Intel Processor N50 vs AMD Ryzen 9 3900 vs AMD Ryzen 3 3100

Intel Processor N50

The Intel Processor N50 is an entry-level mobile CPU for thin and light laptops from the Alder Lake-N series. It was announced in early 2023 and offers no performance cores and 2 of the 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The chip does not support HyperThreading and clocks with up to 3.4 GHz. The performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare to the Core i7-6700HQ). All cores can use up to 6 MB L3-cache. 

Performance

The performance is clearly lower than the Processor N100 (4 cores, 3.4 GHz) due to the reduced core count. The single thread performance however, should be similar. Compared to older processors, the N50 should be comparable to dual core Skylake based CPUs like the Intel Core m3-8100Y (2x 3.4 GHz, 5W).Features

The Alder Lake-N chips only support single channel memory with up to DDR5-4800, DDR4-3200 or LPDDR5-4800. The chip also supports Quick Sync and AV1 decoding (most likely same engine as in Alder Lake). Furthermore, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 are partly integrated (but no Thunderbolt). External chips can be connected via PCIe Gen3 x9 (via the PCH).

The integrated graphics adapter is based on the Xe-architecture and offers only 16 of the 32 EUs (Execution Units) operating at only up to 750 MHz. Due to the single channel memory, low clock speeds, and low shader count, the gaming performance of the iGPU is very limited.

Power consumption

The N50 has a base power consumption of only 6 W and is therefore suited for fanless cooling. The CPU is built with a further improved 10nm SuperFin process at Intel (called Intel 7).

AMD Ryzen 9 3900

The Ryzen 9 3900 is a fast desktop CPU with 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Matisse series. It is the fastest 65 Watt CPU at launch in late 2019 and clocks the cores between 3.1 (base) to 4.3 (boost) clock (including Precision Boost). It uses 4 CCX-clusters where 3 of the 4 cores are activated. The CPU is manufactured in the modern 7nm process at TSMC. The I/O die on the package is separate and manufactured in 12 nm at Globalfoundries.

Due to the reduced Turbo speed, the Ryzen 9 3900 is aimed at content creators and other professionals that can make use of the 12 cores. For games, a fast 8-core CPU with higher boost clocks is the better choice.

AMD Ryzen 3 3100

The Ryzen 3 3100 is a cheap entry level desktop processor of the Matisse series with 4 cores and 8 threads. It clocks from 3.6 (base) - 3.9 GHz (boost) and uses the Zen 2 microarchitecture. It uses two CCX clusters with two cores each. Therefore, there are some disadvantages compared to the faster Ryzen 3 3300X that uses all four cores of a single CCX-cluster. The CPU is manufactured on the modern 7 nm process at TSMC. The I/O die that is not part of the main die is manufactured on 12 nm at Globalfoundries. The TDP is 65 Watts and therefore the CPU won't need a big beefy cooler.

In multi-threaded applications the performance of the Ryzen 3 3100 can reach the old Core i7-7700K (a former high end CPU). In games and single threaded applications, the performance is slightly lower as the higher clocked Ryzen 3 3300X is on par with the 7700K. Still, the 3100 can be a good pick for an entry level gaming system.