$127 FOR A QUAD-CORE, eight-threaded
processor, complete with a hefty 18MB
of cache, a fairly typical Ryzen clock
knocking in at 4.3 GHz at max, and of
course access to all the juicy connectivity
options bundled in with the X570 and
B550 chipsets: There’s a lot to love when
it comes to the Ryzen 3 3300X. For not a
lot of cash, it offers a tempting solution
for those looking to upgrade their ageing
rigs, or set up a brand new one.
We always enjoy looking back at the
past with processors, as it gives us a good
idea as to what the future might hold, and
just how far we’ve come in such a short
time. And with the Ryzen 3 3300X, it’s
absolutely no exception. Back in the days
of Kaby Lake, a quad-core processor
with multi-threading as standard would
set you back close to $300, albeit with a
slightly higher clock speed. Fast forward
three years and that price has halved,
and you’ve gained a bevy of connectivity
solutions with it. There’s a lot to love
here. But this is 12 months on from the
initial 3rd-gen Ryzen launch, and we’ve
seen Ryzen 3s before, so why is it so
interesting? And why now?
Well in short, the Ryzen 5 3400G,
Ryzen 3 3200G, and the Ryzen 3 3100G
aren’t technically 3rd-generation Ryzen
parts. They’re in the product stack,
sure, launched at the same time as the
original 3rd gen, but the reality is these
iGPU cousins were meagre imitators,
harboring that pesky 12nm+ ZenThe Goldilocks chip
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X
9
VERDICT AMD Ryzen 3 3300XTHE EARLY BIRD Strong
single-core performance;
incredible price; good affordability;
strong feature set.
FASHIONABLY LATE Next-gen chips
are right around the corner; as hot
as a 3600X six-core.
$127 http://www.amd.com0, http://www.xxxxxxxxx.comSPECIFICATIONSCores / Threads 4 / 8
Base / Turbo Clock 3.8 / 4.3 GHz
Architecture Zen 2
Lithography TSMC 7nm FinFET
Memory Support Dual-channel 3200 MHz
PCIe Support x16(+4) PCIe 4.0
Integrated Graphics N/A
TDP 65 Warchitecture we saw with the launch of
AMD’s 2nd gen. These chips lacked PCIe
4.0 support, and perhaps worst of all only
came with eight PCIe 3.0 graphics lanes
direct to the CPU itself (the other eight
being reserved for the onboard iGPU).
These were processors designed with
the HTPC, esports and home-server
markets in mind, where more often than
not those PCIe lanes would be taken up
with RAID cards or audio solutions instead
of graphics. For AMD, the solution was
simple for anyone serious about gaming
on a budget—get a Ryzen 5 3600. But this
left a gaping hole in the market, one Intel
happily filled with its high-performing
Core i5s and i3s, all of which featured
the full-fat 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes and strong
single-core performance. Fast forward
a year and at last we see a competitor, in
the form of this fruitful Ryzen 3 3300X, in
all of its 7nm glory.
So then, is it any good? Well the long
and the short of it is, yes, darn good in
fact. In Cinebench R15, we saw this thing
clock in an impressive 199 points in the
single-core tests, and 1,123 points in
multi-core. Throw it into gaming, and it
pulls off some impressive performance
at 1440p, clocking in 72fps in Tot al War:
Warhammer II with an Nvidia GeForce
GTX 1080, and 53fps in Ghost Recon:
Wildlands. Not too shabby. It does lose
some points compared to the likes of
its older sibling, the Ryzen 5 3600X, but
that’s only in heavier multi-threadedtitles. Interestingly, we saw temps
remain resiliently the same between
the two chips, both floating around the
66 C mark under load regardless of core
count. This is likely due to the fact the
3300X is still utilizing the same number
of core complexes as the 3600X, albeit
with two additional cores disabled within
those CCXs.
AMD’s Ryzen 3300X is an interesting,
perhaps somewhat late addition to its
arsenal. It represents an intriguing
proposition for those looking to upgrade
their ageing quad-core platforms, with
access to newer connection standards
and more modern motherboards at an
affordable price. But we have to question
whether it’s just too little too late. AMD
has confirmed its 4th-generation chips
will be with us before the year is out.
So investing in a processor that’s likely
going to drop in price within the space of
the next few months seems somewhat
foolhardy. Nonetheless, right now it’s a
fantastic processor, and ideal for those
looking for something for either home
office use, or to use in a slim, lightweight
gaming machine. –ZAK STOREYBENCHMARKSAMD Ryzen 3 3300X AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Cinebench R15 Single (Index) 199 198
Cinebench R15 Multi (Index) 1,123 1,659
Tech ARP’s X264 (avg fps) 27.32 33.08
Fry Render (m:s) 02:13 1:55
Power Draw Idle/Load (W) 54 / 185 58 / 232
Total War: Warhammer II @ 1080p (fps) 72 76
Ghost Recon Wildlands (fps) 53 55
Maximum Overclock (GHz@V) 4.2 @ 1.35V 4.2 @ 1.4VBest scores in bold. Our test bed consists of an Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula, 32GB of G.Skill
Trident Z Neo, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080. All games were tested at 1080p on the highest
graphical profile, with average fps noted.in the lab
64 MAXIMUMPC SEP 2020 maximumpc.com