copper, zinc, water and a battery, and you put all your processors, you can still get a little gold, although we do not recommend it.

In one of the corners you have pointed out the direction in which the CPU must be installed in the socket, always aligning the arrow in the corner with the arrow marked on the plate. And one last recommendation, do not press to insert the CPU into the socket, if it does not enter, there is a pin that is not perfectly aligned.

Heatsink design

Because this AMD Ryzen 5 3400G has both integrated graphics and the processing cores themselves, AMD has included a Wraith Spire heatsink. It is not a bad option if we consider that it is the second in performance below the Wraith Prism that is used by the most powerful CPUs such as the 3700 and 3900. However, in our tests we will see that it has behaved.

It is a hole made entirely of aluminum, a metal that obviously has a lower conductivity than copper. We say this because a copper base in contact with the heatsink would not have been bad. The heatsink already comes with the thermal paste applied in a circle, and we must say that in enough quantity, to such an extent that we will have plenty left over from the sides.

The block is made up of a hollow central area with four solid arms from which all the fins come out in a vertical configuration. In this way, the air passes perfectly downwards and exits through the lower hot zone. The height of this block without the fan is approximately 45 mm. And almost the other half is occupied by the fan and its corresponding plastic circumferential support with the AMD logo on the top. This fan is of a simple configuration with 5 propellers and an effective diameter of 85 mm.

The method of fixing this heatsink is different from that used by the Prism top model, and this is important to keep in mind. In this case we only have a bracket with four screws, so we will need to remove the two plastic tabs from the board socket that are normally used for lever heatsinks. In this way we will screw the heatsink directly into the four holes without worrying about tightening too much, since a spring in each screw will control the pressure limit on the IHS and also a stop on the thread itself.

Benefits

AMD Ryzen 5 3400G is a processor that has Zen + technology inside, we have already advanced this at the beginning of the review. Despite having the 3000 mark in its name, we are facing a 2nd generation AMD APU with integrated graphics. This implies that it is the direct successor of the Ryzen 2400G and it is convenient to know what the differences that we find in it will be.

And first of all we are going to talk in detail about the integrated graphics, since it is the biggest claim of this CPU Ryzen, because the third generation does not have any of them with IGP. In this case, a Radeon RX Vega 11 graphics system has been mounted , which has 11 cores inside in a 14 nm manufacturing process and GNC 5.0 architecture working at 1400 MHz. It is the same configuration as the 2400G only the frequency has been increased by about 150 MHz. These Raven Ridge cores have a count of 704 shading units, generating about 44 TMUs (texturing units) and 8 ROPs (rendering units)

We can see in this diagram that the communication between the CPU part and the GPU part is done through the Infinity Fabric bus, the interconnection bus that AMD uses in its Ryzen processors already in the 1st generation APUs. Something important is that in these new processors all the CPU cores are in the same CCX complex, which makes them communicate with each other directly through the L3 cache and without going through the Infinity Fabric bus, this should help to reduce latency and improve performance.

As for the specifications of the CPU itself, we have a total of 4 cores and 8 processing threads under a 12 nm FinFET lithography that reach a speed of 3.7 GHz in base frequency and 4.2 GHz in boost mode that it's not bad at all. It is the only one that used SMT as multithreading, since the 3200G only has 4/4. You only need a 65W TDP, which is exactly the same as the 2400G used, so the lithography descent that has come quite well to the model.

We also need to know the characteristics of its cache memory, so we find 2 MB of L2 cache, thus maintaining a total of 512 KB for each core. And if we go to the L3 cache, then we will have 4 MB, which is quite a bit if we consider that the 7nm Ryzen 3000 have 16 MB for every 4 cores. An increase in quantity for these two APUs would not have been bad for increasing performance. This, too, is an unlocked CPU capable of overclocking, although it makes little sense to do so.

And finally, we will give some indications regarding the capacity of this APU installed on a new generation motherboard such as the X570. These processors support a maximum of 64 GB of RAM at 2933 MHz, although all the boards are compatible with XPM profiles up to 3600 MHz. It happens that the memory that we have used, we have had to configure it at 3400 MHz due to problems in the motherboard of the test bench. We must bear in mind that in this case it does not support the PCIe 4.0 bus as it does in the Ryzen 3000, and the maximum number of PCIe lanes that this CPU has is 8, so the dedicated graphics cards that we install will only use 8 of these lanes instead of 16.

Test bench and performance test

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	AMD Ryzen 5 3400G
Base plate:	X570 Aorus Pro
RAM:	16GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB Royal DDR4 3600MHz
Heatsink	Stock
HDD	ADATA SU750
Graphic card	Nvidia RTX 2060 Founders Edition
Power supply	Be Quiet! Dark Pro 11 1000w

Now let's check the stability of AMD Ryzen 5 3400G processor in stock values. The motherboard we have stressed with Prime 95 Custom and air cooling through the stock sink. Initially we will give the results only with the integrated graphics of the CPU itself. In a specific section we will install the Nvidia RTX 2060 Founders Edition card, to compare first hand how it affects having or not having dedicated graphics.

Benchmarks (Synthetic tests)

We have tested the performance with the X570 platform and the memories configured at 3400 MHz, the maximum that the breadboard allows in a stable way for this 2nd generation APU on the motherboard. Compatibility information will be available on the support and specification page of the board itself. The programs we have used will be the following:

• Cinebench R15 and R20 (CPU Score).Aida643DMARKVRMARKPCMark 8Blender RobotWprime 32M

In-game testing (APU only)

We have tested this set of hardware with the 6 games that we have been using for some time, in order to have a reference with the rest of the analyzed model. There is a huge list of IPs, and that is impossible to test or buy them all. Extrapolate these results and the performance steps between CPUs to see more or less how it would behave with a certain game.

Keep in mind that the results shown here are those obtained with the integrated graphics of the AMD Ryzen 5 3400G and in a resolution of 1280x720p and 1920x1080p. This is the graphic configuration used:

• Shadow of the Tomb Rider, Bass, SMAA, DirectX 12 Far Cry 5, Bass, DirectX 12 DOOM, Medium, Open GL 4.5 Final Fantasy XV, Low, DirectX 12 Deus EX Mankind Divided, Bass, DirectX 12 Metro Exodus, Bass, DirectX 12

Graphics performance with dedicated graphics card

Now we have placed the Nvidia RTX 2060 to look for superior graphics performance and thus compare this CPU with the rest of the processors with normal use. This is the new graphic configuration used

• Shadow of the Tomb Rider, Alto, TAA + Anisotropico x4, DirectX 12 Far Cry 5, Alto, TAA, DirectX 12 DOOM, Ultra, TAA, Open GL 4.5 Final Fantasy XV, standard, TAA, DirectX 12 Deus EX Mankind Divided, Alto, Anisotropic x4, DirectX 12 Metro Exodus, High, Anisotropic x16, DirectX 12 (without RT)

Consumption and temperatures

We have used Prime95 in its large version to test both temperatures and consumption. All Watts readings have been measured from the wall socket and the entire assembly except the monitor.

We see quite good temperatures both at idle and at maximum load when we stress the CPU completely. The choice to keep this stock heatsink in the CPU has been the correct one, giving the size without any problem.

As far as consumption is concerned, we also see excellent records, despite the increase in power both in cores and in GPU. Which makes them values ​​quite close to the 2400G analyzed by us a while ago, and that we will refresh your records on the new AMD platform.

Final words and conclusion about AMD Ryzen 5 3400G

We come to the end of the review of the AMD Ryzen 5 3400G, a CPU with integrated graphics that refreshes its cores with 12 nm and a frequency boost up to 3.7 / 4.2 GHz. Although we certainly miss a bigger cache, because it would have been a huge leap over the 2400G.

And it is that the results both in synthetic tests and in games place it very close to its predecessor, both if we install as but a dedicated graph. It has the Radeon RX Vega 11 graphics , with 11 dedicated cores that the truth, they are not bad for games in 720p and even 1080p in low quality. Here it does take a slight advantage over the 2400G but not enough.

As for temperatures, we have some that are magnificent, we barely reached 62 degrees after a long time of stress. It has been very successful to opt for the Wraith Spire series heatsink, and we see it more than enough for our needs, even when playing. Great work from AMD in this regard.

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We must bear in mind that it does not have a 7nm architecture, perhaps you can confuse it with its distinctive 3000. In any case, it is perfectly compatible with the X470 and X570 platform so we will have maximum versatility. A differential aspect for choosing this model is because it supports memories of up to 3600 MHz.

And we finish the review with the price of this 3400G which will be approximately 164 euros, 34 euros more expensive than its predecessor. It's not a huge differential, and overall performance is similar, though higher frequency and support for improved RAM memory could make it the logical choice. In any case, they are two APUs ideal for advanced multimedia equipment and even take a game.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
- ARCHITECTURE REFRESHMENT WITH 12 NM	- PERFORMANCE VERY SIMILAR TO 2400G
- VEGA 11 INTEGRATED GRAPHICS OF REMARKABLE PERFORMANCE	- WE EXPECTED A LITTLE MORE GAP BETWEEN GENERATIONS
- IDEAL FOR MULTIMEDIA AND GAMING STATIONS AT A VERY BASIC LEVEL	- LITTLE MEMORY CACHE
- COMPATIBLE WITH X470 AND X570 AND 3600 MHZ RAM
- EXCELLENT HEATSINK AND TEMPERATURES

The Professional Review team awards him the silver medal:

AMD Ryzen 5 3400G

YIELD YIELD - 86%

MULTI-THREAD PERFORMANCE - 82%

OVERCLOCK - 85%

TEMPERATURE - 86%

CONSUMPTION - 85%

PRICE - 83%

85%