There is an old saying, “After the storm comes the calm.” For AMD, this phrase could not be more accurate. Since the failure of the Bulldozer architecture against Sandy Bridge nearly a decade ago, AMD has faced such a crisis that at one point they had to sell their headquarters to stay afloat. Under the leadership of Dr. Lisa Su, President and CEO, AMD has gradually regained its position as a counterweight to Intel in the desktop CPU market, starting with the Ryzen 1000 launched in 2007.
With this entirely new architecture, AMD Ryzen has caused a seismic shift in the tech world. Back then, Intel’s top mainstream CPU, the i7-7700K, only had 4 cores and 8 threads, numbers that persisted for 7 years. Meanwhile, the Ryzen 5 1600, aimed to compete with the Core i5, boasted 6 cores and 12 threads. The first quarter of 2017 marked AMD’s return, revealing how much Intel was struggling to escape from 14nm. Three years later, while Ryzen 3000 CPUs are being produced on a 7nm process, Intel’s Comet Lake is still stuck at 14nm++++.
Even when Intel claims that their 14nm process has a higher transistor density than TSMC’s 10nm (the chipmaker for AMD), the gap between 14nm and 7nm is insurmountable. The AMD Ryzen 3 3100, with its 4 cores and 8 threads, is today’s compelling evidence of this. Now, we have a Ryzen 3 CPU priced competitively with the Core i3 but with performance nearly reaching that of the Core i5. It sounds unbelievable, but this has been proven since the launch of Ryzen 3000.
Test configuration:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 3100
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x32GB 3200MHz C16
Mainboard: Gigabyte B450 AORUS PRO
GPU: ASUS TUF Radeon RX 5600 XT 6GB
NVMe: Samsung PM981 256GB
PSU: Corsair SF750 Platinum
CPU cooler: Alpenfoehn Blackridge with Noctua A9x14 + Noctua NF-A12 IPPC 3000
One of the most critical factors when building a Ryzen configuration is RAM. To ensure that the Infinity Fabric protocol operates optimally, the RAM speed and command rate are what you need to pay attention to. The recommended speed is from 2666MHz and the RAM command rate should be set to 1T to suit AMD’s architecture. In the case of the Ryzen 3 3100, these factors are even more important because this CPU has a 2+2 design, meaning there will be 2 complex computing clusters (CCX), each with 2 cores. This design will be at a disadvantage compared to its older brother, the Ryzen 3 3300X, which also has 4 cores but is situated on the same CCX, allowing data to flow without needing to switch between CCXs, thereby improving overall performance. This is understandable since the Ryzen 3 3100 is aimed as the cheapest Ryzen 3000 CPU on the market.
Starting with Cinebench R20, one of the most popular benchmarking tools these days. It can be seen that thanks to the Zen 2 architecture and 7nm process, Ryzen has made a leap in single-core performance, reaching 447, over 10% better than the Threadripper 1950X, which was the dream of many just three years ago. Moreover, it is only about 7% worse than the i7-7700K, which was dubbed the best gaming CPU at the time. When compared to its direct competitor, the i3-9100, this score is equivalent. However, the i3-9100F is completely lacking in multi-core performance, scoring only 1630 compared to the 2270 of the Ryzen 3 3100. Furthermore, the single-core and multi-core scores of the Ryzen 3 3100 are even more impressive when compared to the i5-9400F, which is priced at twice as much but only reaches corresponding scores of 430 and 2047.
In a series of familiar tests like CPU-Z, Geekbench, 7-Zip, and 3DMark, every scenario shows the superiority of the Ryzen 3 3100 over its competitor, the Core i3-9100, and it falls just short compared to the i5-9400F. In fact, the Geekbench and 7-Zip scores of the Ryzen 3 3100 even exceed those of the i5-9400F thanks to its higher thread count.
Throughout the testing process, even when running heavy tests like AIDA, the CPU temperature did not exceed 73 degrees Celsius, despite being cooled by a low-profile cooler, typically used for ITX machines in compact SFF cases. If equipped with a more powerful cooler, the performance of the Ryzen 3 3100 could further improve through overclocking, which has been simplified thanks to the Ryzen Master tool. With just a few clicks, users can easily gain an additional 10-15% performance. One of the advantages for Ryzen users is that all CPUs and motherboards are capable of overclocking, which is a luxury exclusive to users of Intel CPUs with the K suffix combined with motherboards featuring the Z chipset.
In terms of gaming, as it is only equipped with an AMD Radeon RX 5600XT, today’s test configuration does not really showcase the difference in AAA titles. However, this will be one of the combos to “conquer the virtual world,” aimed at those looking to build a mid-range PC setup, around 10-15 million VND without a monitor. If certain settings are reduced, this configuration can handle hardware-intensive titles like RDR2 with an average FPS above 60 at Full HD 1080p resolution. Through testing various games, although not its strong suit, it can be seen that the R3 3100 is not far behind the i3-9100 or even the i5-9400F. Remember, the highest boosted clock speed of the R3 3100 is 3.9GHz while the corresponding figures for the i3-9100 and i5-9400F are 4.2GHz and 4.1GHz, respectively. This highlights how much the IPC of Ryzen needs to improve to compete on par with rivals while lagging 300MHz in clock speed.
In summary, the Ryzen 3 3100 is an impressive CPU, the final piece of AMD’s puzzle in the personal computer CPU market. With a pricing cap of just 2,490,000 VND for a 4-core 8-thread CPU, AMD has raised the standard for budget CPUs to a new level. Meanwhile, the selling price of the Intel Core i3-9100 is about 3,100,000 VND, even after discounts. This is why their competitor, Intel, must hastily launch the i3-10100F to compete. Of course, the price Intel has to pay is high heat and a terrible power consumption. Until Intel can launch something groundbreaking, all Ryzen 3000 CPUs are extremely worth buying. If you’re looking to build a budget PC, the Ryzen 3 3100 will be the powerful heart you need.