Is Ryzen a Good Gaming PC? A Comprehensive Guide

If you are into gaming, owning a gaming computer is one of the best investments. Gaming PCs are specialized personal computers where you can play video games, customize your PC, create hotkeys, have real-life visuals, and even modify games.

Choosing the right gaming PC is a heinous task. So many options are available in the market, each with pros and cons. Recently Ryzen has been trending in the market, and many people recommend it to beginner and pro gamers.

The question arises: Is Ryzen a good gaming PC, and spending thousands of dollars on this is worth it? The answer is yes!

Here is a complete guide about Ryzen PC, including its features, types, cost, and how to upgrade your Ryzen PC.

History of Ryzen: 

Ryzen is a brand of multicore microprocessors designed and marketed by AMD for desktop, mobile, server, and embedded platforms launched in 2017. It is based on the Zen microarchitecture. 

Intel took over the gaming industry in 2006, and now Ryzen has given it tough competition. Ryzen has more processing cores, offering greater multi-threaded performance at the same price as Intel’s Core processors.

Benefits of Ryzen:

The processor of Ryzen is built on Zen microarchitecture. This PC was specifically designed to reduce the overall power consumption. These PCs also provide much better clock speeds.

Moreover, a 14nm FinFET process made Zen microarchitecture 1st Gen. These features make chips more efficient and use less energy.

Here are some benefits of a Ryzen PC. 

1: High Clock Speeds: 

Ryzen CPUs have high clock speeds. They can process information quickly and efficiently. This feature is important for games that require fast reaction times.

2: Multiple Cores: 

Ryzen CPUs offer multiple cores. More cores mean better multitasking and performance in CPU-intensive games. These cores can handle more tasks simultaneously.

3: Low Latency: 

Ryzen CPUs have low latency. This feature is important for online games meaning they can respond quickly to commands. In online games, split-second reactions make all the difference, so low latency helps the PC to manage all the tasks.

4: Multitasking: 

Ryzen is useful for multitasking while gaming, such as streaming or running multiple programs simultaneously, as it has many cores.

5: Cost-effective:

All the processors of Ryzen are inexpensive. The budget range for Ryzen is $100 to $130. Core i3-12100F and the Ryzen 5 4600G are around the $100 mark; AMD Ryzen 5 5600 is $140.

Choosing the Right Ryzen Processor for Gaming

Ryzen offers a range of core processors. Here are some mentioned with their features

• Ryzen3:Up to 4-core processors.
• Ryzen5: Up to 6-core processors.
• Ryzen7: Up to 8-core processors.
• Ryzen9: Up to 16-core processors.
• Threadripper: Up to 64-core processors.

Ryzen 3: 

The Ryzen 3 is a budget-friendly PC for general office work, like browsing the net, creating a spreadsheet, and answering emails. You can play more graphically demanding games by pairing this with entry-level GPUs  

Ryzen 5: 

The Ryzen 5 offers mid-range performance with six cores and 12 threads, making it a good choice for most gaming setups. It delivers more cores for better multitasking.

Ryzen 7:

The Ryzen 7 has eight cores and 16 threads. It offers high-end performance. It also has a higher  TDP(thermal design processor), between 65 and 105 watts. It is good for video editing or other CPU-intensive tasks.

Ryzen 9: 

The Ryzen 9 has 12 cores and 24 threads. That’s why it’s a great choice for professional applications like Adobe Photoshop, AutoCAD, or Blender a discrete GPU is required for this processor.

Building a Gaming PC with Ryzen

To build a gaming PC, you need to 

1. Find the best components for your PC build with a budget and your requirements.
2. Understand how each PC component works and why they are important.
3. Grab the right tools for the job and prepare for the PC build 

Here is a list of components and their prices at AMAZON.

Optimizing Ryzen for Gaming

Sometimes, your default BIOS settings aren’t configured for optimal performance with your Ryzen processor, which may cause slow speed and other issues. To deal with this, you need to optimize your ryzen PC.

Here are some tips to optimize your current PC

• Pick the right motherboard
• Update your BIOS regularly
• RAMming speed
• Overclock it!
• Clean-install Windows
• Change Windows’ power plan
• Disable Windows’ High Precision Event Timer

Overclocking Ryzen for Gaming

Ryzen CPUs can be overclocked to improve gaming performance further. By Overclocking, you increase the CPU’s clock speed beyond its factory settings. 

To overclock your Ryzen

• Use a high-quality cooling system to keep the CPU temperature under control.
• Increase the clock speed gradually and test for stability at each step to avoid any damage.
• Adjust the voltage as necessary to avoid crashes.

Ryzen vs. Intel for Gaming

Intel and AMD are the only two choices if you are looking for a CPU for gaming or your workstation. Suppose you need clarification in choosing between them.

This comparison might help you.

Benchmark Tests for Ryzen

To evaluate the gaming performance of Ryzen CPUs, let’s look at some benchmark tests. These tests compare the performance of Ryzen CPUs to their competitors in popular games.

• In Battlefield V, the Ryzen 5 5600X outperformed the Intel Core i5-10600K by 11%.
• In Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the Ryzen 7 5800X outperformed the Intel Core i7-10700K by 6%.
• In Cyberpunk 2077, the Ryzen 9 5900X outperformed the Intel Core i9-10900K by 5%.

Overall, these benchmark tests show that Ryzen CPUs offer excellent gaming performance and can sometimes outperform their Intel competitors.

Overclocking Ryzen for Gaming

One advantage of Ryzen CPUs is that they can be overclocked to improve gaming performance further. Overclocking involves increasing the CPU’s clock speed beyond its factory settings. 

Here are some tips for overclocking your Ryzen

• Use a high-quality cooling system to keep the CPU temperature under control.
• Increase the clock speed gradually, testing stability at each step to avoid damaging the CPU.
• Adjust the voltage as necessary to maintain stability and prevent crashes.

Budget-Friendly Ryzen Options

Not everyone can afford to splurge on a high-end CPU for their gaming rig, but that doesn’t mean they have to settle for subpar gaming performance. 

Fortunately, Ryzen offers several budget-friendly options that are still powerful enough to handle most games. 

Some of the best budget-friendly Ryzen CPUs include:

• Ryzen 3 3100: This quad-core CPU has a base clock speed of 3.6 GHz and can be overclocked up to 3.9 GHz. It also has 18MB of cache and supports PCIe 4.0. It’s a great option for gamers on a tight budget who still want decent gaming performance.
• Ryzen 5 3600: This six-core CPU has a base clock speed of 3.6 GHz and can be overclocked up to 4.2 GHz. It also has 35MB of cache and supports PCIe 4.0. It’s slightly more expensive than the Ryzen 3 3100, but it offers better performance and is still a great value for the price.
• Ryzen 5 5600X: This six-core CPU has a base clock speed of 3.7 GHz and can be overclocked up to 4.6 GHz. It also has 35MB of cache and supports PCIe 4.0. It’s a bit more expensive than the Ryzen 5 3600, but it offers even better performance and is still relatively affordable compared to high-end CPUs.

Future-Proof Your Gaming PC

When building a gaming PC, it’s important to consider future upgrades and longevity.

Ryzen CPUs have a scalable architecture, which means they’re designed to be future-proof and upgradeable. This means you can upgrade your CPU without replacing your entire system.

In addition, Ryzen CPUs are compatible with a wide range of motherboards, which means you have more options for upgrading your system in the future.

Frequently asked questions:

Wrap-Up