CPU performance
We already know that Intel's latest Kaby Lake architecture performs more work per clock cycle, though not by anywhere near as much as the previous lead over AMD's Bulldozer architecture.
The low-ish frequency for the Ryzen 3 1200 hurts here and even the 1300X struggles in a comparative sense. Intel's joint weapons of higher frequency and IPC pay nice dividends in this low-load test.
AMD's Ryzen is at its best when all available cores and threads are being taxed. A lack of SMT hurts, as expected, because otherwise performance would be similar to Ryzen 5 CPUs.
Still, AMD manages to keep two Intel Core i3 processors at bay, and the Ryzen 3 1300X beats out the more expensive Core i3-7350K easily.
wPrime expresses performance in a different way but comes to the same conclusion. You need an Intel Core i5 to beat out the Ryzen 3, and those chips cost fundamentally more.
SMT adds about 30 per cent more performance as we move from Ryzen 3 to Ryzen 5. Still, for sub-£130, AMD offers multi-core performance that is impossible to beat from an Intel standpoint.