AMD is returning to budget CPUs with $99-and-up Ryzen 4000 and 5000 chips

Enlarge (credit: AMD)

When AMD introduced its first Ryzen 5000-series chips and the Zen 3 architecture in late 2020, the lineup notably did not include any new CPUs below $300. If you wanted cheaper chips, your best bet was to go with previous-generation chips like the Ryzen 3600, 3300X, and 3100. But those processors have been difficult to impossible to find for months, and renewed competition from sub-$200 12th-generation Intel CPUs like the Core i3-12100 and Core i5-12400 have made them a lot less appealing.

That's changing soon. AMD is releasing a slew of processors priced between $99 and $299 that should be suitable for new budget builds or upgrades to existing PCs. The Ryzen 5000-series chips are all based on AMD's aging-but-still-current Zen 3 architecture, while the cheapest chips re-use the 2019-era Zen 2 architecture to keep prices low.

AMD says that all of these chips will be available on April 4, a couple of weeks before the high-end Ryzen 7 5800X3D. All Ryzen 3 and Ryzen 5 models come with AMD's Wraith Stealth cooler, while you'll need to buy one for the Ryzen 7 CPU.