Can you game on a Ryzen 3 3200U? Let’s talk about games and the industry first.
Gamers are in for a very exciting year in 2020. Aside from all the new titles waiting for their turn to shine, there are several major hardware launches still ahead of us – even if some of them are delayed because of the ongoing pandemic.
Nvidia is preparing for the launch of its new RTX 3000 (Ampere) chips and cards. AMD is working on its new Ryzen 4000 processor series. The two big names in the console market are also giving the world their latest products – while the exact date of their release is still unknown, both of them are probably making efforts to launch them in time for the holiday season. Many of us are probably on the edge of our seats to try the new Halo or explore what card games and table games we can play on the PlayStation 5.
But let’s not forget about those without the resources to invest in all the latest hardware. For them, there are many budget-friendlier solutions to choose from. Today, let’s take a look at one that would fit into the hyper-budget category and still deliver a decent performance.
Ryzen 3 3200U
The AMD Ryzen 3 3200U mobile processor was launched this January – it has a base frequency of 2.6GHz (boost clock of up to 3.5GHz), two CPU cores, three Vega 3 GPU cores, it supports dual-channel 2400MHz DDR4, and it’s dirt cheap.
What makes it interesting is its three GPU cores that have pretty decent specs for such a budget-friendly product: 400MHz core, 192 unified shaders, support for DirectX 12, and support for Vulkan, Pixel Shader 5.1, and Vertex Shader 5.1. The chipset has specs equal to a pretty decent gaming PC from a few years ago.
What Can it Run?
According to the SystemRequirementsLab website, a Ryzen 3200U laptop almost fits the minimum requirements of Borderlands 3. Don’t expect stellar performances from the rig, though – the game will likely be barely playable on a laptop built around it. Still, there are more than enough games that will run at least decently on such a system, as many videos circulating on YouTube have shown.
One YouTuber tested Mass Effect 2, Dead Space 2, GTA V, Fortnite, The Witcher 3, and Resident Evil 3 on a Ryzen 3200U laptop, with surprisingly good results. Another one went further, trying 35 games on such a rig, with titles ranging from Battlefield 4 and the 2016 edition of Doom, all with more than decent results.
While you may not be able to use a Ryzen 3200U rig to play the most recent games, it is still a great compromise for gaming, in general.
Compromise
Yes, the performance of a laptop built around the 3200U has serious shortcomings when it comes to performance. Still, its price may make you think otherwise: depending on the brand and configuration of the laptop, you can buy one at a price of around $300. Of course, this price only covers the basics – 4 to 8 GB of RAM, an SSD of 128 or 256 GB, and a full HD TN screen, at most. Still, it offers a more than decent performance for your buck, which makes it a great choice for those with a tight budget but an innate need for gaming.
Editors note: On a more updated note, we covered the Ryzen 5 4600H for laptops as well as the new Intel Core i3-10300H, both of which are decent competitor if you’re in their budget ranges but for those on the lower budget ranges, the Ryzen 3 3200U may still keep up.
