Along with the Ryzen 5 8600G and Ryzen 7 8700G, the Ryzen 5 8500G and Ryzen 3 8300G mentioned in this article’s title are AMD’s major bets for the entry-level gaming sector. However, the reality is not as good as expected, as both the Ryzen 5 8500G and Ryzen 3 8300G have significant limitations that AMD did not reveal in their presentation or launch, specifically fewer PCIe lanes than desired for GPU and SSD, as well as insufficient RAM channels.
Fortunately, their older siblings do not suffer from these issues, making them the better choice for more powerful graphics. However, the two younger siblings do have serious issues, particularly with the memory and PCIe 4.0 lanes.
AMD Ryzen 3 8300G and Ryzen 5 8500G, limitations to reduce costs
These limitations force buyers indirectly to choose the two aforementioned options if they want to avoid missing out on any features. The Ryzen 3 8300G and Ryzen 5 8500G are not only limited in terms of cores and frequency – they only have 14 PCIe lanes and 1 available DDR5 channel (8500G). Furthermore, neither of the two has Ryzen AI’s NPU implemented, which puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to Windows 12.
The underlying problem is the 14 PCIe lanes that need further investigation and a detailed explanation.
Weaker iGPU Radeon and very limited usable lanes
Out of the 14 native PCIe 4.0 lanes, only 10 are usable. If we use an SSD with a PCIe 4.0 bus, it will require four of those lanes, leaving only six available, from which only four could be used for a hypothetical GPU, regardless of its speed or age.
Is this dramatic? Not really. Considering that we don’t want to upgrade the processor or simply need more graphical computing power for other games, the difference in real gaming performance between PCIe 4.0 x16 and PCIe 4.0 x4 is only about 3% to 6%. This can be managed even with an RTX 4090 or RX 7900 XTX, with the latter being slightly better for the platform due to Smart Access Memory.
The real issue arises from the RAM. The Ryzen 5 8500G has a single memory channel limitation that the Ryzen 3 8300G does not have. AMD’s website shows that the smaller sibling can install a configuration of up to 4 Dual Rank modules, while the Ryzen 5 8500G can do the same but only has one DDR5 channel available.
This limitation would certainly hamper performance in all areas. Is it a mistake? It cannot be ruled out, but there is another detail that seems to be connected. The Radeon 740M iGPU has only 4 CU compared to the 8 of the Ryzen 3 8300G, meaning the older sibling has more CPU cores and a higher frequency but only one DDR5 RAM channel and a weaker iGPU. Given the prices, are these models really an interesting option for budget-conscious gamers? Reviews will deliver the verdict.
The post AMD Ryzen 5 8500G and Ryzen 3 8300G limited: 10 PCIe lanes and only one memory channel? first appeared on El Chapuzas Informático.
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