AMD Ryzen 3 1200 and 1300X review - Meet The Ryzen Processor Series

The Ryzen Processor Family

AMD made the rather sensible decision to re-name Zen to something similar sounding. Yes, the Zen and thus Summit Ridge product series has officially been named 'AMD Ryzen', kind of extrapolated from 'risen' I guess. We look at the Series 3 processors, let us peek at the specifications below to see what they are pitted against.
 

 
You have seen the reviews, compared to Intel Core i5 and i7 the Ryzen processors are threaded beasts and pretty darn fast alright. Ryzen has launched with three primary 8-core models initially, followed by six and four-core SMT models. And we can add to that the Ryzen 3 family. These ranges are of course comparable to Core i3, i5 and i7 for the Intel product lines and segments. Let me reiterate and make clear that ALL Ryzen processors are unlocked, that entails all Ryzen 3, 5 and 7 processors. The motherboards need a chipset that is unlocked as well though, but the B350 (mainstream) and X370 (high-end) series are covering all of that. The new Ryzen 3 series processors are 65W parts and thus do not have extra threads. During our review you'll notice these puppies continuously fighting with mainstream processors, at a low-end price level. In the upper table you can see the launch SKUs as well as an overview of what to expect Ryzen wise, it is going to be a busy year with AMD processor reviews alright as Ryzen Threadripper enthusiast class processor launches with up-to 16 cores / 32-threads enabled are pending as well.
 

What about that X in the naming?
You will have noticed that some models end with an X, while others do not. It remains simple; the X models are a little more special in the sense that they will have a higher base and boost clock frequency as well as an increased XFR range (Extended Frequency Range). Ryzen 3 1300X can boost another 200 MHz more if the conditions are right, thus it can reach 3.9 GHz. The Ryzen 3 1200 has an XFR of just 50 MHz, which is still extra on top of that highest turbo clock. Also, all X model processors are binned. This means that the processors are tested on ASIC quality and then sorted from good to better and often will clock higher on the XFR range and yes, X models could / should be more easy to tweak as well.