AMD Ryzen 5 3400G Review

Presenting the Ryzen 5 3400G! This Desktop processor is a powerhouse in AMD's mid-range series. Launched in 2019, it packs 4 cores and 8 threads. It runs at a base clock speed of 3.7GHz, can accelerate to 3.9GHz, and has a power requirement of 65W, making it an ideal choice for your gaming system. The Ryzen 5 3400G is a product of the advanced Picasso 12nm technology and is a part of the distinguished Ryzen 5 series.

And guess what? The Ryzen 5 3400G is the ultimate successor to AMD's previous-gen gaming champion, the Ryzen 5 2400G. The Ryzen 5 2400G was based on the legendary Zen and 14nm process, and it made its grand entrance into the gaming scene back in 2018. But now, it's time for the Ryzen 5 3400G to take the throne and conquer the gaming world!

Can the AMD Ryzen 5 3400G finally dethrone the king of mainstream CPUs, the Core i3-9100? It's a maybe. The Ryzen 5 3400G doesn't quite reach the same single-core performance as its rival, but more games are starting to use all those threads, so who cares!

The AMD Ryzen 5 3rd Generation boasts the Zen+ architecture, which brings 12nm processors to the mainstream for the first time. But there's more to this story than just a smaller size. Get ready for some serious performance upgrades!

AMD just unleashed its Zen+ architecture, raising the stakes in the high-stakes battle for desktop PC dominance against Intel. This new lineup of chips pushes core counts and raw power to crazy high levels, threatening Intel's reign for the first time in a decade. Buckle up, it's about to get intense!

The Ryzen 5 3400G takes the best parts of the Zen+ architecture, which gives you 15% more instructions processed per cycle (IPC) on average, and shrinks it down to a 12nm process. This creates a super powerful chip that performs awesome in all our tests, especially considering the competitive price, compatibility with most existing AM4 motherboards, ability to overclock, and included cooler. Basically, it's a win-win!

Alright, listen up. When it comes to pure gaming performance, Intel still holds the crown. If squeezing out every last frame per second is your top priority, then a Intel CPU might be the better choice. But here's the thing: that advantage shrinks at higher resolutions or if you pair the CPU with a less powerful graphics card. mattersToo

But for most gamers who also do other stuff on their PC besides gaming, the Ryzen 5 3400G is a better overall choice. It offers double the threads compared to the similarly priced Core i3-9100, and those extra threads come in handy for tasks like editing and encoding videos. The Ryzen 5 chips have always been great for these workloads, and AMD's recent improvements to AVX performance are super impressive.

The wait is finally over! The AMD Ryzen 5 3 Gen is here, and the AMD Ryzen 5 3400G might just be the perfect example of what this new generation brings to the table. It keeps the same core and thread count (4 cores and 8 threads) as its predecessor, the Ryzen 5 2400G. But thanks to the new, smaller 12nm manufacturing process, it delivers significantly better performance while using less power.

The AMD Ryzen 5 3400G launched on Jul 2019 for $160, which is pretty much the same price as the last-generation Ryzen 5 2400G. At least there's no crazy price hike this generation!

Things get interesting when you compare the Ryzen 5 3400G to its main rival, the Intel Core i3-9100. The Core i3-9100 costs $122 and has 4 cores, but no HyperThreading. That means the Ryzen 5 3400G gives you double the processing threads for less money! Sure, Intel still holds the crown for single-core performance, but when it comes to using all the cores at once (multi-core), the AMD Ryzen 5 3400G is the king.

Shrinking down to a 12nm process gives the Ryzen 5 3400G a whopping 15% boost in IPC (instructions per clock). Basically, compared to a similar CPU from the last generation (Ryzen 5 2 Gen) clocked at the same speed, you'll get 15% better performance. It might not be a huge difference in everyday tasks, but it's still something.

The high number of threads (over 7!) in the AMD Ryzen 5 3400G makes it a monster for tasks that use all the cores at once (multi-threaded workloads), especially for the price. If you edit a lot of videos or work with giant spreadsheets, the Ryzen 5 3400G will give you a noticeable performance boost.

One of the best things about the AMD Ryzen 5 3400G is that it comes with a free CPU cooler! You can grab the Ryzen 5 3400G for $160 without having to spend extra on cooling.

The AMD Ryzen 5 3400G comes with a basic heatsink cooler, nothing fancy. But it gets the job done for this low-power CPU (TDP of 65W). You won't need a fancy aftermarket cooler unless you want to overclock it.

Don't let the 4 cores fool you, the AMD Ryzen 5 3400G is a surprisingly capable processor! It held its own and felt snappy in our tests. While it fell behind on heavily threaded tasks due to the lower core count, it actually beat some pricier siblings in lightly threaded tasks thanks to its high clock speeds.

The AMD Ryzen 5 3400G is a decent performing chip for $160. The main competitor at this price point is the Core i3-9100, a 4-core unlocked processor with integrated graphics, which costs $122.

Can you game on AMD's Ryzen 5 CPU? Absolutely! We got a solid 80% score in our gaming benchmarks.

The Ryzen 5 3400G boosts up to the advertised 3.9 GHz, and with AMD's software you can push one core even higher to 3.9+0.1 GHz. But don't expect much beyond that without a serious cooler upgrade and manual voltage tweaks.

Looking for an affordable powerhouse CPU for work and play? Look no further than the Ryzen 5 3400G!

Building on the success of mainstream Ryzen 5 CPUs, AMD is now attacking the mid-range market with the Ryzen 5 3400G processors, available since Jul 2019.

The included cooler with the Ryzen 5 3400G is rated for 65W and doesn't have fancy features like a copper base or LED lights. But it keeps the CPU cool enough to reach its XFR-boosted speeds, which is an extra 200 MHz! We were even able to overclock it to 3.9 GHz + 0.2 GHz without overheating. The cooler fan also blows down onto the motherboard, providing extra cooling around the CPU socket. If you want more RGB bling, you can buy a separate LED cooler from AMD.