New Ryzen CPUs Faster than Intel for Most Tasks
On July 7, 2019 AMD launched its latest CPU platform with the Ryzen 3000 series. Ever since 2011 when I began as a computer salesman at my local Fry’s Electronics, I don’t remember a time when AMD’s lineup was able to outperform Intel’s. With AMD’s new Ryzen 3000 series, that has finally changed and the competition between AMD and Intel is about as close as ever for consumer grade processors. These new CPUs are not without their flaws, but the choice between AMD and Intel is now not so easy. This has been accomplished by further shrinking the size of the transistors that make up the CPUs, and the space between them, using a new 7 nm process. Intel on the other hand, is still using a 14 nm process, and has struggled with its pending 10 nm process.
Early testing seems to indicate that in general, the Ryzen 5 3600 and Ryzen 7 3700X easily outperform Intel’s current Core i5-9400 and Core i7-9700, respectively. AMD’s CPUs include more CPU cores and threads, making them faster for more intensive productivity workloads. Intel’s CPUs still offer greater power efficiency for many tasks, greater software and hardware compatibility, and still greater performance for certain tasks including a lot of gaming, although this might change as programs and games continue to be better designed to make use of more cores and threads. Intel’s CPUs are still better for low-power systems due to their lower idle power use and more easily adjustable power limits.
AMD’s Ryzen 3000 APUs including the Ryzen 3 3200G and Ryzen 5 3400G, which include integrated graphics, still do not utilize the more advanced 7 nm production process. As a result, they do not have the same performance benefits seen by the 3600 and 3700X, which do not include integrated graphics. Fanless cooling of graphics cards can significantly increase the size and cost of a fanless PC, so the more advanced 7 nm CPUs will not be available yet for many of the PCs offered here. If you need the highest performance possible however, the new Ryzen CPUs are a great choice. They are available with low power graphics cards and a NoFan CPU cooler in well ventilated PC case, or with a heatsink-case that offers fanless cooling of graphics cards such as the MonsterLabo First, the HDPlex H5, or the Streacom DB4. Specifications for the new Ryzen 3000 CPUs are listed below.
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| # of Cores – 4 # of Threads – 4 Base Frequency/Core – 3.6 GHz Max Frequency/Core – 4.0 GHz Cache – 6 MB TDP – 65 W Integrated Graphics – Radeon Vega 8 Passmark Benchmark – TBD Passmark Graphics Benchmark – 1,764 | # of Cores – 4 # of Threads – 8 Base Frequency/Core – 3.7 GHz Max Frequency/Core – 4.2 GHz Cache – 6 MB TDP – 65 W Integrated Graphics – Radeon RX Vega 11 Passmark Benchmark – TBD Passmark Graphics Benchmark – 2,268 | # of Cores – 6 # of Threads – 12 Base Frequency/Core – 3.6 GHz Max Frequency/Core – 4.2 GHz Cache – 35 MB TDP – 65 W Integrated Graphics – None Passmark Benchmark – TBD | # of Cores – 8 # of Threads – 16 Base Frequency/Core – 3.6 GHz Max Frequency/Core – 4.4 GHz Cache – 36 MB TDP – 65 W Integrated Graphics – None Passmark Benchmark – TBD |
