AMD Eyes Budget Market with Zen 5-Based Athlon/Ryzen 3 Processors

Last summer, AMD introduced the Ryzen 5 7500F processor, a 6-core, 12-thread offering equipped with Zen 4 architecture-based cores. The “F” suffix, mirroring Intel’s convention, signifies the absence of integrated graphics. We have previously reviewed this processor (click here for the review). It currently stands as AMD’s most affordable processor for the AM5 platform, with a market price hovering around the thousand yuan mark, firmly positioning it as a mainstream product.

According to Bits & Chips, with the impending release of the Zen 5 architecture-based Ryzen 9000 series processors, AMD may introduce one or two Athlon/Ryzen 3 processors, offering more budget-friendly options to enhance the AM5 platform’s product lineup.

To curtail costs, these entry-level processors may be fabricated using TSMC’s 7nm process (the current Ryzen 7000 series employs a 5nm process). AMD aspires to challenge Intel’s Celeron processors through this new initiative and capture a larger market share, an outcome that financial investment analysts would undoubtedly welcome.

Intel is set to unveil its next-generation Arrow Lake-S processors this year, transitioning to the LGA 1851 platform, which will soon face similar challenges. Rumors suggest that Arrow Lake-S will not feature a direct replacement for the Core i3, potentially introducing a Core Ultra 3 instead. However, this model would not belong to the Arrow Lake family, nor would it be based on the new architecture. Instead, it would likely be built upon an existing architecture, most probably the Raptor Lake Refresh. The final verdict awaits Intel’s official announcement of the complete next-generation Core lineup.

Nevertheless, with the emergence of information regarding Bartlett Lake-S, another possibility for Intel is to retain the LGA 1700 platform and continue its updates to address the low-end market.