CES 2018 | AMD Introduces Ryzen 3 Mobile for Laptops as Entry-level APUs

Both models, Ryzen 3 2300U and 2200U, are significantly cut-down versions of the new AMD CPUs that are meant to be used as an alternative solution to Intel’s Core-i3 processors in entry-level notebooks.

The more powerful Ryzen 3 2300U processor offers four physical cores and has only been pared down in terms of its clock rate, graphics unit and Hyper-threading (SMT) capability. In particular, the Vega-based graphics chip has been cut down to 6 CUs (384 shader units) which amount to a considerable drop in performance.

The Ryzen 3 2200U has been pared down even further. It offers only 2 cores (but four threads thanks to Hyperthreading) that run at 3.4 GHz. The integrated graphics adapter gets only 3 CUs (192 Shader units). However, despite these specs, it still should be able to outperform its primary competitor, the Intel Core i3-7100U.

The first notebooks with Ryzen 5 CPUs that we have reviewed left a very positive impression (HP Envy X360, Acer Swift 3). In terms of CPU and GPU performance in particular, the Ryzen 5 CPUs did much better than comparable Core i5 processors.