Today, AMD started shipping its very cheap Athlon 3000G desktop processor, which counts as the first Zen-based Athlon chip to be offered with an unlocked multiplier for easy overclocking.

As Guru3D reports, AMD is offering a 14nm "Raven Ridge" processor with a base clock running at 3.5GHz, dual-core, four thread performance, integrated Radeon Vega 3 Graphics (192 stream processors), and a 35W TDP for just $49. Comparisons with the $60 Pentium G5400 carried out by AMD suggest a doubling of framerates in games such as Fortnite and CS:GO, and up to a 25 percent performance advantage for more general desktop processing tasks. Your mileage, will of course, vary.

The big draw of the Athlon 3000G apart from its low price is the potential for overclocking. AMD is shipping the processor with an unlocked multiplier and rates its maximum operating temperature at 95 degrees Celsius. That's sure to encourage more than a few overclockers to pick up the chip and push it as hard as they can using air and water cooling. According to Techpowerup, the 3000G ships with cooler capable of handling 65W thermal loads, meaning there's headroom out-the-box to experiment with overclocks.

The good news is, if you already use an AM4 motherboard, the 3000G is compatible making for an easy upgrade. The one exception to that is X570 motherboards, which AMD said is up to individual manufacturers. However, pair it with an AM4 mini-ITX motherboard and you've got the potential for a very cheap and tiny gaming rig that's easy to carry around, or to hide behind a TV for use as a Steam Machine.

Even without the overclocking potential, at $49 with a GPU included, this is incredible value for money for anyone wishing to build an entry-level desktop PC.

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