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AMD Athlon Silver 3050U vs AMD Ryzen 5 3450U vs AMD Ryzen 3 3250U

AMD Athlon Silver 3050U

► remove from comparison AMD Athlon 3050U

The AMD Athlon Silver 3050U is a mobile processor for thin and light entry level laptops. It is based on the Picasso series (e.g. Ryzen 3000U APUs) and offers two Zen cores clocked at 2.3 to 3.2 GHz without SMT (two threads at once) and 4 MB of L3 Cache. The integrated graphics card is called Radeon RX Vega 2 and offers only 2 CUs (128 shaders) clocked at up to 1,100 MHz.

In Chromebooks, AMD calles the APU AMD Athlon Silver 3050C, but with the exact same specifications (and performance).

Performance

We have not tested a single system built around the 3050U, as of August 2023. Expect the chip to be just a few percentage points slower than the Athlon 3150U (two Zen cores, 4 threads, up to 3.3 GHz). This kind of performance should suffice for most day-to-day tasks but not much more than that.

Power consumption

This Athlon series chip has a default TDP of 15 W (also known as the long-term power limit). Laptop makers are free to change that to anything between 12 W and 25 W with clock speeds and peformance changing accordingly as a result. Either way, that's a tad too high to allow for passively cooled designs.

Last but not the least, the APU is built with a 14 nm process leading to poor, as of early 2023, energy efficiency.

AMD Ryzen 5 3450U

► remove from comparison AMD R5 3450U

The AMD Ryzen 5 3450U is a mobile SoC that was announced in Q2 2020 as a refresh. It combines four Zen+ cores (8 threads) clocked at 2.1 GHz to 3.5 GHz (-200 MHz versus 3500U) with a Radeon RX Vega 8 iGPU with 8 CUs (512 Shaders) clocked at up to 1200 MHz.

The Picasso SoC uses the Zen+ microarchitecture with slight improvements that should lead to a 3% IPS (performance per clock) improvements. Furthermore, the 12 nm process allows for higher clocks at similar power consumption.

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 3450U in our database is in the same league as the Core i3-1115G4 and also the Ryzen 3 4300U, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned. This is a better-than-expected result for an aging lower mid-range chip that is the 3450U, as of mid 2022.

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

The Ryzen 5 has a default TDP (also known as the long-term power limit) of 15 W, a value that laptop manufacturers are allowed to change to anything between 12 W and 35 W if required with clock speeds and performance changing correspondingly. These values are fairly high, making active cooling solutions something of a necessity.

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

AMD Ryzen 3 3250U

► remove from comparison AMD R3 3250U

The AMD Ryzen 3 3250U is an entry-level, dual-core APU that was announced in 2020. The Ryzen features two Zen cores (SMT is enabled for a total of 4 threads) running at 2.6 GHz to 3.5 GHz and a Radeon RX Vega 3 graphics adapter (3 Compute Units = 192 unified shaders) running at up to 1,200 MHz. The specifications are similar to the older Ryzen 3 3200U, with the lower peak operating temperature of Ryzen 3 3250U (95 °C versus the 105 °C) being the only difference between the two.

AMD Ryzen 3 3250C is a special edition of Ryzen 3 3250U designed for use in Chromebooks. The specifications and performance figures appear to be identical between the two.

Architecture

Unlike the costlier Ryzen 5 3500U, Ryzen 3 3250U is not Zen+ based. It makes use of the ageing Zen architecture and is manufactured on the same 14 nm TSMC process as Ryzen 2000-series laptop-grade processors. This has several repercussions; the limited RAM support is one of them. DDR4-3200, DDR4-2933, DDR4-2666 modules are not supported here. It's just the DDR4-2400, DDR4-2133 and lower on.

The CPU has several PCI-Express 3.0 lanes and is thus compatible with NVMe SSDs (read/write rates will be limited to 3.9 GB/s) as well as discrete graphics cards. Ryzen 3 3250U gets soldered permanently on to the motherboard (FP5 socket interface) and is thus not user-replaceable.

Click here for more information on the Raven Ridge product family.

Performance

As far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned, this Ryzen series chip directly competes with the Core i3-10110U, Core i3-1110G4 and also the Athlon Gold 3150U. While the 3250U is certainly not a powerhouse, mundane tasks such as web browsing and casual gaming pose little problem to it, as of early 2022.

Graphics

The Vega 3 is fairly close to Intel's UHD Graphics 620 as far as performance and capabilities go. The graphics adapter supports UHD 2160p monitors at 60 fps, and it can HW-decode VP9, AVC, HEVC, MPEG-2 and other popular video codecs. The latest AV1 codec is not supported, though. Such a video will have to be decoded via software, with the limited CPU horsepower imposing a hard limit on the resolution that can be played back without stuttering.

The Vega will allow for a bit of light gaming; F1 2021 runs well at 720p / Low, to give you an example. Quality RAM will allow for higher frame rates and the opposite is true as well; please keep in mind that Vega 3 has no VRAM of its own.

Power consumption

Energy efficiency isn't great here. The Ryzen is built with a 14 nm manufacturing process leading to low, as of early 2023, energy efficiency.

The APU has a default TDP, also known as the long-term Power Limit, of 15 W. Laptop makers are free to reduce that value a little, with 12 W being the lower limit, or give it a noticeable bump (up to 25 W are possible). Clock speeds and performance will change accordingly as a result.

While not as power-hungry as the Ryzen 3 3100 or any other desktop chip, the R3 3250U is still not likely to ever feature in a passively cooled laptop, tablet or mini-PC.

ModelAMD Athlon Silver 3050UAMD Ryzen 5 3450UAMD Ryzen 3 3250U
SeriesAMD Picasso (Ryzen 3000 APU)AMD Picasso (Ryzen 3000 APU)AMD Picasso (Ryzen 3000 APU)
CodenameDali (Zen)Picasso-U (Zen+)Zen
Series: Picasso (Ryzen 3000 APU) Picasso-U (Zen+)
AMD Athlon Gold 3150U2.4 - 3.3 GHz2 / 4 cores4 MB L3
AMD Athlon Silver 3050U « 2.3 - 3.2 GHz2 / 2 cores4 MB L3
AMD Ryzen 7 3780U2.3 - 4 GHz4 / 8 cores4 MB L3
AMD Ryzen 7 3700U2.3 - 4 GHz4 / 8 cores4 MB L3
AMD Ryzen 5 3550H2.1 - 3.7 GHz4 / 8 cores4 MB L3
AMD Ryzen 5 3500U2.1 - 3.7 GHz4 / 8 cores4 MB L3
AMD Ryzen 5 3450U « 2.1 - 3.5 GHz4 / 8 cores4 MB L3
AMD Ryzen 5 3580U2.1 - 3.7 GHz4 / 8 cores4 MB L3
Clock2300 - 3200 MHz2100 - 3500 MHz2600 - 3500 MHz
L1 Cache192 KB384 KB192 KB
L2 Cache1 MB2 MB1 MB
L3 Cache4 MB4 MB4 MB
Cores / Threads2 / 24 / 82 / 4
TDP15 Watt15 Watt15 Watt
Transistors4500 Million4500 Million4500 Million
Technology14 nm12 nm14 nm
max. Temp.95 °C105 °C95 °C
SocketFP5FP5FP5
FeaturesDDR4-2400 RAM, PCIe 3, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4A, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, AVX2, BMI2, ABM, FMA, ADX, SMEP, SMAP, CPB, AES-NI, RDRAND, RDSEED, SHA, SMEDDR4-2400 RAM, PCIe 3, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4A, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, AVX2, BMI2, ABM, FMA, ADX, SMEP, SMAP, SMT, CPB, AES-NI, RDRAND, RDSEED, SHA, SMEDDR4-2400 RAM, PCIe 3, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4A, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, AVX2, BMI2, ABM, FMA, ADX, SMEP, SMAP, SMT, CPB, AES-NI, RDRAND, RDSEED, SHA, SME
iGPUAMD Radeon RX Vega 2 ( - 1100 MHz)AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) ( - 1200 MHz)AMD Radeon RX Vega 3 ( - 1200 MHz)
Architecturex86x86x86
Announced
Manufacturerwww.amd.comwww.amd.com

Benchmarks

Performance Rating - CB R15 + R20 + 7-Zip + X265 + Blender + 3DM11 CPU - R5 3450U
25.1 pt (35%)
Performance Rating - CB R15 + R20 + 7-Zip + X265 + Blender + 3DM11 CPU - R3 3250U
23.2 pt (32%)
Cinebench R23 - Cinebench R23 Multi Core
min: 2658     avg: 2927     median: 2926.5 (3%)     max: 3195 Points
min: 1876     avg: 1989     median: 2010 (2%)     max: 2080 Points
Cinebench R23 - Cinebench R23 Single Core
min: 858     avg: 875     median: 875 (37%)     max: 892 Points
min: 768     avg: 785     median: 776 (33%)     max: 810 Points
Cinebench R20 - Cinebench R20 CPU (Single Core)
min: 292     avg: 321.5     median: 321.5 (36%)     max: 351 Points
min: 234     avg: 279     median: 300 (33%)     max: 303 Points
Cinebench R20 - Cinebench R20 CPU (Multi Core)
min: 1089     avg: 1168     median: 1168 (3%)     max: 1247 Points
min: 415     avg: 668     median: 783 (2%)     max: 805 Points
Cinebench R15 - Cinebench R15 CPU Multi 64 Bit
min: 530     avg: 567     median: 566.5 (4%)     max: 603 Points
min: 351     avg: 352.7     median: 353 (2%)     max: 354 Points
Cinebench R15 - Cinebench R15 CPU Single 64 Bit
min: 137     avg: 137.5     median: 137.5 (41%)     max: 138 Points
min: 119     avg: 122.2     median: 121.6 (37%)     max: 126 Points
Cinebench R11.5 - Cinebench R11.5 CPU Multi 64 Bit
4 Points (5%)
Cinebench R11.5 - Cinebench R11.5 CPU Single 64 Bit
1.5 Points (36%)
Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Rend. Single (32bit)
4088 Points (25%)
Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Rend. Multi (32bit)
10251 Points (7%)
wPrime 2.10 - wPrime 2.0 1024m *
457.3 s (5%)
wPrime 2.10 - wPrime 2.0 32m *
14.5 s (3%)
WinRAR - WinRAR 4.0
1710 Points (3%)
7-Zip 18.03 - 7-Zip 18.03 Multli Thread 4 runs
min: 15163     avg: 15782     median: 15878 (9%)     max: 16305 MIPS
min: 8899     avg: 9153     median: 9063 (5%)     max: 9496 MIPS
7-Zip 18.03 - 7-Zip 18.03 Single Thread 4 runs
min: 3355     avg: 3375     median: 3359 (40%)     max: 3411 MIPS
min: 2931     avg: 3225     median: 3291 (39%)     max: 3452 MIPS
X264 HD Benchmark 4.0 - x264 Pass 2
21.1 fps (7%)
X264 HD Benchmark 4.0 - x264 Pass 1
101 fps (23%)
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 - HWBOT x265 4k Preset
min: 2.77     avg: 3.1     median: 3 (5%)     max: 3.43 fps
min: 1.83     avg: 2.1     median: 2.2 (4%)     max: 2.17 fps
TrueCrypt - TrueCrypt Serpent
0.2 GB/s (0%)
TrueCrypt - TrueCrypt Twofish
0.3 GB/s (6%)
TrueCrypt - TrueCrypt AES
1.9 GB/s (5%)
Blender - Blender 3.3 Classroom CPU *
min: 2492     avg: 2541     median: 2541 (32%)     max: 2590 Seconds
Blender - Blender 2.79 BMW27 CPU *
min: 834     avg: 919     median: 946 (7%)     max: 976 Seconds
min: 1319     avg: 1372     median: 1399 (10%)     max: 1399 Seconds
R Benchmark 2.5 - R Benchmark 2.5 *
min: 0.76     avg: 0.8     median: 0.8 (17%)     max: 0.806 sec
min: 0.773     avg: 0.8     median: 0.8 (17%)     max: 0.843 sec
3DMark 06 - CPU - 3DMark 06 - CPU
3966 Points (8%)
Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 1M - Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 1M *
12.7 s (3%)
Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 2M - Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 2M *
28.8 s (1%)
Super Pi Mod 1.5 XS 32M - Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 32M *
668 s (3%)
3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance Physics
min: 4968     avg: 5979     median: 6400 (17%)     max: 6568 Points
min: 3849     avg: 4103     median: 4195 (11%)     max: 4266 Points
3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Physics
46375 Points (38%)
3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme Physics
45549 Points (37%)
3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Physics
27926 Points (24%)
44021 Points (37%)
3DMark - 3DMark Cloud Gate Physics
min: 5106     avg: 5779     median: 5984 (15%)     max: 6248 Points
min: 3689     avg: 3727     median: 3703 (9%)     max: 3789 Points
3DMark - 3DMark Fire Strike Standard Physics
min: 8985     avg: 9259     median: 9204 (16%)     max: 9587 Points
min: 5463     avg: 5522     median: 5507 (10%)     max: 5596 Points
3DMark - 3DMark Time Spy CPU
min: 1887     avg: 2208     median: 2170 (9%)     max: 2567 Points
min: 353     avg: 1254     median: 1692 (7%)     max: 1718 Points
Geekbench 5.5 - Geekbench 5.1 - 5.4 64 Bit Single-Core
743 Points (31%)
min: 698     avg: 819     median: 839 (35%)     max: 866 Points
min: 687     avg: 796     median: 824 (35%)     max: 848 Points
Geekbench 5.5 - Geekbench 5.1 - 5.4 64 Bit Multi-Core
1429 Points (3%)
min: 2565     avg: 2918     median: 2972 (5%)     max: 3123 Points
min: 1397     avg: 1634     median: 1662 (3%)     max: 1813 Points
Geekbench 5.0 - Geekbench 5.0 64 Bit Single-Core
853 Points (4%)
868 Points (4%)
Geekbench 5.0 - Geekbench 5.0 64 Bit Multi-Core
2630 Points (8%)
1838 Points (6%)
Geekbench 4.4 - Geekbench 4.1 - 4.4 64 Bit Single-Core
3486 Points (35%)
3829 Points (38%)
Geekbench 4.4 - Geekbench 4.1 - 4.4 64 Bit Multi-Core
10200 Points (11%)
7396 Points (8%)
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Kraken 1.1 Total Score *
min: 1170     avg: 1185     median: 1185 (1%)     max: 1200 ms
min: 1187     avg: 1233     median: 1233 (1%)     max: 1279 ms
Sunspider - Sunspider 1.0 Total Score *
313.8 ms (3%)
Octane V2 - Octane V2 Total Score
35541 Points (32%)
WebXPRT 4 - WebXPRT 4 Score
105.2 Points (30%)
WebXPRT 3 - WebXPRT 3 Score
min: 145     avg: 145.5     median: 145.5 (30%)     max: 146 Points
min: 135.3     avg: 140.2     median: 140.2 (29%)     max: 145 Points
CrossMark - CrossMark Overall
min: 707     avg: 722     median: 722 (28%)     max: 737 Points
min: 588     avg: 624     median: 623.5 (24%)     max: 659 Points
Power Consumption - Prime95 Power Consumption - external Monitor *
37.3 Watt (6%)
min: 20.5     avg: 24.1     median: 24.1 (4%)     max: 27.7 Watt
Power Consumption - Cinebench R15 Multi Power Consumption - external Monitor *
36.2 Watt (7%)
min: 25.2     avg: 26.6     median: 26.6 (5%)     max: 28 Watt
Power Consumption - Idle Power Consumption - external Monitor *
3.5 Watt (2%)
Power Consumption - Idle Power Consumption 150cd 1min *
min: 5.59     avg: 6     median: 6 (7%)     max: 6.43 Watt
Power Consumption - Cinebench R15 Multi Power Efficiency - external Monitor
14.6 Points per Watt (11%)
13.9 Points per Watt (10%)

Average Benchmarks AMD Athlon Silver 3050U → 100% n=2

Average Benchmarks AMD Ryzen 5 3450U → 160% n=2

Average Benchmarks AMD Ryzen 3 3250U → 114% n=2

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation

v1.26
log 28. 19:57:04

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Redaktion, 2017-09- 8 (Update: 2023-07- 1)