Test Bed and Setup

As per our processor testing policy, we take a premium category motherboard suitable for the socket, and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the manufacturer's maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.

Test Setup
  AMD Intel Core
Processor Ryzen 5 2400G
Ryzen 3 2200G
A10-8750
A8-7870K
i7-8700
i3-8350K
i5-7400
i3-7350K
i3-7100
Motherboards MSI B350I
Pro AC
ASUS
A88X-Pro
ASRock
Z370 Gaming i7
GIGABYTE
X170 Gaming ECC
Cooling AMD Wraith Stealth Arctic Freezer 13 ICO Silverstone AR10-115XS
Power Supply Corsair AX760i PSU 
Memory G.Skill
TridentZ
2x8GB
DDR4-3200 
@ 2933
G.Skill
RipjawsX
2x8GB
DDR3-2133
Crucial
Ballistix
4x8GB
DR4-2666
G.Skill
RipjawsV
2x16GB
DDR4-2400
Video Drivers Ryzen APU: 17.7 beta
NVIDIA GT 1030: 388.52
Intel IGP: 15.60.2.4901
Hard Drive Crucial MX200 1TB
Optical Drive LG GH22NS50
Case Open Test Bed
Operating System Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

Many thanks to...

We must thank the following companies for kindly providing hardware for our multiple test beds. Some of this hardware is not in this test bed specifically, but is used in other testing.

 

Thank you to Crucial for providing us with MX200 SSDs. Crucial stepped up to the plate as our benchmark list grows larger with newer benchmarks and titles, and the 1TB MX200 units are strong performers. Based on Marvell's 88SS9189 controller and using Micron's 16nm 128Gbit MLC flash, these are 7mm high, 2.5-inch drives rated for 100K random read IOPs and 555/500 MB/s sequential read and write speeds. The 1TB models we are using here support TCG Opal 2.0 and IEEE-1667 (eDrive) encryption and have a 320TB rated endurance with a three-year warranty.

Further Reading: AnandTech's Crucial MX200 (250 GB, 500 GB & 1TB) Review

Thank you to Corsair for providing us with an AX1200i PSU. The AX1200i was the first power supply to offer digital control and management via Corsair's Link system, but under the hood it commands a 1200W rating at 50C with 80 PLUS Platinum certification. This allows for a minimum 89-92% efficiency at 115V and 90-94% at 230V. The AX1200i is completely modular, running the larger 200mm design, with a dual ball bearing 140mm fan to assist high-performance use. The AX1200i is designed to be a workhorse, with up to 8 PCIe connectors for suitable four-way GPU setups. The AX1200i also comes with a Zero RPM mode for the fan, which due to the design allows the fan to be switched off when the power supply is under 30% load.

Further Reading: AnandTech's Corsair AX1500i Power Supply Review

Thank you to G.Skill for providing us with memory. G.Skill has been a long-time supporter of AnandTech over the years, for testing beyond our CPU and motherboard memory reviews. We've reported on their high capacity and high-frequency kits, and every year at Computex G.Skill holds a world overclocking tournament with liquid nitrogen right on the show floor.

Further Reading: AnandTech's Memory Scaling on Haswell Review, with G.Skill DDR3-3000

Competition: AMD vs Intel, AMD vs AMD Benchmark Overview
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  • jjj - Monday, February 12, 2018 - link

    Playable means 30FPS and has been that for.. ever.
  • AndrewJacksonZA - Monday, February 12, 2018 - link

    Typo page 1: "Fast forward almost two years, to the start of 2018. Intel did have a second generation eDRAM product"
    The linked article is from 2 May 2016, not the start of 2018.
  • richardginn - Monday, February 12, 2018 - link

    If only the ram used in the 2400G review kits was not so god damn expensive. It is more expensive than the CPU.
  • Ian Cutress - Monday, February 12, 2018 - link

    This is true - technically we were sampled a different DDR4-3200 kit to be used. Normally our policy here is to use the maximum supported DRAM frequency of the processor for these tests - in the past there is a war of words when reviews do not, from readers and companies. When we do our memory scaling piece, it'll be with a wide range of offerings.
  • richardginn - Monday, February 12, 2018 - link

    I certainly want to see the memory scaling piece before making a purchase.
  • RBD117 - Monday, February 12, 2018 - link

    Hey Ian, thanks for the great review. I think your Cinebench-1T scores should be higher, in the 151-160 range for the 2200G and 2400G respectively. AMD pushed a microcode update through BIOS to testers very very late last week. A lot of the changes significantly boosted single-thread performance in general, even in some games. Did you folks end up getting this?
  • Ian Cutress - Monday, February 12, 2018 - link

    I only started testing with the new BIOS: can you confirm the difference is on both the motherboards AMD sampled? Some got MSI, others got GIGABYTE. We had MSI.
  • RBD117 - Monday, February 12, 2018 - link

    Ah okay. I believe it should have been updated on both MSI and Gigabyte...at least, I was told it should have landed on both platforms for standardization.
  • jrs77 - Monday, February 12, 2018 - link

    I would've loved to see you compare the 2400G against the i7-5775C with regards to 1080p gaming, as I can play games like Borderlands, WoW or Diablo in 1080p with medium settings on my Broadwell Iris graphics just fine.

    If the 2400G doesn't allow for higher graphics settings than the i7-5775C, than I don't really see them taking the crown for integrated graphics. intel is just too stoopid to use what they have it seems.
  • nierd - Monday, February 12, 2018 - link

    When that i7 cost less than 150 then it will make the chart. At the price point it's at I can buy one of these chips and a $200 graphics card and do laps around the i7 all day.

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