Since AMD's Ryzen has conquered the consumer CPU market, the space dedicated to other solutions has been shrinking.
Processors like Intel's 10th and 11th generation are good solutions but struggle to compete with rivals.
A similar argument can be said for the old AMD series, such as Athlon, now crushed by the excellent quality/price ratio of the Ryzen.
Still, that's not entirely true: in this review, I'll tell you about the AMD Athlon 3000G, a very promising entry-level CPU for performance and power consumption.
Let's see it in detail!
Pros:
- Excellent value for money
- Consumption and low temperatures
- Multiplier unlocked
- Integrated Radeon Vega 3 GPU
Cons:
For those who have experienced the evolution of computer processors, the name Athlon means a lot. First 64-bit CPU in 2003 and first dual-core CPU in 2005, the AMD series has gradually disappeared in favor of the Ryzen.
However, in recent years AMD has begun to reintroduce Athlon processors designed for affordable computers capable of:
- perform even more complex tasks;
- allow you to play video games with fair results;
- offer low consumption and temperatures even under stress.
If you want, at this link you can already check the availability and price of AMD Athlon 3000G on Amazon.
In the course of the article, however, I will show you its strengths and weaknesses.
Are you ready? Let's get started right away!
Socket and compatibility
As often happens when it comes to AMD processors, one of the most interesting aspects concerns the possibility of updating the configuration.
For example, if you want to upgrade from an Intel Core i3-9100 to an Intel Core i5-10600K, you will need to upgrade the motherboard as well.
In fact, it is not only the chipset that changes but also the CPU socket.
With the latest models from AMD, however, this problem does not arise.
Since the first first-generation Ryzen with Zen architecture, the socket has remained the same: the now-famous AM4.
This means that even very different motherboards such as the Gigabyte B450M DS3H or the MSI X570 MPG Gaming Edge WiFi have the same socket.
In theory, you could use AMD Athlon 3000G with each of the AMD motherboards featured in the dedicated article. Compatibility is ensured.
Of course, as an entry-level CPU, it makes more sense to mount it on a cheap motherboard.
In fact, you won't need advanced features like PCI-Express 4.0, just a model that supports the processor.
Then, if you want to upgrade to a better CPU in the future, just update the UEFI BIOS and that's it!
AMD stock cooler
The AMD tradition is to include a heatsink in the processor package.
If in the case of a Ryzen 5 3600 it is a Wraith Stealth, in the AMD Athlon 3000G box you will find a smaller one but perfectly capable of cooling the CPU.
From this point of view, the advantages of such a small heatsink concern:
- more space for other components, such as RAM ;
- the better airflow inside even mid-tower cases;
- very simple assembly that does not require the use of dedicated screws.
Clock frequency and performance
Compared to processors like the Ryzen 5 3600 with Zen 2 architecture, the Athlons use the Zen + architecture that animated second-generation Ryzen.
In particular, AMD Athlon 3000G derives from Ryzen APUs with a 14nm manufacturing process. Of course, this is not the 7 nm available with Zen 2 and Zen 3, but we are still on excellent levels.
AMD's model has:
- two physical cores and four logical cores, or threads, and thus supports multi-threading;
- a base clock frequency of 3.5 GHz,
- a TDP of 35 Watts, which we will see better in a moment.
In addition to this, the Athlon 3000G also supports dual-channel RAM memories with frequencies up to 2667 MHz.
Despite being a dual-core, the CPU offers excellent performance for single-core applications. The 3.5 GHz, in fact, are more than enough to manage:
- navigation, writing, and normal daily tasks;
- light gaming especially for eSports and titles from a few years ago;
- some graphic work, but nothing too heavy.
But where the CPU struggles is with software written to take advantage of multi-core architectures. In this case, the two physical units will struggle a little.
However, if you consider that this processor has been designed for very economical configurations, it is easier to turn a blind eye.
Furthermore, as per tradition, AMD's Athlon 3000G has the multiplier unlocked.
Basically, you can overclock it and increase its clock rate by up to 10% more.
Arriving at 3,850 GHz, the CPU improves its performance but fortunately does not increase consumption, if not in a negligible way.
Integrated GPU: Radeon Vega 3
If we were to find an internal competitor to AMD, this would be the famous Ryzen 3 3200G, an APU animated by:
- four core;
- four threads;
- the integrated Radeon Vega 8 GPU.
Obviously, the performance of the Ryzen outperforms that of the Athlon, but not by that much. In daily operations, you will not notice the difference.
To achieve this, AMD not only improved the clock and power consumption of its CPU but also paired it with a Radeon Vega 3.
It is an integrated GPU with three computational units - three cores, one might say - running at a frequency of 1100 MHz.
That said, the Vega 3 is not suitable for video games of the last few years. Still, for eSports, it will give you decent video quality and a decent frame rate.
For a computer with an extremely low budget, it doesn't get any better!
TDP, consumption, and temperatures
As I mentioned earlier in the review, the AMD Athlon 3000G has a TDP of 35 Watts. This is a parameter that indicates the thermal energy to be dissipated to keep the processor at acceptable temperatures.
From this point of view, AMD's stock cooler does its job and, indeed, during the basic tasks, you will hardly hear the fan.
The temperatures remain quite low:
- in idle, you will go to 25-30 ° C;
- under load, the CPU will barely exceed 50 ° C.
The speech is always the same: considering the typical use for which the Athlon 3000G was designed, these are very good values.
Of course, the performance is consistent with the TDP and consumption. But as an office processor, home computer, or media center processor it will do just fine.
Conclusions
AMD Athlon 3000G is a CPU designed to meet different needs:
- allow you to assemble a budget PC to work or play with without pretense;
- keep temperatures and consumption low without sacrificing too much productivity ;
- provide an integrated GPU waiting to find a dedicated graphics card.
Specifically, given the dramatic increase in prices that video cards have encountered, this latter aspect is fundamental.
In fact, the Athlon 3000G can be a temporary substitute waiting for better times and quality/price ratios.
