Is Ryzen 3 Good for Gaming? [A PC Gamer’s Perspective]

When it comes to building a budget gaming PC, gamers need to be super picky about each component.

Since the gaming performance vastly depends on the GPU, people might want to save a few bucks from the CPU department & pick one from the entry-level lineup like Ryzen 3.

So how good/future-proof are these CPUs when it comes to gaming? Let’s find out.

How is Ryzen 3 Different than Ryzen 5,7, or 9?

Similar to Intel’s Core series processors, AMD’s Ryzen CPUs are also segregated into different lineups. AMD has been releasing four distinct lineups (Ryzen 3, Ryzen 5, Ryzen 7, and Ryzen 9), with each consisting of different models.

At the time of writing this article, the core count is the most distinctive factor for each of the lineups. Of course, CPU frequency, cache, platform support, etc, can also differ drastically.

But at a glance, a Ryzen 3 CPU usually consists of 4 CPU cores while Ryzen 5 and Ryzen can go up to 6 and 8 cores respectively. At the same time, the high-end Ryzen 9 processors can offer anywhere from 12 to 16 cores.

Furthermore, each of these lineups is placed at a different price point based on how much performance they offer. A Ryzen 3 processor is usually described as an entry-level or low-end CPU. So they’re usually placed at a much lower price bracket compared to Ryzen 5/7/9 models.

Ryzen 3 Lineup

Ryzen 3 processors are divided into two groups; one with iGPU(commonly known as APU) and the other one without any built-in iGPU. The APUs are distinguished by G or GE at the end of their model number, like Ryzen 3 3200G or Ryzen 3 4300GE.

The Ryzen 3 laptop lineup can be described as APU since all of them come with a built-in Radeon GPU. Although, these CPUs don’t have a G or GE at the end of their model number. Instead, AMD used the U or H moniker to denote those CPUs as laptop processors.

Also, check out the best CPU coolers for Ryzen 3 5350G.

Here is the entire Ryzen 3 CPU lineup, including both desktop and laptop:

Ryzen 3 Gaming Performance

Ryzen 3 is AMD’s entry-level offering for light gaming & general work. Although the Ryzen 3 is a lower-end lineup, it’s still powerful enough to play some AAA games at a lower resolution, especially if it’s an APU.

For example, Ryzen 3 5300G, which comes with integrated Vega 6 graphics, can play AAA games like RDR 2 at 1080p low settings.

But what’s the performance of the Ryzen 3 CPUs/APUs with a dedicated GPU? Let’s do a thorough testing across different Ryzen 3 SKUs to see how they perform in some popular AAA titles.

For this, we’re gonna use the following test bench:

Keep in mind that the Ryzen 3 5300G is an OEM-only part. Although 5600G and 5700G also started off as 4 months OEM exclusive, the 5300G is said to be an exclusive part indefinitely.

So, we opted for the HP Pavillion prebuilt PC that comes with the R3 5300G APU. Funny enough, I noticed that the title of its Amazon listing says Beats Core i5 10400. We’ll be the judge of that.

Now, let’s run some CPU-demanding titles and see how well the Ryzen 3 lineup performs across different genres.

Valorant

Warzone 2.0

GTA 5

Hogwarts Legacy

Far Cry 5

Cyberpunk 2077

Red Dead Redemption 2

As we can see, Ryzen 3 has ample CPU power to provide a satisfying gaming experience when paired with a decent graphics card. But the same thing can not be said for all the Ryzen 3 CPUs.

For example, in Hogwarts Legacy, the Ryzen 3 3200G really struggles to break even at 25fps. Not to mention, the minimum fps(1% low) sits around 7fps, which shows us how much of a stuttering mess it was.

In my opinion, the 1% low is more important than the average fps as it indicates the overall smoothness of your gaming experience. Your build might have a higher average fps, but if it randomly stutters or drops framerate, you won’t get a buttery smooth gameplay.

Furthermore, the Ryzen 3 3300X seems to have the overall best performance out of the bunch while 5300G trails close behind. Throughout the test, we can see a common pattern of performance delta between the 4 CPUs.

Speaking of a common pattern, the 1% low fps for all the CPUs in Valorant were much lower than the average framerate. Meanwhile, R3 3200G roughly matched the R3 3100 but lost in 1% low due to the lack of hyperthreading.

As a matter of fact, the Ryzen 3 3200G fell behind all of its competitors in all tests mainly due to the lack of threads, older core architecture, and a lower amount of L3 cache. Ryzen 3 3100 and 3300X are based on Zen 2 architecture while 3200G is a Zen+(which is a refresh of the original Zen architecture) CPU.

Even Ryzen 3 5300G is a Zen 3 APU. This is why R3 3200G has a lower IPC(Instructions Per Cycle/Clock), CCX, and other older CPU components; hence providing a significantly lower performance compared to others.

Overall, all four Ryzen 3 CPUs are definitely good for gaming. Also, the Ryzen 3 3300X and 5300G are capable of high refresh rate gaming, considering you have a decent Nvidia/AMD GPU.

How does Ryzen 3 Stack up Against Its Competitors?

Looking only at the Ryzen 3 lineup won’t provide a broader picture of the performance spectrum. To make an educated decision, we need to compare the best Ryzen 3 CPUs against similarly priced processors from different SKUs/brands.

So, let’s pick some of the most popular CPUs at a similar price range. The Intel Core i5 10400F, AMD Ryzen 5 3600, and Ryzen 5 2600 are strong picks among gamers which currently fall in the same price category as Ryzen 3 CPUs.

Now, we’re gonna run the same games on each of these CPUs at the same graphics settings. Then average the performance delta to compare against the Ryzen 3 lineup.

Performance

Price to Performance Ratio

Due to having a newer architecture, the Ryzen 3 3300X easily managed to beat the last-gen Ryzen 5 2600 by a decent margin but loses to Ryzen 5 3600 by a small margin. Meanwhile, the Core i5 10400F easily managed to beat all the Ryzen 3 offerings.

I got almost identical performances for R3 3100 and R5 2600 across all the titles. But the R5 2600 delivered slightly smoother gameplay due to having a better minimum framerate on average.

But when we look at the cost per frame chart, we get a totally different result. The performance that we get doesn’t justify the asking price of these Ryzen 3 CPUs.

Ryzen 3 3300X sells at the price tag of $149. At the same time, we can buy a Core i5 10400F for just around 110 bucks which delivers a much better gaming performance than any Ryzen 3 processor.

So the only time I’d suggest buying a Ryzen 3 CPU is when you can’t find other processors which offer a better price-to-performance ratio.

Although, if you don’t want to/have enough money to buy a dedicated graphics card, the Ryzen 3 APUs offer unprecedented value. This brings us to our next topic…

Here’s a complete guide on how to best motherboard for Ryzen 7 3700X.

Ryzen 3 Desktop/Laptop APU Performance

At the time of writing this article, AMD has unfortunately stopped producing Ryzen 3 SKU for their newer generation desktop lineups, but they’re still continuing in the laptop segment. The Ryzen 3 laptop/desktop APUs come with Vega GPU which offers 6 to 12CU (compute units).

These are incredible options for those who are on a tight budget and want to build a light gaming rig. From a strict gaming point of view, the latest Ryzen 3 APUs can destroy any of the Intel CPUs in the lower-end price bracket.

Furthermore, the laptop Ryzen 3 lineup is basically a Godsend for lower-end laptop users. You can now enjoy the latest AAA games even on a 350$ laptop like Lenovo Ideapad or HP 14 Ryzen 3 laptops, it’s crazy to think about.

Let’s take a quick look at how these laptop/desktop Ryzen 3 APUs perform in some AAA titles.

GTA 5

Valorant

Elden Ring

As we can see, you can easily get 70-80fps in older/less heavy games with a minimum framerate of 60fps+. This is more than ideal for most budget gamers. Although, I didn’t get a satisfying performance in the more recent hardware-demanding titles like Elden Ring, Hogwarts Legacy, etc.

Also, keep in mind that these APUs are memory limited. So always pair a dual channel RAM with a minimum of 16GB memory. Additionally, there are other, cheaper AMD options such as AMD Athlon which are somewhat good for gaming as well.

So Is Ryzen 3 Good for Gaming?

After all the extended testing, I can confidently conclude that Ryzen 3 is indeed good for gaming. It is more than capable of running AAA titles at low/mid graphical preset. Not to mention, the desktop & laptop APUs performed amazingly well.

Additionally, I was able to do some gaming-related productivity like streaming & editing my gameplay videos with the Ryzen APUs. While using the hardware encoder(x264) in the OBS, I saw little to no performance impact while streaming on both YouTube & Twitch simultaneously.

Furthermore, Ryzen 3 CPU lineup managed to deliver high refresh rate gaming using a dedicated GPU. Even the APUs supported my 144Hz Freesync panel that managed to eliminate any screen tearing while aiming for 60fps+ performance.

Overall, I’m more than satisfied with Ryzen 3’s gaming output, especially for the APUs. But the asking price of these processors might put off some since similarly priced 10th gen i5 CPUs can easily beat the R3 lineup.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Ryzen 3 better than the i5 for gaming?

In terms of gaming, Ryzen 3 loses against the Core i5 when comparing similar generations.

Which Ryzen 3 is best for gaming?

Ryzen 3 3300x is the best among Ryzen 3 series for gaming.

Is the Ryzen 3 good for streaming?

Overall, Ryzen 3 CPUs are decent enough to stream your gameplay at a lower resolution.

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, even though Ryzen 3 is marketed as a lower-tier CPU, it can still hold its own against new AAA titles. That should give you an idea of how good or bad it is for gaming.

That’s about it. In case you still have some doubts, feel free to let us know in the comment section below.

Have a good one!