sql - sinselect top n records (other than using orderBy and rownum) -

how select top 3 count from, say, table below. know can done using combination of order by , rownum, want display in such way that:
if id count number same, id same count shall display together

id          count ----------- -----------------            4 b            2 c            3 d            2 e            1 

i'm using sql plus

the easiest way dense_rank() analytic function:

select id, count (select t.*,              dense_rank() on (order count desc) seqnum       t      ) t seqnum <= 3