AMD Ryzen 3 1300X Review

The Ryzen 3 1300X is one of AMD's entry-level Desktop processors. It was released in 2017 with 4 cores and 4 threads. With base clock at 3.5GHz, max speed at 3.9GHz, and a 65W power rating. The Ryzen 3 1300X is based on the Summit Ridge 14nm family and is part of the Ryzen 3 series.

The AMD Ryzen 3 1300X marks yet another blast from Team AMD, ramping up the intensity of the AMD vs Intel processor war. Still, though, there’s more than just core counts when it comes to a mainstream processor, as single-core performance needs to be on point, especially if you’re hoping to play the best PC games.

AMD's Zen series has landed, upping the ante with Intel in its high-stakes game for desktop PC market dominance with a well-rounded lineup of new chips that push mainstream platforms to higher core counts and more raw compute than we've ever seen. As a result, Intel's commanding presence in the enthusiast space is threatened in a way we haven't seen in over a decade.

As the higher-priced version of the Ryzen 3 1200, the Ryzen 3 1300X has higher base and Boost frequencies of 3.5 and 3.9 GHz, respectively. That's an increase in base frequency and a bump to boost clocks, but the real advantage should lay in the higher Package Power Tracking (PPT) envelope, which is a measurement of the maximum amount of power delivered to the socket. The Ryzen 3 1200's PPT tops out at 65W, while the motherboard can pump up to 142W to the Ryzen 3 1300X at peak performance. That opens up much more aggressive boost behavior, on both single and multiple cores, that could widen the performance gap beyond what we see on the spec sheet.

As we've seen, gaming remains an advantage for Intel, so if squeezing out every last frame is all you care about, Intel's processors are a good choice. Much of that performance advantage will be less noticeable when gaming at higher resolutions, or if you pair the processors with a lesser graphics card.

Value seekers who aren't afraid to press the Precision Boost Overdrive button and have sufficient cooling should look to the Ryzen 3 1200 for roughly equivalent performance to the Ryzen 3 1300X, particularly if gaming factors heavily into the buying decision. That could save you money, reinforcing our decision to give the Ryzen 3 1200 an Editor's Choice award.

If you're mostly playing games on your PC, you will be happy buying either processor. Both proved to be solid options and are evenly matched with a slight advantage to the Intel chip if you don't tune up the Core i3 processor. The base performance we showed for the Ryzen 3 1300X can be achieved with $90 memory, while the Core i3-7300 will require $110 - $120 memory in order to enable the frame rates shown here. It’s not a big cost difference and right now with anything less than an RTX 2070 or Vega 64 you’ll more than likely become GPU limited.

Today we’ll be taking a closer look at the AMD Ryzen 3 1300X 4-core desktop processor that was released in Aug 2017. AMD offers the Ryzen 3 1300X without integrated graphics. It runs $129 shipped and is ideal for those that plan on using it a system with a dedicated graphics card.

One of the nice things about the AMD Ryzen 3 1300X processors is that the retail boxed models come with a CPU cooler. So, you can pick something like the AMD Ryzen 3 1300X up for $129 and don’t need to spend any extra money on CPU cooling.

The AMD Ryzen 3 1300X retail boxed processor comes with the traditional ‘pancake’ CPU cooler. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done on this processor which is rated at 65W TDP. You do not need to have an aftermarket cooling solution unless you want to.

The AMD Ryzen 3 1300X seems to be a decent performing chip that is readily available for $129 at your favorite retailer. The main competition for this processor is the Core i3-7300 2-Core unlocked desktop processor with Intel HD Graphics 630 graphics ($147 shipped).

Bottom Line, the AMD Ryzen 3 1300X does not get much media attention since it is entry-level 1 Gen Core Summit Ridge processor, but it is a very capable processor that still delivers a good computing experience for entry-level users.

That said, AMD still lags behind in frequency when the Core i3-7320 operates at 4.1GHz at any given moment and 4.1GHz when push comes to shove.

If extended overclocking and boost frequencies are trivial matters to you, AMD also offers the Ryzen 3 1200 at $109. It’s still outfitted with 4-cores and 4-threads, but clocks in at a slower 3.1GHz and maxes out at only 3.45GHz.

Ryzen 3 hasn’t had the smoothest entrance into the computing world with lackluster gaming and some CPU temperatures high enough to raise concerns. But after a month of optimizations plus new drivers and BIOS updates, Ryzen 3 seems to have bypassed those same growing pains.

The Ryzen 3 1300X clocks up to 3.9Ghz just as it promises on the box, and with AMD’s software you can take one of the cores all the way up to 4GHz. However, don’t expect to get much beyond that without seriously upgrading your cooling solution and manually tweaking voltages behind the operating system level.

There’s a saying that two heads are better than one and, well, 4-cores are better than 2. The extra processing power of the Ryzen 3 1300X puts Intel’s processors to shame, including both its closest competitor and a much higher-spec part.

That said, to squeeze out all the potential of this surprisingly potent entry-level chip, you’ll want (and need) to splurge on an enthusiast-grade X370, X470, X570 motherboard.

Fresh from a successful roll-out of mainstream Ryzen 3 CPUs, AMD's attack on Intel now extends down into the entry-level with its Ryzen 3 1300X processors, which the company is making available as of Aug 2017.

Intel's Core i3s are a staple of the high-volume mainstream market. They make up the most popular brand for entry-level-oriented builds by far. AMD is looking to shake that up with true 4-core processors that sell for even less than 2 cores. As if a resource advantage wasn't already compelling enough, Ryzen 3 also enables unlocked multipliers. Intel is ill-prepared to fend off such a combination.

Right out of the gate, Ryzen 3 should sell for $129, going up against Intel's almost-$147 Core i3-7300. In threaded workloads, the 4-core Ryzen 3 should enjoy an advantage against Intel's 2-core models. Of course, AMD doesn't give you integrated graphics like Intel does, but for enthusiasts building cheap gaming PCs, it isn't much of a draw anyway.

The 4-core Ryzen 3 1300X is AMD's first Ryzen 3 processor that doesn't feature simultaneous multi-threading, so it only schedules 4 threads at a time, like Core i3-7320. Still, when it's up against Intel's 2 cores, the Ryzen 3 1300X boasts a notable resource advantage.

AMD arms Ryzen 3 1300X with a 3.5 GHz base frequency that jumps as high as 3.9 GHz under lightly-threaded tasks. The Ryzen 3 1300X also offers a 3.5 GHz clock rate with all cores active. Meanwhile, Intel keeps its Core i3-7300 operating at a static 4 GHz clock rate.

Like all other Summit Ridge chips, the Ryzen 3-series CPUs drop into any Socket AM4 motherboard. But most will find a home on boards equipped with the A320 chipset, which has provisions for overclocking and offers plenty of connectivity options. Unlike Intel, AMD plans to utilize its current socket until 2023, so upgrading to future models shouldn't require a new motherboard.