REVIEW: AMD Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G APU with integrated Vega GPU

Thanks to the collaboration of AMD today we bring you the review of the new processors AMD Ryzen 3 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G with Zen CPU cores and the powerful integrated Vega GPU. These new units APU Raven Ridge leave far behind in technology to the previous solutions of AMD for this sector, those products were interesting for the graphic power deployed but had an excessive consumption with respect to its rivals of Intel. We will test this new APU’s in all its aspects both CPU processing capacity and graphics power of your GPU at 3D and video level, let’s see how this new APU generation of AMD behaves in our review.

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SPECIFICATIONS

Processors

Ryzen 5 2400G Ryzen 3 2200G
CPU Zen 14nm+ FinFET Zen 14nm+ FinFET
Socket AM4 AM4
Fan Wraith Stealth Wraith Stealth
Cores / Threads 4 / 8 4 / 4
Clock base (GHz) 3.5 3.6
Clock Max. (GHz) 3.9 3.7
GPU Radeon RX Vega 11 Radeon Vega 8
Stream Processors 704 512
GPU Clock Max. (MHz) 1250 1100
L2/L3 Cache (MB) 6 6
RAM GHz DDR4-2933 DDR4-2933
RAM Channels Dual Channel Dual Channel
TDP 65 W 65 W
cTDP (Watts) 45-65 W 45-65 W
Price $161 aprox. $105 aprox.

As we can see the main difference between the models AMD Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G is in the number of threads, in the Ryzen 3 we have 4 cores and 4 threads while in the Ryzen 5 model we have 4 cores and 8 threads, something that we will see and note especially in multitasking scenarios. The integrated Vega GPUs are also different and in the Ryzen 5 model we have a lot more stream processors that will give us more 3D performance, apart from these aspects this APU also has slightly higher speeds.

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AMD Ryzen 5 2400G
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AMD Ryzen 3 2200G

Ryzen Technology

The new AMD Ryzen APU brings us important new features in this type of hardware with the integration of the new Zen CPU cores with a Vega GPU. The results, as we will see, are very interesting for the maximum consumption of 65 W TPD they have. This is only the first version of these processors and has a lot of room for improvement, but we will surely see them in the next generation consoles, since they fit perfectly in this area, there are several portable consoles projects that will also mount these solutions.

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As we have already seen in several articles, one of the most interesting points of these new APUs is the inclusion of Precision Boost 2 technology that comes directly from the second generation Zen+ processors. With this feature only activate the turbo modes of the nuclei that ask for it and not all, this implies less consumption and therefore better thermal efficiency, something that keeps temperatures at bay, this was a very weak point of the previous AMD APU that has substantially improved.

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Testing hardware

To assemble the set we have opted for the following elements:

Componente Referencia Precio
Processor 1 Ryzen 5 2400G $162
Processor 2 Ryzen 3 2200G $105
Motherboard MSI B350I PRO AC $120
RAM GSkill Flare X DDR4 3200MHz – 16GB (8 GB x2) $264
PSU SilverStone SX650-G – 650 W $135
Storage Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 250GB $120

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START UP

Hardware assembly

We connect all the components of the test platform of the new AMD Ryzen APU without complications, as we have seen the Socket is still the AM4 but we must bear in mind that we must have an updated BIOS before installing the processor. The RAM if we are going to orientate ourselves to games has to be as fast as possible since the integrated Vega GPU will make use of it.

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Windows

We install by default Windows 10 Home 64bit using the official app to create a installer from a USB memory, we check that all the components are detected correctly. In order for the system to be perfectly functional, we need to install the AMD’s chipset and GPU drivers from its website, from the motherboard manufacturer’s website we need to install the rest of the components. This hardware is only fully compatible with Windows 10 according to the official data of AMD, this is the system that we will use in the review.

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AMD Ryzen 5 2400G
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AMD Ryzen 3 2200G

Linux

In the new AMD Ryzen APU it is possible to install and run any Linux that we need, in our case we have tested Ubuntu 17 that has worked without problems detecting all the main components. For the system to work properly, we need minimum Linux Kernel 4.16 and AMD Raven Bridge binaries updated. The system behaves correctly but according to the users of this platform, there is still a long way to go, we have 3D support with OpenGL / Vulkan acceleration and video acceleration in different formats. If we want to get the most out of this hardware, we recommend Windows 10.

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HARDWARE REVIEW

RAM

On the motherboard where we have mounted the new AMD Ryzen APU we have 16 GB of memory GSkill Flare X DDR4 3200MHz configured in Dual Channel, the figures we have as we can see are very correct values compared to processors of their level and quite above the previous generation APU.

AMD Ryzen review APU eng test RAM 01a

The speed in Dual Channel as we see in the figures are correct and we get to 2400 MHz, a speed that is critical to get the maximum performance to the integrated Vega GPU, if we are going to perform Over Clocking it is mandatory to mount the best kind of RAM possible.

AMD Ryzen 5 2400G AMD Ryzen 3 2200G
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Storage

Inside the miniPC APU AMD Ryzen to test the performance of your PCI connection we mounted a Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 250 GB disc that gives us the maximum possible performance, there are no problems in this aspect.

AMD Ryzen review APU eng test Disk 01

Temperature and noise

We perform our usual battery of thermal tests on the APU AMD Ryzen platform and we verify that the temperatures are excellent, the improvement with the architecture change at 14nm + FinFET is obvious and leaves far behind the previous 28nm APU. In our tests we use the Wraith Stealth series fan that behaves correctly with a controlled noise, but for serious tests we have mounted an Arctic Freezer 33 CO that has given us excellent results with its semi-passive operation.

AMD Ryzen review APU eng test Temp 01

In the forced performance test if we put the CPU and the GPU at 100% and the system rises temperatures reaching only about 52º C  / 123º F and stops, the processor goes into protection mode and stays at 3.6 GHz without jumping to turbo mode, something usual in these products, the speed of the fan reach 1053 rpm which is almost inaudible.

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We also perform a more real test running several games, as we have seen are the best performance tests that exist since in this type of processors with integrated GPU push them to the maximum performance in both CPU and GPU use. As we can see in the data playing DOTA 2 we reach up to 50º C and the fan is between 0 and 500 rpm, a fantastic scenario that tells us how well this processor is optimized.

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A semi-passive ventilation system like the Arctic Freezer 33 CO seems to us a fantastic solution for this type of products, although it would be appreciated a version with smaller horizontal fan to not gain so much height. The fan starts at 50º C at a very silent slow speed and stops again at 42º C, then at 60º C accelerates and is somewhat noisier.

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When we take it to a performance scenario we can see how the heatsink of the controller on the motherboard and the RAM memory get quite hot, the CPU cooler perfectly fulfills its function with the heat pipes and the aluminum fins.

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Power consumption

During our consumption tests the AMD Ryzen APUs have very contained values in normal use, we only reach a maximum of 109 W when we put the GPU to work at maximum and in very specific scenarios, we usually stay in about 80 W at maximum in more prologued peaks. Values that also depend on the connected components, in any case very good results seeing how it behaves thermally, AMD Precision Boost 2 system gives good values, something that was very necessary to optimize in the previous AMD APU’s.

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PERFORMANCE TEST

As we have seen during the hardware analysis, AMD Ryzen APUs represent a radical change in the processor architecture offered by AMD, a change for the better in all aspects. Both the Ryzen 5 2400G APU with four cores and eight threads and the Ryzen 3 2200G with four cores and four threads have an excellent performance / price ratio to be an integrated solution, graphically as we see they leave behind much more expensive processors and even they are close to solutions with dedicated GPU and low-end GDDR5 memory. As we can see, the performance between the two APUs differs mainly in scenarios that use the multi-thread function as is logical and in the graphical section where the number of the stream processors of the superior model is higher. In any case, excellent results compared with the competition in this sector.

PCMark 8

With this test we can see the performance of the device in an office environment and common desktop use.

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3DMark

Graphic performance test where we can see the gross performance capabilities in this environment and compare the performance of GPU’s historically.

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Cinebench

A brute force tests on both CPU and GPU, this benchmark always help us to see a very clear reference of power.

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Geekbench

This benchmark in SoC offers a fairly reliable numbers of CPU’s working in a single core or multiple cores ate the same time, it also has a section of GPU computing that gives us an overall result of the processing capacity.

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Games

We made several test with games using the two AMD Ryzen APU’s and we get quite positive results, we are talking about a processor with integrated Vega GPU that uses the memory of the DDR4 system something that limits quite compared to dedicated GDDR5 memory that we can find in solutions like the Intel Kaby Lake-G processors that we see in the NUC Intel Hades Canyon. As we can see we can play at 1080p resolution in many demanding titles and in the most demanding ones, going down to 720p we can run them with enough speed, in some big titles touching specific settings we can even stay in 1080p. In general for the consumption and price seems a very good solution for those who want to play eSports or some big titles without being very demanding in the graphic section. The difference between the APU Ryzen 5 2400G and the Ryzen 3 2200G model at the graphic level is considerable although we can shorten it if we do OC, something that’s depends on the luck of the chosen components in order to squeeze it more or less.

Test environment

  • GTA V, Low settings, 720p resolution
  • Overwatch, Low settings, 720p resolution
  • DOTA 2, medium / high settings, 1080p resolution
  • Fortnite, Medium settings, 720p resolution
  • World of Tanks, Medium settings, 1080p resolution

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As always we passed our special test with DOTA 2 with a screen resolution of 1920 × 1080, in the settings in medium / high quality the game reaches 120 fps with the Ryzen 5 2400G while we reached 115 fps as average with the Ryzen 3 2200G. Values that allow us to play perfectly to this title.

In this case we have performed performance tests also with Fortnite with screen resolution of 1920 × 1080 and 1280×720, in the settings in medium quality the game reaches 75 fps @ 720p and at 40 fps @ 1080p with the Ryzen 5 2400G while we arrive at 68 fps @ 720p and at 30 fps @ 1080p on average with the Ryzen 3 2200G. A result that as we see tells us that it is better to play 720p to this title or adjust the quality very well for 1080p with the Ryzen 5, in any case it is playable although some textures are poorer than normal.

Overclock

To squeeze the APU Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G we have at our disposal the AMD Ryzen Master tool that gives us the option to adjust all the values of this platform. As we have check in the APU Ryzen 5 we have little room for improvement and we can vary the maximum adjustments a little, on the other hand the Ryzen 3 APU model allows us more OC and we have been able to reach 3.8 MHz in CPU and about 1400 MHz in GPU without having Windows BSO screens, even so the Ryzen 5 model is superior although with OC is closer to the Ryzen 3, by price it can be interesting if we do not mind having the processors with OC. If we have to change voltages the thing is already complicated and the instability increases.

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VIDEO AND AUDIO TEST

At level of video playback the APU AMD Ryzen platform gives us excellent results, the integrated Vega GPU provides a very good level of image reproduction for H.264 or H.265 video with 4K resolution, we also have video acceleration for formats with HDR information and support for all kinds of pixel formats.

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The control panel of the GPU in this aspect is quite complete and customizable. This model supports FreeSync that will be compatible with the Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) protocol of HDMI 2.1 in the future, so we will have automatic refresh change without having to configure anything.

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In these APU we have HDMI 2.0 video output with the maximum resolution of 4K @ 60fps, the performance results in the video decoding are excellent and as we can see how CPU is not used at all even with H.265 4K files more modern, a long-term solution in this regard.

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Here we can see the list of decoding formats supported by default Vega GPU, as we can see we have 4K support in all current codecs that reach that resolution.

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Test results

H.264 format Default player KODI
BBB – H.264 8bit – 1080p@25fps – 7 Mbps Correct Correct
Birds – H.264 8bit – 1080p@24fps – 40 Mbps Correct Correct
Samsung Oceanic Life – H.264  8bit– 1080p@30fps – 40 Mbps Correct Correct
Anime – H.264 10bit – 1080p@24fps – 10 Mbps Artifacts Frame skip
Skyfall – H.264  8 bit – 4K@24fps – 10 Mbps Correct Correct
Timelapse – H.264 8bit – 4K@24fps – 43 Mbps Correct Correct
H.265 format
Tears of steel – HVEC 8bit – 1080p@24fps – 17 Mbps Correct Correct
Beauty – HVEC 8bit – 4K@120fps – 12 Mbps Correct Correct
Anime – HVEC 10bit – 1080p@24fps – 21 Mbps Correct Correct
Samsung UHD Dubai – HVEC 10bit – 4K@24fps – 51 Mbps Correct Correct
HDR format
Life of Pi HDR –  HVEC – 4K@24fps – 45 Mbps Correct Correct
TravelXP HDR HLG – HVEC – 4K@24fps – 20 Mbps Artifacts Frame skip
Planet Earth II – HDR HLG – HVEC 10L5 – 4K@25fps – 31 Mbps Correct Correct
  • The MKV, Blu-ray ISO and BDRemux formats are only containers, inside we can have different codecs, resolutions, audio channels, chapters or subtitles. To play the Blu-ray format menus we need KODI or a compatible program.

Audio format test

We pass our usual multi-channel audio test using a Yamaha RXV-577 AV receiver in the AMD Ryzen APUs, we verify that it supports DD 7.1 and DTS 5.1 sound, in these formats the playback does not involve any kind of problem.

Test result

Audio format HDMI SPDIF
Dolby Digital 5.1 OK
Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 Core
Dolby True HD 7.1 OK
Dolby Atmos 7.1 OK*
DTS 5.1 OK
DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 Core
DTS-HD High Resolution 7.1 Core
DTS-X 7.1 Core*
  • PCM – Stereo downmix from DD or DTS
  • Core – Only the core of the format Dolby / DTS is played
  • * Our AV receiver does not support these native formats but we check that it does downmix fine

STREAMING

Youtube

We perform streaming tests on AMD Ryzen APUs in usual media such as Youtube, we verify that we have no problems when playing videos. In Youtube using the new APU AMD Ryzen we found full compatibility for the VP9 codec, so we have an excellent performance when decoding video in this way, all the work falls on the VPU and we do not appreciate any type of load on the CPU of the system.

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Streaming services with subscription

As we always use our accounts in streaming payment services and check that they all work correctly, the power of this device is more than enough to see any type of content by them within the imposed limitations. For now the Netflix service is limited to FullHD quality since it does not have DRM Playready 3.0 integrated in its drivers, something that seems to be in the process of being solved and that we will follow in detail to inform you.

Service Video Audio
Netflix FullHD (1080p) 5.1
HBO FullHD (1080p) Stereo
Amazon Prime Video HD (720p) Stereo

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CONCLUSIONS

Opinion

After perform our review on the new AMD Ryzen APUs, we have to say that we have been pleasantly surprised by the technological leap that AMD has made in its products. The transition to 14nm was something mandatory for this company but the improvements provided by the Zen+ CPU cores and the new Vega GPUs give a good indication of the effort that has been put into presenting something competitive in the sector. A product that can be perfectly valid for those looking for a solution with good processing power and relatively strong graphic power, we can play most titles in 720 or 1080p in medium settings for a really competitive price and a minimum consumption.

In the rest of the sections the new AMD Ryzen APUs have also shown us a good performance and we have an excellent video performance, the decoding quality in all the codecs is optimal and with a semi passive system like the one we have used in the review we can have a multimedia center in total silence since the processor does not heat up at all. On the other hand you have to keep in mind that for Netflix 4K you have to wait a bit, so take note and pay attention to the drivers.

In general we can say that with the new APU’s Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G with integrated Vega GPU AMD has set the bar very high in terms of performance in this type of products, especially at the price / performance level we are facing a perfectly valid solution for many users looking for an intermediate point between graphic performance and efficiency.

WHERE TO BUY

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APU AMD Ryzen

8.7

CPU Performance

8.5/10

GPU/VPU Performance

9.0/10

SOFTWARE

8.5/10

SUPPORT

8.5/10

PRICE

9.0/10

Pros

  • Excellent performance
  • Low thermals
  • Excellent in video playback
  • Valid for play eSports and big games at 720p
  • Low price

Cons

  • Missing Netflix 4K support
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JohnIL

Was impressed with my 2400g for about a year and then things went to shit with memory and stability. All seems to point to the memory controller on the AMD Ryzen APU. Memory test fine but PC which was stable for a year at 2933 now can only run at default 2133 speed. trouble with these APU’s is that not only does the CPU use memory but the Vega graphics also uses the same RAM. I think in the end after awhile things start to degrade and cause issues with stability. Too bad, its a nice APU but its been… Read more »

Kim

You have a problem with your ram or motherboard.

Urmish Jariwala

Does it support Dolby Atmos 9.2 ?

Mounter

Hello!

Could you test somehow the 3D MVC playback capabilities and PQ? (I would prefer it on 2200G).

Thank you!

Kim

Hello.
I don’t have the setup to truly test this content sorry.
The Vega GPU have the power to play any 3D content, maybe you can found info in the madvr configuration documentation.
Thanks for read us.

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