If one were critiquing AMD’s current line of Zen 2 processors, one of the things to note is that the cheapest option is $199, for the six-core Ryzen 5 3600. This puts the latest hardware from AMD out of reach for anyone building a gaming $900 system or below. In order to redress this balance, AMD is set to launch two new quad core designs in May, starting at $99. The new Ryzen 3 hardware will each feature one Zen 2 core chiplet, run at up to 4.3 GHz, and offer PCIe 4.0 connectivity.

A few years ago, the quad core processor was at the top of the market, and you would need $500 for one. When AMD started launching its quad core parts for as little as $99, the market became interested in what would become the new normal. These new Ryzen 3 parts from AMD, the new low-end quad cores, are helping define that normal, especially with high frequencies and taking advantage of the latest features such as high-speed DDR4, Zen 2 levels of IPC at high frequencies, and PCIe 4.0.

AMD 'Matisse' Ryzen 3000 Series CPUs
AnandTech Cores
Threads
Base
Freq
Boost
Freq
L2
Cache
L3
Cache
PCIe
4.0
Chiplets
IO+CPU
TDP Price
(SEP)
Ryzen 9 3950X 16C 32T 3.5 4.7 8 MB 64 MB 16+4+4 1+2 105W $749
Ryzen 9 3900X 12C 24T 3.8 4.6 6 MB 64 MB 16+4+4 1+2 105W $499
Ryzen 9 3900 12C 24T 3.1 4.3 6 MB 64 MB 16+4+4 1+2 65W OEM
Ryzen 7 3800X 8C 16T 3.9 4.5 4 MB 32 MB 16+4+4 1+1 105W $399
Ryzen 7 3700X 8C 16T 3.6 4.4 4 MB 32 MB 16+4+4 1+1 65W $329
Ryzen 5 3600X 6C 12T 3.8 4.4 3 MB 32 MB 16+4+4 1+1 95W $249
Ryzen 5 3600 6C 12T 3.6 4.2 3 MB 32 MB 16+4+4 1+1 65W $199
Ryzen 5 3500X 6C 6T 3.6 4.1 3 MB 32 MB 16+4+4 1+1 65W OEM
Ryzen 3 3300X 4C 8T 3.8 4.3 2 MB 16 MB 16+4+4 1+1 65W $120
Ryzen 3 3100 4C 8T 3.6 3.9 2 MB 16 MB 16+4+4 1+1 65W $99

This is all well and good, and AMD has plenty of options at these price points to compete against Intel, however AMD’s biggest competition is going to be with itself. At these prices, $105 and $120, there are a number of AMD processors from the previous generations on offer that might be more appealing. For example, the 12nm+ version of the Ryzen 5 1600, called the ‘AF’ because the processor descriptor ends in AF, has slightly lower frequencies and IPC but has six cores and is only $85. Users will have to decide between more cores for throughput with the 1600AF, or more frequency/IPC with the 3100 for $15.

Not only this, but we are also awaiting the launch of AMD’s new APUs, called Renoir, for the desktop space. The performance of these parts at 15 W, a quad-core Zen 2 up to 4.3 GHz with Vega8 graphics (and no extra latency due to the chiplet) is going to be a compelling option when it moves to 65 W on the desktop. As a result, we might see the Renoir processors priced above the Ryzen 3, in that $125-$190 area that AMD currently doesn’t have any Zen 2 processors in.

For the rest of the year it seems there’s going to be some interesting competition in this low cost space. Intel also has Comet Lake-S on the horizon we believe, taking another crack at 14nm, and these new Ryzen 3 products might result in some interesting line-ups due to price.

We're expecting to get these CPUs in for testing sometime soon. They are set to be launched in May.

B550 Launch Coming Soon

One of the often talked topics, since January, is when AMD is going to launch its more mid-range B550 motherboards for the Ryzen 3000 processors. Today AMD is announcing that B550 is coming on June 16th this year, with all the main motherboard manufacturers coming out with a variety of models, up to 60 for launch. AMD is also confirming that B550 will offer PCIe 4.0 connectivity. More details to come at a later date.

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  • supdawgwtfd - Wednesday, April 22, 2020 - link

    B550 is just a B450 so won't have active cooling.
  • haukionkannel - Tuesday, April 21, 2020 - link

    I have pci 4.0 gpu and pci m2ssd and two normal ssd and two normal hd and my cooler in x570 has newer been running... you need some sli 4.0 to get that cooler to start spinning...
  • Mccaula718 - Tuesday, April 21, 2020 - link

    What GPU is pcie 4.0? I do agree however that I've never heard my chip set fan.
  • Qasar - Tuesday, April 21, 2020 - link

    radeon rx 5000 series are pcie 4.
  • Makaveli - Tuesday, April 21, 2020 - link

    Never head the chipset fan on my Asus Prime X570-Pro also.
  • Irata - Wednesday, April 22, 2020 - link

    Besides RDNA1, you can be sure both nVidia's and AMD's next gen will be.
  • PeachNCream - Tuesday, April 21, 2020 - link

    Hearing it running isn't really the problem. Its fan failure over time that would possibly cause issues. You're working with fairly new hardware and probably periodically open the case to clean out the dust or at least run a filter that you clean regularly like most of us AT readers are likely to do. I have seen tiny fans when Intel started making them more of a mandatory thing back in the mid-1990s go bad. Materials are essentially the same as are fan designs for those little things. Dirt ingestion and time will take their toll and that is a concern that makes 4.0 performance potential a slightly double-edged sword for boxes that are expected to have a longer service life.
  • lmcd - Tuesday, April 21, 2020 - link

    Isn't AMD switching sockets soon? AFAIK they're breaking compatibility soon (which is fine imo), so anyone getting this as a "temporary" CPU might be a bit surprised, even if there's better SKUs in the family still.
  • RBD117 - Wednesday, April 22, 2020 - link

    What do you mean by soon? AM4 will support the Zen3 Ryzen 4000 series CPUs. That means the socket should be alive for well over a year from this point in time. If Zen3 Ryzen 4000 launches in Sept-Oct and Ryzen 5000 comes out, let's say, a year later at shortest time-frame, then AM4 will last at least 16 more months from this point in time. And since they've been pushing out the desktop release cadence by about 4 months every series release, it's probably more like 20 months more of AM4 at this rate.
  • Threska - Sunday, April 26, 2020 - link

    What would a new socket gain except maybe PCI 5.0?

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