- AMD has ‘relaunched’ three processors that use legacy cores to meet demand at the lower end of its mobile and desktop CPU offerings.
- The CPUs range from 2 to 8 cores and leverage their older Zen+ and Zen 2 core technology as the chip designer grapples with memory and storage shortages to serve an increasingly cash-strapped budget segment.
- All three processors are compatible with Microsoft Windows 11 and take advantage of cheaper DDR4 memory, as manufacturers aim to “hold the strength” in the face of growing demand for AI, creating challenges for entry-level PC buyers.
AMD’s latest Ryzen CPU offering may not be one that most of its performance-focused consumers would appreciate in 2026.
The company is looking to reintroduce three budget-focused mobile CPUs that were last seen more than half a decade ago, using legacy Zen+ and Zen 2 cores.
The move comes at a time when both builders and consumers are grappling with rising costs for chips, memory and storage, even as low-end options continue to become increasingly limited for price-conscious users.
A dual-core CPU in 2026?
AMD is reportedly reintroducing the Ryzen 3 3100U, Ryzen 5 3501U, and Ryzen 7 4700LE to consumer markets. The CPUs offer two-, four-, and eight-core options.
While the Zen 2-based Ryzen 7 4700LE desktop has a listed release date of March 25, 2026, the other two SKUs were released more recently, in June 2026, according to AMD’s own listings.
Both the Ryzen 3100U and 3501U use AMD’s legacy Zen+ architecture on a 12nm process node, making them less power efficient than the 7nm-based Ryzen 7 4700LE.
In a statement emailed to PC WorldAMD stated: “Ryzen 3100U and Ryzen 3501U are additional SKUs based on AMD’s existing Picasso architecture that were developed to support specific OEM requirements in the value segment. These processors are intended to address specific customer demand for lower-cost solutions and will be available in limited volumes through select OEMs.”
As OEM components are made directly available to laptop assemblers, AMD does not reveal pricing for these models, even as rival chipmaker Intel appears to be taking a similar route.
What might irritate some users in particular is not the fact that the 3100U and 3501U are rebranded CPUs that will still lag behind the more entry-level laptop CPUs available in recent years, but the fact that AMD might be thinking it’s acceptable to offer a 2-core, 4-thread CPU in 2026 as the basis for new entry-level laptops.
The Ryzen 3 3100U is drawing considerable ire, as Redditors are already making unfavorable comparisons to current-gen Athlon CPUs. While it offers the same iGPU (Vega 8), TDP (15W), and memory configuration (DDR4-2400), along with the same socket (FP5) as its quad-core sibling, it is noticeably weaker than most, if not all, recently released mobile CPUs.
As expected, it makes the cut for Windows 11 by offering support for fTPM, enabling secure boot, and simply staying ahead of the requirements set by Microsoft for its operating system (1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with 2 or more cores), even as most users will struggle to do anything but the bare minimum on a laptop with an essentially rebranded CPU from 2019.
AMD’s move, however, is based on the fact that rising prices for RAM, SSDs, and next-generation silicon create a gap that needs to be addressed for the foreseeable future, even as its target audience appears to be getting an increasingly short end of the stick as part of the solution.
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