What you need to know
- AMD's 3rd Gen Ryzen 3000 Series processors are now on sale.
- Options range from the $200 Ryzen 5 3600 up to the $500 Ryzen 9 3900X.
- The processors are currently available on Amazon and Newegg. The listings are slowly going live on Amazon, starting with the Ryzen 5 3600X, but they should all be available to order shortly.
AMD's Ryzen 3000 Series processors are now officially available to order with prices starting at $200. Based on AMD's new Zen 2 architecture, these 7nm chips offer a sizable performance increase and reduced power draw over their predecessors.
One of the big new features arriving with the new set of chips is support for PCIe 4.0, which unlocks incredibly fast speeds when paired with new SSDs that take advantage of it and motherboards with the new X570 chipset. This generation also marks the debut of the Ryzen 9 family, which is meant to compete with Intel's Core i9 series on raw performance.
Some other upgrades coming with the 3000 Series chips that up the ante include:
- Double floating point with a redesigned engine.
- Double the amount of cache.
- 15 percent IPC (instructions per-clock) uplift.
Here's a quick rundown of the specs and pricing for each of the new chips:
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Ryzen 5 3600 | Ryzen 5 3600X | Ryzen 7 3700X | Ryzen 7 3800X | Ryzen 9 3900X |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Zen 2 | Zen 2 | Zen 2 | Zen 2 | Zen 2 |
| Cores | 612 | 612 | 816 | 816 | 1224 |
| Clock speed | 3.6GHz4.2GHz | 3.8GHz4.4GHz | 3.6GHz4.4GHz | 3.9GHz4.5GHz | 4.6GHz4.8GHz |
| Cache | 35MB | 35MB | 36MB | 36MB | 70MB |
| TDP | 65W | 95W | 65W | 105W | 105W |
| Price | $199 | $249 | $329 | $399 | $499 |
The Ryzen 3000 Series is now available on Amazon, with the Ryzen 5 3600, Ryzen 5 3600X, Ryzen 7 3700X, Ryzen 7 3800X, and the Ryzen 9 3900X all set to go on sale today. We're also expecting a 16-core Ryzen 9 3950X to go on sale in September for $750.
AMD's latest batch of Ryzen processors are here, and they're expected to bring quite a performance bump over the previous generation with support for PCIe 4.0 to boot.
Portable (and affordable) power accessories we love
Each and every one of these charging gadgets will keep your favorite gear and gadgets going for longer, and none of them costs more than $30.
VisionTek 8,000 mAh micro-USB power bank ($13 at Dell)
This compact dual-output powerbank can speedily recharge any and all your devices, thanks to a two-amp "fast charge feature," using its micro-USB out port. Its simple design includes an LED indicator, and it costs about as much as a single ticket to the movies.
Panasonic eneloop AA batteries (From $13 at Dell)
Panasonic's rechargeable batteries are among the best available, and just a couple of them will keep your favorite remote, mice or other peripherals powered up when you need them. They're also eco. And the company's affordable charger fits and charges both AA and AAA batteries at the same time.
Belkin Qi Wireless Charging Pad ($30 at Dell)
This unobtrusive Qi wireless charging pad looks good (and kind of like a UFO …) and easily charges all your Qi-compatible device up to 5W. Its LED indicator lights up when you're charging. And it costs just $30.
