Newegg - AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6C/12T 4.2Ghz boost Zen2 AM4 CPU $95.99

[VirtualLarry]

Are you a human?

www.newegg.com

Lowest price yet?

Is this, or the 5500 for $98 the better value?

 

[VirtualLarry]

AMD Ryzen 5 5500 - Ryzen 5 5000 Series 6-Core Socket AM4 65W None Desktop Processor - 100-100000457BOX $98.98
+ $5 off w/ promo code SSCN2722, limited offer

 

[Brainonska511]

If you're buying a new budget system, the i3-12100/12100f is the better value proposition per GN's. They just had a video covering these budget chips. It also gives you PCIe4, and you may be able to upgrade to a better Raptor Lake cpu in the future.

The 5500 is okay, probably better than the 3600, but it is built on the older Cezanne architecture and not the Vermeer architecture like the 5600 and 5600X. And AM4 is a dead end at this point - not many upgrade pathways to open.

One other thing to keep in mind about the AMD budget chips: no PCIe 4.0 on the 5500 or 5600G; you need to get at least the 5600 for that.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1618023192672743424

 

[VirtualLarry]

One other thing to keep in mind about the AMD budget chips: no PCIe 4.0 on the 5500 or 5600G

But the chip in the OP, the Ryzen 5 3600, DOES have PCI-E 4.0 support. And the 12100F, good as it is, is still only a 4C/8T. It was seen as "amazing" that a "mere" 4C/8T could "equal" a 6C/12T Zen2 CPU. I wouldn't say that the 12100F has any strong advantage over the 3600.

 

[Brainonska511]

But the chip in the OP, the Ryzen 5 3600, DOES have PCI-E 4.0 support. And the 12100F, good as it is, is still only a 4C/8T. It was seen as "amazing" that a "mere" 4C/8T could "equal" a 6C/12T Zen2 CPU. I wouldn't say that the 12100F has any strong advantage over the 3600.

I was just looking at the benchmarks overall. Having the extra 2 cores is probably not going to do much for an everyday budget user, and with AM4 being a bit of a dead end, is that really the platform to build on?

 

[VirtualLarry]

It's not like LGA1700 isn't also a 'dead platform'. Bottom line is, the 12100/F is like $110, the 3600 and 5500 are like $95.

I want to see benchmarks while streaming, rather than HUB's hyper-optimized-for-a-single-game-app system. Surely those extra cores would come into usage then. But than again, you could spend $130 for the 12100 non-F, and use AV1 on the iGPU too, I suppose.

 

[Brainonska511]

$106 for a 12100f that is a better performer across multiple games seems like a win to me for the budget category. Granted, if you're trying to go for a strict budget, you have to draw the line somewhere.

The 5500 just seems like a bad buy without PCIe4 support: it's kind of setting you up for a gimped graphics situation if you opt for some of the budget to midtier AMD cards that have only 4 or 8 PCIe4 lanes.

 

[VirtualLarry]

The 5500 just seems like a bad buy without PCIe4 support

I agree with that.

I guess I just have a soft spot in my heart for the 3600.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

$106 for a 12100f that is a better performer across multiple games seems like a win to me for the budget category. Granted, if you're trying to go for a strict budget, you have to draw the line somewhere.

The 5500 just seems like a bad buy without PCIe4 support: it's kind of setting you up for a gimped graphics situation if you opt for some of the budget to midtier AMD cards that have only 4 or 8 PCIe4 lanes.

If you are seeing a gaming suite where the 12100 is better, it is because of the game selection. BTW, there are ones of games where even the fastest GPUs show more than margin of error differences between PCIe 3.0 and 4.0. It simply isn't worth fretting over. It's a marketing checkbox for a low budget build based on a $100 CPU. As to storage, for a budget gaming build, again, the real world difference is insignificant with the obvious edge case being the exception.

Also HUB has the 5500 and 12100 basically identical in the 12 game suite. There would be no way to tell which you are using in most games.



Both are dead platforms, and no one with a professional workflow is picking a $100 CPU. As to upgrading to game, the 5800X 3D and 13900K also provide almost identical gaming experiences. Again with the rare edge case as the exception for both. People obsess over benchmarks too much. The gaming experience is all that matters. You can't pick wrong going AM4 or 1700.

 

[VirtualLarry]

The gaming experience is all that matters. You can't pick wrong going AM4 or 1700.

Agreed.

 

[BoomerD]

If you are seeing a gaming suite where the 12100 is better, it is because of the game selection. BTW, there are ones of games where even the fastest GPUs show more than margin of error differences between PCIe 3.0 and 4.0. It simply isn't worth fretting over. It's a marketing checkbox for a low budget build based on a $100 CPU. As to storage, for a budget gaming build, again, the real world difference is insignificant with the obvious edge case being the exception.

Also HUB has the 5500 and 12100 basically identical in the 12 game suite. There would be no way to tell which you are using in most games.

View attachment 75460

Both are dead platforms, and no one with a professional workflow is picking a $100 CPU. As to upgrading to game, the 5800X 3D and 13900K also provide almost identical gaming experiences. Again with the rare edge case as the exception for both. People obsess over benchmarks too much. The gaming experience is all that matters. You can't pick wrong going AM4 or 1700.

I don't know squat about the AMD processors...and about as little about the low-end Intel processors...but it's just funny to me that they would pair low-end budget processors with an RTX 4090 GPU. Why would anyone who was so concerned about the budget that they'd buy a ~$100 CPU, spend around $1000 for a graphics card?

(I suppose there ARE people who would do it...but WHY?)

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I don't know squat about the AMD processors...and about as little about the low-end Intel processors...but it's just funny to me that they would pair low-end budget processors with an RTX 4090 GPU. Why would anyone who was so concerned about the budget that they'd buy a ~$100 CPU, spend around $1000 for a graphics card?

(I suppose there ARE people who would do it...but WHY?)

It is simply to remove the GPU bottleneck as much as possible. Allowing us to see the maximum potential of the CPUs being tested. They use the far more sensible 6650XT as well. Where you can see the GPU tightens up the small differences even more.

 

[BoomerD]

It is simply to remove the GPU bottleneck as much as possible. Allowing us to see the maximum potential of the CPUs being tested. They use the far more sensible 6650XT as well. Where you can see the GPU tightens up the small differences even more.

How dare you make sense?

I kind of figured it was something like that...but the pairing just struck me as funny.

 

[jiffer]

The 5500 and 3600 for less than $100 are both good deals. But if you're worried about saving $15, what about the motherboard? If you want PCI 4.0 support, you need a motherboard with a 500 series chipset. I haven't seen one of those for less than $100. But there are 400 series motherboards for under $85. In my own situation, the motherboard I own now (Asrock B450M Pro4) doesn't support the 5500 but it does support the 3600 and just about every other 5000 series chip. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the 5500 is a 5600G with the graphics disabled.

For what it's worth, the 3600 has twice the L3 cache. The processor benchmarks I've seen look pretty close to me.

But whatever. It's all a matter of perspective. I don't play games on my PC (I have a PS4, and that's all the gaming I have time for). I'm happy with the Ryzen 3 3100 I'm using (4C/8T, 7nm, 50W draw under full load). I was using an Ivy Bridge quad core before that. I upgraded so I could use an NVME SSD, not because the processor performance is so much better. I have a couple of extra motherboards I could use for a couple more builds, so I've been looking at processors for them. I have an old Ryzen 5 2500X (4C/8T) I could use, so I'd only be interested in a really good deal (e.g., 6 cores at a great price). I just haven't been able to bring myself to spend over $100 on a new motherboard.

If it's any help to anyone, Microcenter has been offering a CPU/motherboard bundle for $129.99 that includes a Ryzen 5 3600 and a Gigabyte B450M DS3H WiFi. They're sold out at my local store.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

3600 v. 5500, I scored all but one round 10-9 for the 5500. Because while the 3600 has 4.0 and more L3. The 5500 has superior memory support and overclocking, along with Zen 3 IPC.It includes a free game too. On my scored card that makes the 5500 the winner by decision.

Looks like they moved the 3600 listing? https://www.newegg.com/amd-ryzen-5-3600-ryzen-5-3rd-gen/p/274-000M-001V0?Item=274-000M-001V0

 

[jiffer]

3600 v. 5500, I scored all but one round 10-9 for the 5500. Because while the 3600 has 4.0 and more L3. The 5500 has superior memory support and overclocking, along with Zen 3 IPC.It includes a free game too. On my scored card that makes the 5500 the winner by decision.

But in the bigger picture, a 500 series motherboard is superior to a 400 series motherboard. If you're not willing to spend the extra money for a better motherboard, performance is not the number one concern.

If I were shopping for a new motherboard, onboard WiFi would offset some of the difference in cost (I wouldn't need to buy a separate WiFi adapter).

 

[VirtualLarry]

Looks like they moved the 3600 listing? https://www.newegg.com/amd-ryzen-5-3600-ryzen-5-3rd-gen/p/274-000M-001V0?Item=274-000M-001V0

That's actually a different 3600 SKU, check the product code string. But it is also on sale.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

That's actually a different 3600 SKU, check the product code string. But it is also on sale.

Cool, and good catch. Looks like the difference is this one comes with the Spire instead of the stealth.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Looks like the difference is this one comes with the Spire instead of the stealth.

That would be a welcome change.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

That would be a welcome change.

It was a shame they cheaped out and changed from the version with the copper plug, that my OG Ryzen 1600 came with. I didn't even bother upgrading cooling on it because it worked so well without undue noise.

 

[jiffer]

AMD Ryzen 5 3600 with Wraith Stealth Cooler, Gigabyte B450M DS3H WiFi, CPU / Motherboard Combo - $129.99
Micro Center, in store only. Now in stock.