15 specifications

AMD Ryzen 3 1200 vs AMD Ryzen 5 1400

On the specifications we can verify, the AMD Ryzen 3 1200 and the AMD Ryzen 5 1400 are closely matched. Which one is faster on your desk depends on cooling and sustained behaviour rather than on anything printed here.

10 specifications · 2 with a higher side

Full specifications

AMD Ryzen 3 1200

AMD · Ryzen 1000 · Desktop

Full specifications

AMD Ryzen 5 1400

AMD · Ryzen 1000 · Desktop

Cores and clocks

Cores

Threads

Base clock

3.1 GHz

3.2 GHz

Boost clock

3.4 GHz

Cache and power

L3 cache

8 MB

TDP

65 W

Platform

Socket

AM4

Process

14 nm

Integrated graphics

Not verified

Launched

2017-07-27

2017-04-11

A check marks the higher figure only on rows where higher is unambiguously better. Rows without one are not ties; they are specifications where “better” has no meaning.

Reading the table

What the difference means.

The same generation

Both are Ryzen 1000 parts, so their figures can be read against each other directly: the same kind of core, the same memory support, the same platform. The differences in the table are the whole difference.

Cores and threads

The Ryzen 5 1400 has 4 cores and 8 threads against 4 and 4. More threads help with work that can be split into many pieces at once: rendering, compiling, video export, running several heavy programs together. They do little for work that runs on a few threads, which includes most games and most everyday software, where the speed of one core decides the result.

Power and cooling

Both are rated at 65 W, so they ask the same of a cooler and a power supply. The rating is the heat to be moved for the chip to hold its speed; both draw above it in short bursts, and either one slows down rather than fails when the cooling falls short.

Platform

Both use the AM4 socket and DDR4 memory, so one can replace the other on the same motherboard. Check the board maker's support list first: an older board often needs a firmware update before it recognises a newer chip.

Which to pick, on paper

Rendering, compiling, video export: Ryzen 5 1400; 8 threads against 4. Work that uses every thread scales with how many there are.
Upgrading without a new motherboard: Either; Same AM4 socket. Update the board's firmware before swapping.

What no table says

How much of its speed a processor keeps after the first minute depends on the cooling and the power limit of the machine it is in. If you own one of these, measure it: the test is free and runs in this browser.

Free CPU stress test

Questions

Is the Ryzen 3 1200 better than the Ryzen 5 1400?: By need, on the specifications: rendering, compiling, video export: the Ryzen 5 1400; upgrading without a new motherboard: either. No specification says how much speed either one keeps under a long load; that depends on the cooling and the power limit of the machine it is in, and it is what a sustained test measures.
Do the Ryzen 3 1200 and the Ryzen 5 1400 use the same socket?: Yes, both use AM4, so either fits the other's motherboard. Check the board's support list and update its firmware first.

More comparisons

Every figure on this table is a design target. None of it is a measurement.

Nothing above describes how a processor behaves twenty minutes into a sustained workload, which is where two chips with nearly identical specifications routinely diverge. A boost clock is a ceiling the vendor permits, not a rate the chip sustains, and whether it holds depends on the cooling, the case, the power profile and the room. None of those appear on a specification sheet.

We deliberately do not reduce these figures to a single score. A composite invented from specifications would look authoritative and measure nothing, and choosing the weights would be choosing the winner.

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