AMD Ryzen 3 3300X

The Goldilocks chip

- ZAK STOREY

$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+ Zen