Ryzen 3 2200G CPU review

Intro

We tested the Ryzen 3 2200G CPU, which has four cores, four threads and 3.7 GHz maximum clock, bringing an integrated Vega 8 GPU, that is part of the most recent graphics chips family from AMD. Is it a good choice for a low-cost gaming PC? Check it out!

The Ryzen 3 2200G, along with the Ryzen 5 2400G, is the first Ryzen CPU with Vega integrated GPU (iGPU.) The main differences between these two models are the presence of the SMT technology on the Ryzen 5, which makes it offer eight threads, and the model of the iGPU, since the Ryzen 3 2200G brings Vega 8 (eight compute units) and the Ryzen 5 2400G has the Vega 11 (11 compute units) GPU. Both the CPUs use 14 nm manufacturing process, have a TDP of 65 W, and are unlocked for overclocking.

These CPUs are compatible with the AM4 motherboards launched last year, with the first Ryzen processors. However, you may have to update the motherboard BIOS in order to achieve compatibility.

While the Ryzen 3 2200G is similar to the Ryzen 3 1200 (both of them have four cores and four threads,) they have different structures. Ryzen CPUs are based on CCX (core complex) modules, and each CCX has four processing cores, 512 kiB of L2 cache for each core, and 8 MiB of shared L3 cache. On the Ryzen 3 1200, there are two CCX, each one with two disabled cores and half the L3 cache, so this CPU has a “2+2” structure. On the Ryzen 3 2200G, there is only one CCX, with the four cores enabled and only 4 MiB of L3 cache, so it has a “4+0” structure.

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The Vega 8 integrated GPU present on the Ryzen 3 2200G has 512 cores and clock rate up to 1,100 MHz.

The CCX, the iGPU and other components (memory controlled, I/O unit) are connected inside the CPU using the AMD Infinity Fabric bus. The CPU has eight PCI Express 3.0 lanes for a dedicated graphics card, plus eight lanes for general use slots (used mostly for PCI Express SSDs,) two SATA-600 ports, four USB 3.1 gen 2 ports, one USB 3.0 gen 1 port, and one USB 2.0 port. Obviously, the platform offers more ports, controlled by the chipset.

Figure 1 shows the package of the Ryzen 3 2200G.

Figure 1: package

In Figure 2 we have the package contents: a manual, two case stickers, the CPU itself, and the Wraith Stealth cooler.

Figure 2: package contents

Figure 3 unveils the Ryzen 3 2200G processor.

Figure 3: the Ryzen 3 2200G CPU

In terms of price, the Ryzen 3 2200G lies between the Pentium G4600 and the Core i3-8100. In our roundup, we compared it to these two models, also including the Ryzen 3 1200, which is similar to the tested CPU, but has no integrated video.

As one of the highlights of the Ryzen 3 2200G is its integrated video, we ran the games with two configurations: first, with the integrated video, and then we disabled it and installed an entry video card, the GeForce GT 1030. The Ryzen 3 1200 was, of course, tested only with the independent video card.

We decided to do this way, so we can compare both iGPU and CPU power. Besides that, we could compare the performance of the integrated Vega 8 to a “real” low-cost video card’s.

Let’s compare the main specs of the reviewed CPUs on the next page.

In the tables below, we compare the main features of the CPUs included in our review.

CPU	Cores	HT/SMT	IGP	Internal Clock	Turbo Clock	Core	Tech.	TDP	Socket	Price
Ryzen 3 2200G	4	No	Yes	3.5 GHz	3.7 GHz	Raven Ridge	14 nm	65 W	AM4	USD 100
Pentium G4600	2	Yes	Yes	3.6 GHz	–	Kaby Lake	14 nm	51 W	LGA1151	USD 85
Core i3-8100	4	No	Yes	3.6 GHz	–	Coffee Lake	14 nm	65 W	LGA1151	USD 130
Ryzen 3 1200	4	No	No	3.1 GHz	3.4 GHz	Summit Ridge	14 nm	65 W	AM4	USD 110

Below you can see the memory configuration for each CPU.

CPU	L2 Cache	L3 Cache	Memory Support	Memory Channels
Ryzen 3 2200G	4 x 512 kiB	4 MiB	Up to DDR4-2933	2
Pentium G4600	2 x 256 kiB	3 MiB	Up to DDR4-2400	2
Core i3-8100	4 x 256 KiB	6 MiB	Up to DDR4-2400	2
Ryzen 3 1200	4 x 512 KiB	2 x 4 MiB	Up to DDR4-2666	2

Last update on 2022-07-04 at 09:16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API