AMD Ryzen 5 2600 vs AMD Ryzen 5 3580U vs AMD Ryzen 3 3200U

AMD Ryzen 5 2600

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 is a six-core desktop processor that can handle twelve threads simultaneously thanks to Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT). This technology is equivalent to Intel's Hyper-Threading. Launched in April 2018, the Ryzen 5 2600 is the second fastest Ryzen 5 processor and is much more economical than its flagship sibling. The Ryzen 5 2600 has a 65 W TDP, which is nearly 40% more efficient than the 95 W TDP Ryzen 5 2600 X. This energy efficiency comes at a cost to performance though.

The Ryzen 5 2600 has a base clock speed of 3.4 GHz, which can be boosted by Extended Frequency Range (XFR) up to 3.9 GHz. The power gain is still high in multi-threaded applications, although this is some way off the Ryzen 5 2600X. The Ryzen 5 2600 benefits from AMD's new Zen+ architecture, with a greater number of instructions per cycle (IPC) and higher clock speeds than last year's Zen chips. The Ryzen 5 2600's six cores are divided into two clusters that are connected by Infinity Fabric, a subset of HyperTransport. Each cluster has its own L3 cache.

The Ryzen 5 2600 has good performance in games. Moreover, the Ryzen 5 2600 has a higher base clock than the Ryzen 7 2700. Seeing as many games currently lack multi-core support, this means that the Ryzen 5 2600 performs better than its technically superior sibling.

Detailed information, benchmarks and values can be found in our review of the Ryzen 5 2600.

AMD Ryzen 5 3580U

The AMD Ryzen 5 3580U, a Microsoft Surface Edition chip, is a mobile SoC that was announced in October 2019 as part of the Surface Book 15. It combines four Zen+ cores (8 threads) clocked at 2.2 - 3.8 GHz with a Radeon RX Vega 9 graphics adapter with 9 CUs (576 Shaders) clocked at up to 1300 MHz. Compared to the similar Ryzen 5 3500U, the 3580 integrates a faster GPU with 9 instead of 8 CUs.

The Picasso SoCs use the Zen+ microarchitecture with slight improvements that should lead to a 3% IPS (performance per clock) improvements. Furthermore, the 12nm process allows higher clock rates at similar power consumptions.

The integrated dual-channel memory controller supports up to DDR4-2400 memory. As the features of the Picasso APUs are the same compared to the Raven Ridge predecessors, we point to our Raven Ridge launch article.

Performance

The average 3580U in our extensive database is in the same league as the Core i5-1035G7 and also the Core i7-10510U, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned. This is a fairly decent result, as of mid 2021.

Power consumption

This Ryzen 5 has a default TDP (also known as the long-term power limit) of 15 W, a value that laptop manufacturers - or should we say, Microsoft - are allowed to change to anything between 12 W and 35 W with clock speeds and performance changing correspondingly. Those values are not low enough to allow for fan-free designs, for better or worse.

The CPU is built with a fairly old, as of late 2022, 12 nm process for lower-than-average energy efficiency.

AMD Ryzen 3 3200U

The AMD Ryzen 3 3200U is a dual-core SoC designed for laptops that was announced in January 2019. The Ryzen features two Zen cores with support for the thread-doubling SMT tech, clocked at 2.6 GHz - 3.5 GHz. The built-in Radeon RX Vega 3 iGPU has 3 CUs (192 unified shaders) clocked at up to 1,200 MHz. The default TDP is 15 W which makes the Ryzen a good fit for thin mid-range laptops.

In comparison to the faster Ryzen 3000 CPUs, the 3200U is not using the newer Zen+ microarchitecture and is still manufactured in 14nm. Compared to the old Ryzen 3 2200U, the 3200U therefore only offers a 100 MHz higher clock speed.

The Ryzen 3 is compatible with single-channel or dual-channel DDR4-2400 RAM.

Please go to our Raven Ridge launch article for details on the architecture and more.

Performance

The average 3200U in our extensive database is anything but a performance monster, its multi-thread benchmark scores only just matching those of the Core i3-8130U and the Pentium N6000. While not as atrociously slow as most N-series and J-series Intel chips, this specific Ryzen is good enough for basic day-to-day activities only.

Your mileage may vary depending on how high the CPU power limits are and how competent the cooling solution of your system is.

Power consumption

This Ryzen 3 series chip has a default TDP, also known as the long-term power limit, of 15 W. Laptop makers are free to change that to anything between 12 W and 25 W; most will go for a higher value to extract more performance out of it. Either way, an active cooling solution will be needed to dissipate the heat.

The R3 3200U is built with a 14 nm manufacturing process for low, as of early 2023, energy efficiency.