6 Best Budget Ryzen CPUs in 2024

Affordable and high-quality budget Ryzen CPUs.

Throughout the last few years, AMD has managed to bounce back and reclaim a significant portion of the market share in the CPU industry. For nearly 10 years before that, Intel was dominating the world with its unparalleled clock speeds and reliability, while AMD barely managed to stay in business thanks to its consumer-friendly pricing policy. As a result, Intel got too comfortable in the monopoly they managed to establish, refusing to innovate while keeping their egregiously high prices.

However, once AMD put out their Ryzen series that provides outstanding multi-threaded performance for a fantastic price, everything changed and now they’re slowly catching up with the industry leader. Another reason why AMD found so many new fans among PC users is their diverse processor line-up that ensures everyone can find an option to their liking. The post below goes over multiple reasonably-priced models to help you find the best budget Ryzen CPU for your needs, while also including tips on how to make your final choice.

Cores: 6 | Threads: 12 | Base clook: 3.6 GHz | Boost clock: 4.2 GHz

The top desktop processor available today is the AMD Ryzen 5 3600, which sports a multicore processor and is priced little more than its competition. With a mere 15% IPC boost over its competing brands, this processor is a surefire winner, delivering excellent gaming performance at a price you can actually afford.

For the PC enthusiast who wants to build a powerful gaming PC, or work on heavy graphics design software, the AMD Ryzen 5 3600x delivers everything you'd expect from an affordable unlocked processor. It's loaded with high-quality parts, like the AMD Authentic Technology and Extended Graphics Block (EGLS), meaning that even on a tight budget, this is a processor you don't want to miss out on. And with a price under $250, this processor is well within the reach of anyone looking for a good processor for their system.

Cores: 8 | Threads: 16 | Base clook: 3.7 GHz | Boost clock: 4.4 GHz

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is the latest poster child for the excellent AMD Ryzen 3rd Generation processor family. With its quad-core unlocked processor and cooler that support both AM3 and FX processors, the AMD has long been a market leader when it comes to high-performing processors. The AMD Zen processor architecture that powers this processor is highly acclaimed for its extreme level of processing power optimized for the casual and professional computer user.

It is important to remember that the processors from the other two generations of AMD systems will not offer the same level of computing power that is available from the seven-gen AMD CPU. Therefore, if you are in the market for a new personal computer system, you may want to take a look at the AMD 3700X. It is currently priced at a much more affordable price point than any of the other current four-gen AMD systems.

Cores: 4 | Threads: 4 | Base clook: 3.7 GHz | Boost clock: 4.0 GHz

Overall, the Ryzen 3200G by AMD is a great option for anybody who has a low budget but still wants to build their dream multi-core processor. It's an affordable quad-core processor that also has a surprisingly fast clock speed, for an Intel processor.

For someone who is only interested in gaming and uses the PC for little more than surfing the internet and sending emails, then this processor will work fine for you. For someone else who is looking to have a desktop PC that works like a dedicated gaming system, then you may want to check out other options available on the market.

Cores: 6 | Threads: 12 | Base clook: 3.6 GHz | Boost clock: 4.2 GHz

For many people they want the perfect integrated solution for all of their computing requirements and as AMD has today with the 5 3600X, then they have a CPU that is truly perfect for what they need. With six-core processor speeds, which are faster than any of the current four-core counterparts, along with the additional benefit of AMD's new energy-efficient multi-core processing that allows your processor to work smarter, and therefore save you money on energy costs, you can see why this could well be the king-hit of the new-generation of PC's.

If you are looking for a strong mid-range processor that has the raw power to take on multiple tasks, then the chances are that this could very well be the right product for you. If you want to enjoy some of the latest technology with your new CPU, but don't want to pay an extortionate price for it, then you may well find the perfect solution with the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X.

Cores: 4 | Threads: 8 | Base clook: 3.8 GHz | Boost clock: 4.2 GHz

AMD has once again created a processor that is designed to crush Intel. Their new processor, the AMD Ryzen 5 3400G is a fast, powerful, and efficient processor that will allow you to build your own computer.

The AMD Ryzen processor is built off of AMD's latest "Zen" CPU cores which have been optimized for the Windows platform. Smooth, powerful, and reliable performance is the norm for any serious gamer and professional alike, and that is what the Ryzen 5 3400G can offer.

Clock speed allows you to determine the number of cycles performed by a processor each second. This characteristic lets you know the speed at which each core performs calculations. A higher clock speed provides more CPU cycles, meaning a larger number of actions is processed each second. The base clock speed determines how fast the CPU runs most of the time, even if the cooling system isn’t very efficient.

Meanwhile, the boost clock speed is determined by how fast the processor can become when you need to quickly perform an intensive task. However, such speed can’t be upheld for long because of the possible overheating issues. While you shouldn’t compare clock speeds when looking at CPUs from different manufacturers due to the differences in their architecture, this characteristic is essential when examining two models from the same series and trying to find the best budget Ryzen CPU.

Multicore processors have been the norm for nearly 20 years now. Such models are comprised of multiple smaller processing components that perform their tasks individually. The larger number of cores a processor has, the bigger number of tasks it can handle at the same time. With the invention of simultaneous multi-threading, all modern CPUs became able to assign several simultaneous tasks to each core by rotating between 2 processes. This allows you to have twice as many threads as the processor has cores, which leads to a significant boost in performance.

When choosing the best budget Ryzen CPU, many users immediately jump to comparing a Ryzen 3 2200G to a Ryzen 5 2600X. At first glance, The Ryzen 5 seems to heavily outperform the Ryzen 5, as it has a 6-core chip while the latter has 4. Additionally, the former supports simultaneous multithreading, which is a feature that is missing in the Ryzen 3, meaning the Ryzen 5 offers three times as many threads. The Ryzen 3 also has a noticeably lower boost clock speed.

All that being said, the Ryzen 3 does have an ace up its sleeve in the form of a built-in Vega GPU. If you want to put together a budget gaming rig with a built-in graphics chip, it’s hard to beat the performance offered by the Ryzen 3, as it even can handle games like Fortnite, which is surprising given how cheap this processor is. In terms of value for money, Ryzen 3 is one of the best offers you can get, but the Ryzen 5 is still the go-to option for anyone in need of a truly powerful setup with a discrete graphics card.