Early Q3 of 2019 sees the release of the new Ryzen 5 3600X: a hex-core, 12-thread processor. AMD are releasing five new CPUs based on their latest Zen 2 microarchitecture which delivers approximately 13% better IPC than the previous 12nm Zen+. For workstation builds the 3600X is viable, however, the $200 USD Ryzen 5 3600 represents a far better value proposition. The additional $40 USD for the 3600X basically buys a better cooler (Spire vs Stealth). This allows for an extra 200 MHz of extra base and boost clock: 3.8 / 4.4 GHz on the 3600X vs 3.6 / 4.2 GHz on the 3600, this translates to approximately 2% higher overclocked performance for 20% more money. Neither of the stock coolers on the 3600 or 3600X are as effective as a $20 USD aftermarket cooler such as the Gammaxx 400. The 3600 with a Gammaxx 400 outperforms the 3600X with a Spire cooler and when both use a Gammaxx 400 they are more or less identical. The 3600X SKU is basically a marketing gimmick designed to milk unsuspecting consumers. Comparing the 3600X to Intel’s overclocked flagship i5-9600K shows that although the 3600X has 29% faster 64-core speed, it is around 11% worse for gaming (sub eight core performance). Additionally, the 3600X's memory controller, although significantly improved over previous Ryzen iterations, still has limited bandwidth and high latency which can also impact gaming. The arrival of Zen 2 marks the end of the "Sandy Bridge (i5-2500K)" era, Intel can no longer rely exclusively on their single-core advantage to dominate the market, they must also compete on price. [Jul '19CPUPro]
I loved this thing, so much nostalgia, any sort of cpu intensive game ran like crap and any modern game will. But god, after an overclock, it really tells you how far ryzen has come on their single core, aka no where. This thing is a cheap beast, going for like $45. Don’t ever really buy it though, just get like a FX-6300, 6 cores, 6 threads versus 1 core, 2 threads at $90 (+$45 more). If you’re truly set on a $50 CPU, buy a A8 6600K. Saw those floating for the same price as this but with quad core. Overall making this product obsolete, but still no where near the worst of old tech. Especially a 6 year old product that still arguably has a fight and a half left in it. I mean it is extremely unlikely you’ll find a use for it, but under the right circumstances, I.E a strictly single core game, after a pushy overclock and in theory you would get the same FPS as a modern ryzen, as in 2020 product.
P.S.
Over clock the absolute hell out of this thing for the real performance. [Jan '21ThatGuyRandomly]
We calculate effective speed which measures real world performance for typical users. Effective speed is adjusted by current prices to yield a value for money rating. Our calculated values are checked against thousands of individual user ratings. The customizable table below combines these factors to bring you the definitive list of top CPUs. [CPUPro]
Welcome to our PC speed test tool. UserBenchmark will test your PC and compare the results to other users with the same components. You can quickly size up your PC, identify hardware problems and explore the best value for money upgrades.