Best AMD Ryzen APU for gaming in 2024 – our 5 top picks

The AMD Ryzen 5 3400G, a former flagship APU from AMD, is renowned for its outstanding performance, largely owing to its integrated graphics capabilities. This chip, a significant step up from the 3200G, boasts 4 cores and 8 threads, 6MB of cache, and the impressive VEGA 11 graphics engine. Although it is scraping the bottom of the barrel in 2024, this CPU is not something that will take you very far with AAA titles even in 1080p.

With a base clock speed of 3.7GHz and a boost clock of 4.2GHz, the 3400G represents a substantial improvement over its predecessor. AMD has further enhanced its performance with high-quality metal TIM (thermal interface material) and support for AMD’s precision boost overdrive, a feature that intelligently overclocks the chip as needed.

The integrated GPU operates at a base clock of 1,400MHz, a notable 150MHz faster than its predecessor, the 2400G. Additionally, like the 3200G, the 3400G includes AMD’s Wraith Spire CPU cooler, ensuring efficient thermal management.

What truly sets the 3400G apart is its exceptional value proposition. With a retail price of under $150, it offers tremendous performance for the cost, especially considering that its predecessor, the 2400G, was initially priced at $170.

What is an AMD APU?

While the Accelerated Processing Unit is a very attractive name, make no mistake: an APU is pretty much just a combination of a CPU and a GPU. Many Intel processors using Integrated graphics, for instance, are essentially the same as APUs. That being said, though, their graphics chips are much less powerful than the ones inside these Ryzen APUs.

Note; you can also use these strictly as CPUs by adding a dedicated GPU to your setup.

A similar concept in a different sector of the industry is “SoCs.” SoC stands for System on Chip, and these tend to combine all components of the system onto a single, well, chip. This is seen most often in gaming consoles (both the PS4 and Xbox One, for instance, are using AMD SoCs), smartphones, and on rare occasions, laptops.

There are many things to consider on the hunt for the best AMD Ryzen APU. Choosing the best AMD APU for your specific needs is important so that you aren’t left with a product that doesn’t meet your requirements. Let’s go over a few key terms.

RAM

Pairing your Ryzen CPU with a suitable set of RAM is more important than you might think. Ryzen CPU core communication speed is directly correlated to RAM speed, essentially meaning the slower the RAM the slower the CPU without getting overly complicated. Intel CPUs aren’t affected in this manner as their CPUs are constructed a little differently.

This is especially true for APUs as the system’s RAM is also used as VRAM for the integrated graphics. Whether this is a Vega iGPU or a Radeon RX iGPU, it’s the same case for both.

This is because the integrated graphics portion of the Chip is built directly into the CPU, instead of being on a spacious GPU PCB where VRAM can be built with ease. Because of the spacial limitations being built into a CPU package presents, the iGPU has to get creative and use the already available system RAM as Video RAM.

The sweet spot for AM4 Ryzen CPUs is 3600MHz, this speed of DDR4 RAM gives you the best returns, any speed beyond this you’ll receive diminishing returns and as a result, less value for money. If you’re planning on building a PC centered around an APU, it’s a good idea to invest in a higher RAM capacity for reasons we mentioned earlier, to make sure the iGPU RAM requirements do not interfere with the rest of the system requirements. As for AM5 APUs, and the Ryzen 8000G processors, DDR5 is the RAM you want. There you want to look at around 6000MHz.

Clock speed

Clock speed is the measurement of how many times per second a CPU can complete what’s called an instruction Cycle, this cycle consists of three main actions. These actions are: fetch, decode, and execute. And it’s these three actions that make up the fundamentals of CPU operation as we know it.

This isn’t just for desktop processors, this is the same on the mobile platform and OEM too, although clocked lower for efficiency’s sake because of the power constraints being a mobile platform brings.

Generally, when discussing and comparing CPUs in the same architecture, CPUs with the same or greater number of cores and a higher clock speed will perform better. – this is also a single-core performance metric, as cores with higher clock speeds will perform better in single-core workloads.

Core count

The more CPU cores your CPU has the better at multitasking it will be. However, it all depends on whether the application or software you are using is coded for multiple cores. Some older programs are not and will generally perform no better when given access to more cores. For software that does support multi-core utilization, more cores are better.

Core count is a metric for multi-core performance, As CPUs with a higher number of cores will perform better in multicore workloads, due to the abundance of available CPU cores. If you’re interested in seeing how these APUs stack up, then check out our CPU hierarchy.

Threads

Threads tell a similar story to cores, more threads make for a CPU that’s better at multitasking natively. However, cores and threads are not created equal.

All of the APUs on the list support SMT (Simultaneous Multithreading). This is AMD’s version of Intel’s Hyperthreading. This is a technology that allows one CPU core to process and execute two instructions at once. This means that the operating system can see and utilize your CPU as if it had double the number of physical cores. The collection of cores and threads is labeled ‘logical processors’ by operating systems.

These threads are known as V-cores and are virtual, so named because they do not physically exist or occupy space on the CPU die. These virtual cores have to share resources with the physical cores and threads suffer slower processing speeds as a result. Again SMT relies on software integration and compatibility but it’s better to have and not need than to need and not have. Most modern software has multithreading integration and support.

If you want to know more about SMT you can read our in-depth feature on SMT.

Graphics

Graphics refers to the included “GPU.” In this case, the hierarchy starts with Vega 8 on the budget APU and ends with Vega 11 at the highest end, for now. If you’re interested in seeing how these compare, then check out the comparable graphics cards below and our GPU hierarchy.

The iGPUs inside these APUs are very underpowered compared to dedicated graphics powered by your GPU. With that being said, however, you shouldn’t write them off. APUs can be powerful enough for low-end 1080P gaming. Especially with the advancements made in AMD FSR and RSR.

FAQs

Other useful links

We have a large range of in-depth buyer guides here on WePC and we would hate it if you missed the chance to read them, feel free to check out any of the related guides below.

Final word

In the ever-evolving landscape of gaming APUs, AMD continues to push the boundaries with its impressive 8000G series chips, offering a harmonious fusion of CPU and GPU technologies. While standalone components may still outshine APUs in specific aspects, the unique advantages they bring to the table are hard to overlook. Now, with the new RDNA3 iGPUs, the possibilities are endless and offer theoretical performance gains of 3x over the 5000G series APUs.