AMD to Make 'New' 2019-Era 3000G APUs to Sell Old Motherboards

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In a move seemingly designed to spur sales of older mainstream AM4 motherboards, AMD is reportedly spinning production of its 12nm Zen+ Ryzen 3000G APUs. According to a report on China's Board Channels (via VideoCardz), AMD plans to produce as many as 30,000 new 3000G chips. It's not clear, however, whether the specs of these APUs will change at all or if this will turn out to be new stock of the existing Ryzen 5 3400G and Ryzen 3 3200G.

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Header Cell - Column 0	CPU Cores/Threads	CPU Base/ Boost (GHz)	iGPU - CUs	iGPU Base/Boost (MHz)	L3 Cache	Memory Speed	PCIe Lanes	TDP	Process
Ryzen 3 3200G	4/4	3.6 / 4.0	Vega 8	Up to 1250	4MB	Up to DDR4-2933	PCIe 3.0 x8	65W	12nm
Ryzen 5 3400G	4/8	3.7 / 4.2	Vega 11	Up to 1400	4MB	Up to DDR4-2933	PCIe 3.0 x8	65W	12nm

For those whose memories might need a refresh regarding 2019-era mainstream CPU details, the 3000G APU lineup consisted of just two chips, the Ryzen 3 3200G and the Ryzen 5 3400G. Both featured four physical cores, while the higher-end 3400G had SMT enabled for eight available threads. Both featured Vega graphics, while the 3400G's featured more compute units (11) and a faster clock speed of up to 1400 MHz. And importantly for anyone considering pairing one of these chips with a decently capable modern graphics card, both models were limited to just eight PCIe 3.0 lanes.

While we were fairly positive about the 3400G when we reviewed it in 2020, calling it "a great niche part for low-cost systems built around integrated graphics," that's not exactly the case in 2023. The 3400G is still readily available, but at about $127, it's hard to argue when the Zen 3-based Ryzen 5 5600G sells on Amazon for the same price. Clearly, there's newer and better competition for the best CPU for gaming these days, even if you are looking for something that's decidedly on the budget end.

Whether or not AMD makes any changes to the clock speeds or other features for these 'new' Zen+ processors, clearly, some price adjustments are in order if it hopes to sell this dated silicon – and help move some old motherboards in the process. While much has been said about the high prices of current-gen hardware (whether that's Ryzen 7000 or Nvidia's current crop of GPUs), it's unclear whether there's much of a market for 2019-era budget APUs unless perhaps the asking price is going to be relatively low.

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After a rough start with the Mattel Aquarius as a child, Matt built his first PC in the late 1990s and ventured into mild PC modding in the early 2000s. He’s spent the last 15 years covering emerging technology for Smithsonian, Popular Science, and Consumer Reports, while testing components and PCs for Computer Shopper, PCMag and Digital Trends.

12 Comments Comment from the forums

Order 66

This probably won't help unless these CPUs get a massive price cut since if they are the same price people will just find a better CPU at the same price
Reply
dogchow

the cpu/mobo would have to be under $100 together to get these to move
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The "Picasso" family of cards from AMD Ryzen & Athlon 3000G family, actually consists of 3 main SKUs eries.

The AMD Ryzen 5 3400G, Ryzen 3 3200G, and the Athlon 3000 series. But there are more models as outlined here:

https://www.eatyourbytes.com/codename/picasso/
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King_V

This would be pretty nice, if they are priced right.

My DeskMini A300W is still running an Athlon 200GE. Does fine for what I use it for, but I'm thinking if they sell these at a low enough price, AND they play nicely with the chipset (support on the A300W stops at the 3000-series APUs), it might make a nice little upgrade, and handle a little more gaming than what it currently does.

One can hope, anyway.
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Oh BTW, the main reason behind this sudden change in AMD's plan to resume production of ZEN+ series, is because sales of low-end motherboards in China have recently gained a lot of attention/traction and to further spur it, so the company is working with vendors to deliver more entry-level options such as the Ryzen 3000G APUs.

Sales of entry-level mobos has skyrocketed recently in Chinese Gaming Internet cafes, and other small online gaming hubs, and also in offices and casual home PC uses.

The Chinese board forums state that there has been a huge demand for low-end entry-level motherboards in China. And these low-end APUs will be sold as a BUNDLE in most cases with a compatible AM4 motherboard in the same price category which might include A320 and B450 series.

It would make more sense to sell these in a bundle so as to attract and gain some market share in China, rather than selling them individually.
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suryasans

I think this Athlon/Ryzen 3000G series chips will be manufactured in SMIC's 14 nm node for China Consumer and Government/State enterprises use. I believe They are requiring the IT suppliers to have IT products with 100% Made in China components.
Reply
pug_s

suryasans said:
I think this Athlon/Ryzen 3000G series chips will be manufactured in SMIC's 14 nm node for China Consumer and Government/State enterprises use. I believe They are requiring the IT suppliers to have IT products with 100% Made in China components.
I doubt that it is going to be manufactured by SMIC, probably by Globlfoundries. There's a market for low end parts from low end markets and AMD is willing to provide. Either that or Intel can provide their low end celerons.
Reply
The Historical Fidelity

suryasans said:
I think this Athlon/Ryzen 3000G series chips will be manufactured in SMIC's 14 nm node for China Consumer and Government/State enterprises use. I believe They are requiring the IT suppliers to have IT products with 100% Made in China components.
Absolutely not, SMIC is a blacklisted company so it is illegal to transfer the ryzen design to SMIC for production.
Reply
MeeLee

If only intel would release a new cpu every 10 years for the last gen motherboards 10 years ago...

Like:
- "still own a 486 dx4 100Mhz? Intel will release the 486 dx4 2500Mhz, for a more up to date 1990s experience.".

Or,
- "Stuck with a core2duo at 1.66Ghz? Now releasing a compatible core2duo 3.33Ghz. Twice the cpu frequency, 4x the performance."

Should be easy peasy for cpu manufacturers.
Reply
suryasans

The Historical Fidelity said:
Absolutely not, SMIC is a blacklisted company so it is illegal to transfer the ryzen design to SMIC for production.
Qualcomm, a top US Semiconductor provider is still No. 2 SMIC customer. https://inf.news/en/tech/0143358b237d691946f3f0aeb28822cc.html
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