Report: AMD Ryzen 3 2300X Will Stop Being OEM-Only Next Month

AMD Ryzen 3 2300X

AMD Ryzen 3-series CPU (Image credit: AMD)

It looks like the time has come for AMD to offload its excess of Ryzen 3 2300X CPU stock. According to a report from Malaysian publication Lowyat, AMD will start selling the Ryzen 3 2300X, which has only been available to OEM companies, to the general public starting on March 3.

The quad-core chip's other attributes include 8MB of L3 cache, 65W TDP (thermal design power), 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes and a dual-channel memory controller with native support for DDR4-2933 RAM modules. The Ryzen 3 2300X also comes AMD's Wraith Stealth CPU cooler. The processor has an unlocked multiplier for overclocking as well.

Price Comparison

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ModelPrice Per CoreCurrent Pricing (Dollars)Cores / ThreadsBase / Boost Clock (GHz)L3 Cache (MB)PCIe 3.0 lanesMemory SupportTDP (W)
AMD Ryzen 5 1600 AF$14.17$856 / 123.2 / 3.61616Dual DDR4-266765
Intel Core i3-9100F$20.50$824 / 43.6 / 4.2616Dual DDR4-240065
AMD Ryzen 3 2300X$17.50$704 / 43.5 / 4.0816Dual DDR4-293365

The Ryzen 3 2300X is already available for purchase on eCommerce platform Lazada, where its selling for 298 Malaysian Ringgits, which coverts to approximately $70. However, AMD has the same Ryzen 3 2300X listed on Amazon for $183.71, but we suspect that'll come down, especially considering the more recent hexa-core Ryzen 5 3600 is selling for as low as $174.99.

At $70, the Ryzen 3 2300X's closest competitor is the Intel Core i3-9100F. The rivaling chip also has a four-core, four-thread configuration and it starts at $82. However, the i3-9100F comes with slightly higher base and boost clock speeds.

The biggest problem that Ryzen 3 2300X would face in the PC builders market isn't from Intel, but rather a chip from the same camp. The Ryzen 5 1600 "AF" version only costs $15 more, and you get two more cores, SMT capability and more L3 cache. From a price-to-performance perspective, the Ryzen 5 1600 AF would be significantly cheaper per core. However, the Ryzen 3 2300X could appeal to CPU buyers who don't need six cores and want to save money.

Zhiye Liu
News Editor, RAM Reviewer & SSD Technician

Zhiye Liu is a news editor, memory reviewer, and SSD tester at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.