[Doing More For Less] Ryzen 3 3100 and 3300X Reviews are up

[Brooksie359]

1 hour ago, Curufinwe_wins said:

This is already assuming there is no benefit to more than 4 cores today, which simply isn't true. Even at the midrange.  

 

On a really tight budget I'd recommend even less than these (either used market or the 1600AF and a much cheaper motherboard). But comparing a 1000 dollar full system price with a 3300x and waiting till you can afford the extra 100 dollars for a 3600... you will almost instantly get back that extra 10% in gaming, and obviously ludicrously more than 10% in most other things.

We are not talking about a 1000 dollar build. Who in their right mind would put a CPU like this in a build of that budget? We are talking about an entry level build where the extra jump in price to get a 6 core just isn't worth it.

[Curufinwe_wins]

14 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

We are not talking about a 1000 dollar build. Who in their right mind would put a CPU like this in a build of that budget? We are talking about an entry level build where the extra jump in price to get a 6 core just isn't worth it.

Let me be blunt, this is a near min spec new build I can recommend anyone using a dGPU. It still uses a dramless SSD, which is not smart (but is much cheaper), it uses slow ram, stock cooler, not great psu, cheap case, very cheap monitor, terrible usb keyboard combo... and it's still darn near 1000 dollars post tax. The 50-70 dollar savings for a 3100/3300X is a bad investment for a new system.

 

Anything less than this you 100% should be looking at the used market, or if you don't do heavy AAA gaming then you should be buying a 3200/3400G APU and save a shitload on the system overall.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$172.39 @ Newegg
Motherboard	MSI B450M PRO-M2 MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$74.99 @ B&H
Memory	Crucial 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory	$63.99 @ Amazon
Storage	PNY CS900 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$54.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	Gigabyte Radeon RX 580 8 GB GAMING 8G Video Card	$169.99 @ B&H
Case	Fractal Design Focus G ATX Mid Tower Case	$62.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	EVGA 500 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply	$49.97 @ Newegg
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit	$108.78 @ Other World Computing
Wireless Network Adapter	TP-Link Archer T4E PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter	$29.99 @ Amazon
Monitor	Acer SB220Q bi 21.5" 1920x1080 75 Hz Monitor	$89.99 @ Amazon
Keyboard	Cooler Master Devastator 3 Wired Gaming Keyboard With Optical Mouse	$37.90 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$915.96
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-05-08 10:12 EDT-0400

 

[Brooksie359]

2 hours ago, Curufinwe_wins said:

Let me be blunt, this is a near min spec new build I can recommend anyone using a dGPU. It still uses a dramless SSD, which is not smart (but is much cheaper), it uses slow ram, stock cooler, not great psu, cheap case, very cheap monitor, terrible usb keyboard combo... and it's still darn near 1000 dollars post tax. The 50-70 dollar savings for a 3100/3300X is a bad investment for a new system.

 

Anything less than this you 100% should be looking at the used market, or if you don't do heavy AAA gaming then you should be buying a 3200/3400G APU and save a shitload on the system overall.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$172.39 @ Newegg
Motherboard	MSI B450M PRO-M2 MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$74.99 @ B&H
Memory	Crucial 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory	$63.99 @ Amazon
Storage	PNY CS900 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$54.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	Gigabyte Radeon RX 580 8 GB GAMING 8G Video Card	$169.99 @ B&H
Case	Fractal Design Focus G ATX Mid Tower Case	$62.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	EVGA 500 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply	$49.97 @ Newegg
Operating System	Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit	$108.78 @ Other World Computing
Wireless Network Adapter	TP-Link Archer T4E PCIe x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter	$29.99 @ Amazon
Monitor	Acer SB220Q bi 21.5" 1920x1080 75 Hz Monitor	$89.99 @ Amazon
Keyboard	Cooler Master Devastator 3 Wired Gaming Keyboard With Optical Mouse	$37.90 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$915.96
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-05-08 10:12 EDT-0400

 

You are assuming that they do not have a monitor or keyboard or mouse and adding that to the cost which is why the cost looks like it is inflated as well as you are using a more expensive cpu which adds even more cost. And you even added a wireless adapter as well. 

[Curufinwe_wins]

1 hour ago, Brooksie359 said:

You are assuming that they do not have a monitor or keyboard or mouse and adding that to the cost which is why the cost looks like it is inflated as well as you are using a more expensive cpu which adds even more cost. And you even added a wireless adapter as well. 

 

Quote

 But comparing a 1000 dollar full system price with a 3300x and waiting till you can afford the extra 100 dollars for a 3600... you will almost instantly get back that extra 10% in gaming, and obviously ludicrously more than 10% in most other things.

I said system... Which yes, includes the way you interact with the pc. If someone wanted to get into desktop gaming from a laptop or from consoles/nothing, this is what they'd have to do. I threw the cheapest acceptable monitor on the market new (one I literally bought for a family member in the last month). And yes, I wouldn't build ANY non-server pc without a wifi adapter, I wouldn't allow any pc I help build to not have one. Even if you never plan on using it, it only takes the one time for you to need it and not have it to realize that the 30 dollar addition (ofc if the motherboard has it, no need to add), is always worth doing.

 

I said I can't recommend less than a 3600. Absolutely. Because a full system build post-tax for dGPU 1080p AAA gaming looks around 1k USD. With cutting all the corners I am comfortable cutting. A 3300X retails for 120. At 865 pre-tax, that is not a better buy on a system level than the 3600. People love to say a 3600 is 50%! more expensive than a 3300x, but once you get into full system realistic costs... it's not anymore. It's more like 5-10% more expensive, and you do get more than that perf uplift. 

 

I think anything cheaper than a 3600 in the current market place new is a bad buy UNLESS you aren't building a PC that needs a lot of gpu power (and also doesn't need 3600 levels of cpu power), in which case, you don't buy the 3100 or 3300x. You buy the 3200G/3400G and save a ton by not having a dGPU. Now the moment a Zen2 APU comes out to replace those ones, I'll happy recommend them instead, but my belief is that the price difference when comparing realistic dGPU system builds changing just that one part is far too low to offset the performance difference. You get less value for your money. Even in gaming with mid-range gpus.

[Brooksie359]

1 hour ago, Curufinwe_wins said:

 

I said system... Which yes, includes the way you interact with the pc. If someone wanted to get into desktop gaming from a laptop or from consoles/nothing, this is what they'd have to do. I threw the cheapest acceptable monitor on the market new (one I literally bought for a family member in the last month). And yes, I wouldn't build ANY non-server pc without a wifi adapter, I wouldn't allow any pc I help build to not have one. Even if you never plan on using it, it only takes the one time for you to need it and not have it to realize that the 30 dollar addition (ofc if the motherboard has it, no need to add), is always worth doing.

 

I said I can't recommend less than a 3600. Absolutely. Because a full system build post-tax for dGPU 1080p AAA gaming looks around 1k USD. With cutting all the corners I am comfortable cutting. A 3300X retails for 120. At 865 pre-tax, that is not a better buy on a system level than the 3600. People love to say a 3600 is 50%! more expensive than a 3300x, but once you get into full system realistic costs... it's not anymore. It's more like 5-10% more expensive, and you do get more than that perf uplift. 

 

I think anything cheaper than a 3600 in the current market place new is a bad buy UNLESS you aren't building a PC that needs a lot of gpu power (and also doesn't need 3600 levels of cpu power), in which case, you don't buy the 3100 or 3300x. You buy the 3200G/3400G and save a ton by not having a dGPU. Now the moment a Zen2 APU comes out to replace those ones, I'll happy recommend them instead, but my belief is that the price difference when comparing realistic dGPU system builds changing just that one part is far too low to offset the performance difference. You get less value for your money. Even in gaming with mid-range gpus.

Unfortunately some people are on a tight budget and can only spend so much on a system and when the difference between a 3300x and a 3600 could be better spent on a better gpu instead then it is a good option. No point in have a 3600 over a 3300x when you sacrifice the GPU performance and end up with a worse performing pc going with the 3600. 

[Curufinwe_wins]

1 hour ago, Brooksie359 said:

Unfortunately some people are on a tight budget and can only spend so much on a system and when the difference between a 3300x and a 3600 could be better spent on a better gpu instead then it is a good option. No point in have a 3600 over a 3300x when you sacrifice the GPU performance and end up with a worse performing pc going with the 3600. 

I get the idea, but if you have to wait a week or month in order to afford the difference, you should wait. It is less value than a 3300X. For people on a really tight budget, you might as well stay away from gpu all together with Zen APUs OR go second hand and save dramatically more (used 8C Zen+ parts in particular are great deals atm).

 

So no, it still isn't a good option. 

 

 

Like if you really want to, you can say that with any particularly arbitrary limits any product is a good buy. I can say that with a sufficiently constrained budget a 1650 is a good buy.... But it isn't generally true. Saving/stretching for a slightly more expensive and significantly faster option is a ludicrously smarter choice in the medium-long term, and in the short term a far cheaper gpu (or used) would be better to hold you over till you can afford a gpu that has more performance.