Question what's up with Ryzen 5 3600 price? (did prices actually go UP over the past year??)

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

A little over a year ago, I was watching the price of a Ryzen 5 3600, and it only came down to about $170, and not the $150-$160 that I was looking for. I ended up paying $80 at Micro Center for a Ryzen 1600. That Ryzen 5 1600 gave about 70% of the performance of the Ryzen 3600 at less than half the price. I figured I would wait a year, then new processors would be out, and the price of the 3600 would surely be down to $150 or so, because folks would want the newer processors. Instead, I took at look at Micro Center, and I see the 3600 listed at $250. On Newegg, I see it listed for $230 and out of stock. What's up with that? Prices usually go down over time, when new cpu's are released. Not only that, but now I see prices for the 1600 that I bought going for about 60% higher than what I paid at Micro Center. Mind blown.

I also need to build a system for my parents, since theirs is having problems. I have the AM4 motherboard, 32GB of system memory, power supply, case, pretty much everything but the hard drive and the processor. Their old system is about 6-7 years old, based on a dual core A4-6320 processor. I was looking around for budget AMD AM4 processors in the $60-$70 range, but it appears that the word "budget" and AMD may not go hand in hand any longer!

 

[VirtualLarry]

You really haven't been following the market very well, have you? Covid, peak demand for PC parts, limited supply, yeah, prices went up. WAY up.

I advised you back then to buy a 3600 for $155-160, and you stuck to your guns and said "no more than $150". Well, good luck with that.

Edit: But good job getting a 1600 for $80, that's about as low as they've gone.

 

[Iron Woode]

The price here in Ontario, Canada hasn't changed much. It is usually found for $279 CDN but can vary when sales are on. I scored mine when the price hit $249 CDN in the spring.

It is OOS here at the moment.

Amazon lists it at $389.99 CDN. Must be nearly out of stock.

 

[blckgrffn]

New Ryzen CPUs use the same constrained manufacturing and supply chain as the old CPUs, whereas before the Zen and Zen+ CPUs were made on an old process at GloFo.

So when Zen 2 came out, foundry capacity for AMD CPUs across all active product lines went up. Maybe way up.

When Zen 3 and Xbox and PS5 and RDNA2 (and all those sweet, high margin server SKUs) came out, the amount of space and supply chain support for active retail AMD CPUs has likely gone down. In a period of record retail demand.

It’s not good for us.

Ive bought & recommended a record number of Intel CPUs over the last three or so months, I never saw it coming! 😂

Bought AMD way late at $80, not sad about that or future though

Remember 2600s at $99! Those were the good old days! I bet AMD could moving stacks of Zen+ right now if they were still around.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,

Just be happy if you can even buy a 3000 series or 5000 series Ryzen at all. The stock is just gone. And the prices are scalping murder, so buying them just supports that habit, so don't buy above MSRP. Be patient.

It'll be a while, but they'll come back after the scalping surge dies down and stock gets replenished fast enough to discourage the practice.

When the 5000 series went out in a blink of an eye, everyone started turning back to 3000 series, and then that stock goes out and demand goes up, so now the 3000 series are showing up for sale way higher price than normal. Just avoid buying right now unless its MSRP or less.

I'm waiting this market crap out with a $50 Athlon 3000G. That I have to wait over 3 weeks just to get, for the same reason.

Very best,

 

[PingSpike]

The real question is why isn't AMD dumping tons of 12nm stuff. I get the TSMC 7nm is overloaded but I doubt global foundries is.

 

[blckgrffn]

The real question is why isn't AMD dumping tons of 12nm stuff. I get the TSMC 7nm is overloaded but I doubt global foundries is.

If 14nm Intel is good enough, I imagine a 2600 @$130 would allow for die harvesting and basically move by the truckload.

Is the issue spotty support by AMD 5xx chipsets (huge missed opportunity if so)?

I think there is also the Halo effect going on. People waited for Ryzen 3, it was awesome. Went to the store TO BUY PARTS DURING A PANDEMIC and there was no Ryzen 3 to buy, so you take a 3600 home to wait it out.

My 3600 was literally this in March when I FOMO'd and YOLO'd out and moved up my refresh because I decided there was no way I was doing a full lockdown with only my old PC to keep me company. You know, besides my wife and kids.

Turns out the lock down wasn't that bad for me and mine, but zero regrets.

 

[PingSpike]

If 14nm Intel is good enough, I imagine a 2600 @$130 would allow for die harvesting and basically move by the truckload.

Is the issue spotty support by AMD 5xx chipsets (huge missed opportunity if so)?

I think there is also the Halo effect going on. People waited for Ryzen 3, it was awesome. Went to the store TO BUY PARTS DURING A PANDEMIC and there was no Ryzen 3 to buy, so you take a 3600 home to wait it out.

My 3600 was literally this in March when I FOMO'd and YOLO'd out and moved up my refresh because I decided there was no way I was doing a full lockdown with only my old PC to keep me company. You know, besides my wife and kids.

Turns out the lock down wasn't that bad for me and mine, but zero regrets.

Good point on the x500 chipsets, it leaves them in a dumb spot since they dropped support. I believe the x570 supports zen+ out of the box but you're right that the new b550 doesn't support anything before zen2 IIRC. Although I think the older stuff technically works but isn't supported.

 

[MalVeauX]

This is true.

I literally was going to buy a B550 for my new build, but because of all this market crap, I went to the X570 to have wider CPU support since I cannot get a 3000/5000 series CPU at all right now (at least without over paying which is not happening), just so I could use an APU to get by waiting the next few months for a 5000 series CPU; since B550 won't even use an APU right now. Boo.

Very best,

 

[blckgrffn]

This is true.

I literally was going to buy a B550 for my new build, but because of all this market crap, I went to the X570 to have wider CPU support since I cannot get a 3000/5000 series CPU at all right now (at least without over paying which is not happening), just so I could use an APU to get by waiting the next few months for a 5000 series CPU; since B550 won't even use an APU right now. Boo.

Very best,

SMH. Mandate larger EUFI memory on board or something, right? This is socket nonsense we certainly don't expect from AMD.

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

You really haven't been following the market very well, have you? Covid, peak demand for PC parts, limited supply, yeah, prices went up. WAY up.
I advised you back then to buy a 3600 for $155-160, and you stuck to your guns and said "no more than $150". Well, good luck with that.
Edit: But good job getting a 1600 for $80, that's about as low as they've gone.

That's true, I suppose I should have grabbed one for $165-$170. Really, now I'm wishing I had bought a second $80 1600 for building another system!
I only pay attention when I go to Micro Center and browse (maybe once a year), or if I'm building a system. (average of once every year or two) While I've seen system memory jump up and down a lot, I hadn't seen processor prices go up after release like that before. Previously, the fact that folks were always wanting faster and better processors always relegated cpu's to lower prices whenever the new ones came out, at least in a year or two.

It will be interesting to see what happens to prices when folks get their coronavirus vaccines, get back out and doing all sorts of other activities, and are less focused on their PC's. If this caused prices to jump a lot, maybe they'll really come down for older processors next year.

For now, I think I'm probably looking for a deal on something like an Athlon 3000g, with 2 cores, 4 threads. It seems strange that it is available from Newegg for $103, but only from a third party seller in Ireland, and will take 5 to 30 days to get here. Amazon has it for $49 with free shipping, but it won't arrive for over 3 weeks.

 

[chrisjames61]

A little over a year ago, I was watching the price of a Ryzen 5 3600, and it only came down to about $170, and not the $150-$160 that I was looking for. I ended up paying $80 at Micro Center for a Ryzen 1600. That Ryzen 5 1600 gave about 70% of the performance of the Ryzen 3600 at less than half the price. I figured I would wait a year, then new processors would be out, and the price of the 3600 would surely be down to $150 or so, because folks would want the newer processors. Instead, I took at look at Micro Center, and I see the 3600 listed at $250. On Newegg, I see it listed for $230 and out of stock. What's up with that? Prices usually go down over time, when new cpu's are released. Not only that, but now I see prices for the 1600 that I bought going for about 60% higher than what I paid at Micro Center. Mind blown.

I also need to build a system for my parents, since theirs is having problems. I have the AM4 motherboard, 32GB of system memory, power supply, case, pretty much everything but the hard drive and the processor. Their old system is about 6-7 years old, based on a dual core A4-6320 processor. I was looking around for budget AMD AM4 processors in the $60-$70 range, but it appears that the word "budget" and AMD may not go hand in hand any longer!

There is this little thing called "Covid-19" and prices have shot up for just about everything due to scarcity and shortages. It started last March.

 

[moinmoin]

For now, I think I'm probably looking for a deal on something like an Athlon 3000g, with 2 cores, 4 threads. It seems strange that it is available from Newegg for $103, but only from a third party seller in Ireland, and will take 5 to 30 days to get here. Amazon has it for $49 with free shipping, but it won't arrive for over 3 weeks.

3000G is also OOS, haven't seen it in any meaningful quantity in months in Germany either. Since GloFo shouldn't be a bottleneck (3000G is the Dali die on GloFo's 14nm) I can only guess AMD planned with much lower demand for these this holiday season...

 

[MalVeauX]

For now, I think I'm probably looking for a deal on something like an Athlon 3000g, with 2 cores, 4 threads. It seems strange that it is available from Newegg for $103, but only from a third party seller in Ireland, and will take 5 to 30 days to get here. Amazon has it for $49 with free shipping, but it won't arrive for over 3 weeks.

This is what I did. The Athlon 3000G for $50. You'll wait for it, but at least it's the appropriate price and new. Everything is all over the place for cost. It's slow to get since a lot of people are doing this to at least get their new boards to post, check their RAM, etc, waiting for a 5000 series CPU. The 3000G won't go to waste either, its actually a fantastic CPU for $50.

Very best,

 

[GoodEnough]

Who really needs a new CPU? Your current one is probably already more than good enough.

 

[MalVeauX]

Who really needs a new CPU? Your current one is probably already more than good enough.

I do.

Though I understand your point, does anyone need a computer in reality at all? No.

I'm not playing games on mine. I do work on mine. And my poor old FX8350 (4ghz octa) is so long in the tooth and on a poor architecture and it shows hard. One of the routines I run on a 20Gb piece of data takes approximately 19 minutes on this FX8350. Yet when I tested the same routine and same data on an AM4 platform with an Athlon 3000G $50 APU, it finished the same work in 15 minutes. 4 minutes saved, with a bottom of the barrel CPU. This equates to many hours of time saved on my end of things. And time is money. So, I feel I do need a new CPU at this point, as it's costing me about 3 hours per day. I've kept the attitude of it being "good enough" for years. 8 years actually. But now it is really showing hard in the form of significant loss of time.

Very best,

 

[scannall]

I do.

Though I understand your point, does anyone need a computer in reality at all? No.

I'm not playing games on mine. I do work on mine. And my poor old FX8350 (4ghz octa) is so long in the tooth and on a poor architecture and it shows hard. One of the routines I run on a 20Gb piece of data takes approximately 19 minutes on this FX8350. Yet when I tested the same routine and same data on an AM4 platform with an Athlon 3000G $50 APU, it finished the same work in 15 minutes. 4 minutes saved, with a bottom of the barrel CPU. This equates to many hours of time saved on my end of things. And time is money. So, I feel I do need a new CPU at this point, as it's costing me about 3 hours per day. I've kept the attitude of it being "good enough" for years. 8 years actually. But now it is really showing hard in the form of significant loss of time.

Very best,

I guess we all need a little patience, me included. Just reading the other day that the ports a LA and Long Beach are very backed up, with a whole bunch of container ships waiting to dock and unload. I'm betting there are a bunch of parts 'At sea' right now.

 

[masonjones26]

Price history for AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6GHz Socket AM4 Box - PriceSpy UK
according to the forecast on this page, it is expected to become more expensive ... The price history of the various countries indeed shows that the price fluctuate and now is rising

 

[richierich1212]

Amazon tends to be very conservative with their delivery times. If you order a product from them with a 3 week delivery time you’ll most likely get it within 7-10 days.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Though I understand your point, does anyone need a computer in reality at all? No.

This'll depend on where in the world you are. In my country (Denmark) you will need a computer in some form. For the simple reason you'll not be able to access any public, and many private, services at all. For public services, this is government mandated, so there is no getting out of it.

I'm not playing games on mine. I do work on mine. And my poor old FX8350 (4ghz octa) is so long in the tooth and on a poor architecture and it shows hard. One of the routines I run on a 20Gb piece of data takes approximately 19 minutes on this FX8350. Yet when I tested the same routine and same data on an AM4 platform with an Athlon 3000G $50 APU, it finished the same work in 15 minutes. 4 minutes saved, with a bottom of the barrel CPU. This equates to many hours of time saved on my end of things. And time is money. So, I feel I do need a new CPU at this point, as it's costing me about 3 hours per day. I've kept the attitude of it being "good enough" for years. 8 years actually. But now it is really showing hard in the form of significant loss of time.

The Zen Athlons are deceptively powerful. Remember, not too many years ago a 3.5GHz dual core would have been considered upper mid-range. The 35W TDP is just a bonus.

 

[MalVeauX]

This'll depend on where in the world you are. In my country (Denmark) you will need a computer in some form. For the simple reason you'll not be able to access any public, and many private, services at all. For public services, this is government mandated, so there is no getting out of it.

The Zen Athlons are deceptively powerful. Remember, not too many years ago a 3.5GHz dual core would have been considered upper mid-range. The 35W TDP is just a bonus.

Yup, so far, especially with old gear (8~12 years old) it's amazing what today's low end stuff is doing.

Very best,

 

[GoodEnough]

The FX8350 is still a very good CPU. Benchmark of 5900. Not a gaming CPU, but still compares to basic modern laptop..

3000g is worse and had a lower benchmark score. Weird.

But I agree that if I was doing rendering on a daily basis, I would have upgraded long ago.

What are you considering? I am thinking of going from 2600 to 3700x. 13000 to 23000 jump in benchmark.

 

[MalVeauX]

The FX8350 is still a very good CPU. Benchmark of 5900. Not a gaming CPU, but still compares to basic modern laptop..

3000g is worse and had a lower benchmark score. Weird.

But I agree that if I was doing rendering on a daily basis, I would have upgraded long ago.

What are you considering? I am thinking of going from 2600 to 3700x. 13000 to 23000 homo in benchmark.

For the work I do with a CPU, I'm just holding out for the 5900X. I was going to get a 3900X but the price difference is minimal and I'd rather just go ahead and get the better, but not quite top shelf cost option. I don't upgrade frequently. As mentioned before, my FX8350 works but when I compare 19 minutes to 15 minutes doing the same job, my FX8350 vs my Athlon 3000G it's crazy that this $50 CPU beats up my 4Ghz octa like its a joke. I'm not worried about synthetic benchmarks or game benchmarks, just the actual software I use and routines I do, and so my own benchmarks show I need a major overhaul and I've collaborated with other that use the same software and mapped out things. And a Ryzen 6c/12t CPU got this same routine down to 6 minutes. So for me to get into a 12c/24t 5900X, I'm guessing I can get into the 4 minute range, from 19 minutes. Then that will save me easily 3 hours a day just in that one routine. So for me, this is a big deal. Time is everything. Time is non-renewable.

Very best,

 

[GoodEnough]

Ya, I'm shocked your stuck it out this long, you cheapskate! I just replaced a 2009 win7 desktop last year after it started crashing blue screen. So glad I did. Beast PC.

I'd love to hear your new batch time on the new hardware. I agree to get the best of your waiting every day, even for a few minutes.

 

[MalVeauX]

Ya, I'm shocked your stuck it out this long, you cheapskate! I just replaced a 2009 win7 desktop last year after it started crashing blue screen. So glad I did. Beast PC.

I'd love to hear your new batch time on the new hardware. I agree to get the best of your waiting every day, even for a few minutes.

I kept talking myself out of it, because there just wasn't a big enough leap to care about spending the money, since as you said, I had a working system. Then that easily becomes long term attitude and then I wake up 8 years later and it wasn't until I had an Athlon 3000G in a separate system that I tested it just because I had it and it hit me like a ton of bricks and I instantly was depressed using my comfortable well known workstation. Once I get my 5900x I'll do thorough testing since it's not common software for benchmarks, but I know there are other people out there that are interested in how these things can help in terms of their productivity.

I was just about to go 3900x, for the same reason, then the market was so bad, so I figured I'd do 3700x and then jumped all around the past few months trying to figure out what I was willing to buy into. Now that everything just turned up side down, I'm going to sit on this market with a cheap $50 APU and will go no lower than a 5900x at this point after waiting this long.

I really should upgrade every 4 years probably. I look back and probably lost days of time.

Very best,