Skip to main content

AMD claims its Ryzen 3000 mobile chips let you have fun faster

Image used with permission by copyright holder

AMD debuted the first Ryzen 3000 processors, but these aren’t the hotly anticipated desktop monsters. These are the new Ryzen mobile APUs, combining Zen+ CPU cores with AMD Vega graphics for an experience that AMD claims can do everything Intel can, whilst making the fun happen far faster.

More CES 2019 coverage

The naming conventions used with AMD’s mobile chips can be a little confusing. They use the modern nomenclature of AMD’s latest and greatest but are built on last-generation technology. That doesn’t mean they are slow, but that’s why the 2019 release of the Ryzen 3750H and its fellow CPU debutantes are using a 12nm Zen+ process, rather than the upcoming 7nm Zen 2 architecture.

Recommended Videos

Targeting all market segments with its new mobile chip lineup, including gaming, premium, mainstream, value, and intriguingly, Chromebooks, AMD’s new chip range is made up of the following:

Mobile APU Cores/Threads Process Node L2 & L3 Cache Base/Boost Frequency Vega GPU Cores GPU Frequency TDP
Ryzen 7 3750H 4/8 12nm 6MB 2.3/4.0GHz 10 1,400MHz 35w
Ryzen 7 3700U 4/8 12nm 6MB 2.3/4.0GHz 10 1,400MHz 15w
Ryzen 5 3550H 4/8 12nm 6MB 2.1/3.7GHz 8 1,200MHz 35w
Ryzen 5 3500U 4/8 12nm 6MB 2.1/3.7GHz 8 1,200MHz 15w
Ryzen 5 3300U 4/4 12nm 6MB 2.1/3.5GHz 6 1,200MHz 15w
Ryzen 3 3300U 2/4 12nm 5MB 2.6/2.6GHz 3 1,200MHz 15w
Athlon 300U 2/4 14nm 5MB 2.4/2.4GHz 3 1,000MHz 15w

Throughout that range, AMD is targeting average battery life of supporting notebooks of between 10 and 12 hours, as well as support for 4K streaming, and fast startup to emulate the kind of “Always Connected” experiences that are becoming more commonplace. They also sport AMD’s Vega graphics, but not Vega 20, as some suggested they might.

In all cases though, AMD is keen to push the idea that its chips are as good, if not better than, the competition at everything, especially the fun stuff.

“We have faster media editing, faster web browsing, and it’s a tie in productivity,” AMD’s senior technical marketing manager Robert Hallock said in a statement. “You get all the things done in the Office at the same speed as you would any other laptop, but when you’re done, the stuff you really want to be doing, the media editing, the web browsing, the having fun, that’s faster on AMD in 2019.”

AMD backed up these claims with some example frame rates for popular esports games. Rocket League, DotA 2, and Fortnite were all shown to be pushing or even exceeding 60 frames per second when played on low presets at 720P when running on an AMD Ryzen 7 3700U. In its own comparison, AMD showed that handily beating an Intel Core i7-8565U CPU in all games tested, though such comparisons should always be taken with a pinch of salt. Third-party tests without any inherent biases are always going to be more trustworthy.

AMD isn’t just relying on its onboard Vega graphics, though. It also showed off some solutions which would see its Ryzen 5 3550H and Ryzen 7 3750H paired up with more powerful dedicated graphics chips, like AMD’s Radeon RX 560X. These will still be entry-level gaming notebooks but will offer more performance capabilities than mainstream solutions.

Keeping on top of new games and software enhancements, AMD pledged that starting in the first quarter of 2019, all AMD graphics driver updates will be compatible with both dedicated graphics cards and mobile graphics chips. That should lead to vastly improved performance for AMD-powered gaming laptops with new releases.

A new market sector that AMD is targeting in 2019, is the Chromebook space. Traditionally dominated by Intel, AMD’s new Athlon A4 and A6 chips are said to be comparable at most tasks, and significantly faster in others. Since AMD laptops already provide a great value alternative to Intel in mainstream Windows laptops, it will be interesting to see what kind of impact such new CPU options offer Chromebook consumers throughout the year.

Although this is the official start of the Ryzen 3000 series, AMD did not reveal when we can expect the desktop counterparts will launch. It did, however, confirm that a wide range of new-generation Ryzen chips would be shown off at CES 2019.

Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale is a freelance evergreen writer and occasional section coordinator, covering how to guides, best-of lists, and…
AMD’s Ryzen Z2 Go disappoints in early benchmark
The Lenovo Legion Go S sitting on a window.

A recent YouTube video has showcased the gaming capabilities of AMD's upcoming Ryzen Z2 Go chipset, designed for budget gaming handhelds. As part of the new Ryzen Z2 lineup, the Z2 Go’s capabilities were tested on a Lenovo Legion Go S and compared to last year’s Z1 Extreme powering the Asus ROG Ally X.

According to gaming performance data shared by FPS VN, the Z2 Go shows some limitations compared to the Z1 Extreme. In Black Myth: Wukong, it achieved 36 fps versus 40 fps at 15W, 30 fps versus 32 fps at 20W, and 60 fps versus 64 fps at 30W. In Cyberpunk 2077, the Z2 Go delivered 50 fps compared to 54 fps at 15W, 45 fps versus 47 fps at 20W, and 61 fps compared to 66 fps at 30W. Similarly, in Ghost of Tsushima, the Z2 Go hits 62 fps versus 66 fps at 15W, 48 fps versus 52 fps at 20W, and 62 fps versus 66 fps at 30W. Although the performance gap is minor, it remains consistent at around 7–10% across all tested games.

Read more
AMD’s new Ryzen Z2 chip promises ‘console-class’ performance for handhelds
Steam Deck and ROG Ally sitting together on a table.

As AMD confirmed to Digital Trends last year, the new range of Ryzen Z2 chips is here to kick off 2025. Announced during AMD's CES 2025 keynote, there are three models that make up the Ryzen Z2 range, which AMD says is designed to meet the "explosive demand" for handheld gaming PCs. Although we don't have any specific devices featuring the Ryzen Z2 range yet, AMD says "you'll see [the Ryzen Z2] coming to market from a number of partners -- the Legion Go, the ROG Ally, the Steam Deck."

You can see how the range breaks down below. Similar to AMD's first generation of handheld APUs, we're getting both a base Ryzen Z2 and an Extreme variant. Both come with eight cores and 16 threads, but the Z2 Extreme boasts 16 graphics cores compared to 12 on the base Ryzen Z2. The Ryzen Z2 Extreme can also climb a bit higher, up to 35 watts. Compared to the Ryzen Z1 range, both of these chips also come with a boost to 24MB of cache, compared to 16MB on the Ryzen Z1 Extreme.

Read more
AMD is doing a victory lap with the new Ryzen 9 9950X3D
AMD announcing the 9950X3D.

At this point, AMD has been on top when we're talking about the best processors for gaming, but it still took CES 2025 to do a victory lap and extend its lead. Opening up the keynote address, AMD revealed the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Ryzen 9 9900X3D, both of which will be available in the first quarter of this year.

The performance here doesn't sway things much, as AMD has already claimed the top slot for gaming processors with its wildly popular Ryzen 7 9800X3D. As you can see below, however, AMD claims an 8% lead over last-gen's Ryzen 9 7950X3D on average after testing 40 games. Unsurprisingly, graphically intensive games like Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Black Myth: Wukong see little benefit, but AMD is claiming a lead as large as 58% in a game like Counter-Strike 2. 

Read more