When I examined AMD’s Ryzen 5 3600X CPU simply over per week in the past, I mentioned it was an amazing various to our best gaming CPU mid-range champ, the Intel Core i5-9600K. Well, scratch that advice, as a result of its common, non-X sibling, the Ryzen 5 3600, is even higher worth for cash than its £240 / $250 massive brother – and virtually actually the CPU to purchase if you happen to’re seeking to hold prices all the way down to as close to to £200 / $200 as you probably can. Here’s wot I feel.
Built utilizing the identical Zen 2 structure and 7nm manufacturing course of as the remainder of AMD’s Ryzen 3000 household, the Ryzen 5 3600 is successfully a barely slower, however extra power environment friendly model of its X-rated sibling, the Ryzen 5 3600X. It’s nonetheless bought six cores and twelve threads underneath its hood, for instance, however whereas the 3600X had a base clock pace of three.8GHz, which was in a position to rise to 4.4GHz, the common 3600 begins at 3.6GHz and maxes out at 4.2GHz.
That’s nonetheless fairly quick within the grand scheme of issues, although (even Intel’s Core i5-9600Ok’s base pace is just a fraction faster at 3.7GHz, for instance), and it additionally has the added bonus of solely requiring 65W of energy, versus the 95W you’ll want for the 3600X and 9600Ok.
It’s cheaper, too, with costs sitting at £200 / $200 at time of writing, and it comes bundled with the identical respectable AMD Wraith Spire cooler because the £220 / $250 Ryzen 5 3600X. The Core i5-9600Ok, in the meantime, is at the moment nestled in the midst of these two processors, with costs beginning at £210 / $245. However, you’ll nonetheless have to pay additional for a cooler with Intel, because it sadly doesn’t include one within the field.
Is it actually price skimping the additional £20 / $50 and getting the Ryzen 5 3600 as an alternative of the 3600X, although? Well, if you happen to solely use your PC for gaming versus extra superior duties like photograph and video enhancing, then the reply is nearly actually a convincing ‘yes’. I ought to be aware, in fact, that (as I’ve talked about in earlier gaming CPU opinions), getting a really correct image of what your CPU’s doing whereas enjoying games continues to be a fairly tough job.
There are a number of different elements that may have an effect on your PC’s gaming efficiency, for instance, corresponding to your graphics card, the kind of RAM you’ve bought, and even what kind of storage you’ve put in the game on, and there’s additionally the extra drawback that numerous PC gaming benchmarks simply don’t take a look at your CPU correctly.
Fortunately, a handful of gaming benchmarks have gotten quite a bit higher at this not too long ago, with the likes of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Forza Horizon 4, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and extra all offering an in-depth take a look at your CPU’s efficiency in addition to what your graphics card’s doing. As a consequence, I’ve carried out the perfect I can with the tools obtainable to me, however it’s possible you’ll wish to learn round a bit extra to get a greater image of issues. I’ve additionally solely targeted primarily on gaming efficiency on this evaluation than I’ve on, say, software efficiency or media creation fine details as a result of, nicely, I’m not likely inquisitive about that. I’ve included some cursory Cinebench R20 outcomes beneath to present us a tough concept of how every CPU stacks up for single and multicore desktop duties, however actually, my major objective right here is to work out what CPU is the perfect for gaming and gaming alone.
With that in thoughts, then, let’s check out some beautiful graphs – and as you may see, the Ryzen 5 3600 is just about up there with its X-rated sibling throughout every of my 4 take a look at games at 1920×1080. It was a few frames slower in Total War: Warhammer II and Forza Horizon 4, admittedly, however actually, we’re speaking such a small distinction right here that I doubt you’d be capable to discover it in-game with out the help of a body price counter.
Of course, it’s tough to say whether or not you’ll see precisely the identical type of efficiency hole on a extra mid-range-level graphics card – the sort you’re extra prone to be pairing with a CPU like this, corresponding to our best graphics card suggestions, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 or AMD’s Radeon RX 5700, for instance – however on the entire I reckon it nonetheless places in a fairly good exhibiting in opposition to Intel’s mild purple Core i5-9600Ok outcomes.
What’s extra, if you begin bumping the decision as much as 2560×1440, any efficiency hole you had at 1080p is just about eradicated, placing just about each mid-range gaming CPU you should purchase immediately on a stage enjoying area. It’s additionally price stating that each the Ryzen 5 3600 and 3600X completely trounce AMD’s 2nd Gen Ryzen 7 2700 / 2700X CPUs no matter whether or not you’re enjoying at 1080p or 1440p in immediately’s games, so don’t be tempted to select them up on a budget over these two processors simply because they’ve bought a seven of their identify as an alternative of a 5.
The Ryzen 5 3600 additionally performs nicely as a normal desktop CPU as nicely. As I discussed above, I’m not fairly as bothered about how nicely a processor does in area of interest and costly artistic purposes and the like, as that’s not what I take advantage of my PC for. Nevertheless, I used to be significantly impressed with the 3600’s single core rating in Cinebench, as this got here in 5% quicker than the inventory, out of the field consequence I recorded for Intel’s Core i5-9600Ok.
The 9600Ok regained its floor after I began overclocking it, admittedly (I didn’t overclock the Ryzen as I’d lose all of its intelligent Sense MI gubbins in addition to its Precision Boost 2 and XFR, or Extended Frequency Range tech), however contemplating AMD’s usually trailed behind on this space up to now, it was nice to see it going toe-to-toe with Intel’s chips proper from the get go.
And, in fact, it completely rinsed Intel on the outdated multicore efficiency entrance – as you’d in all probability count on given a) AMD’s at all times carried out nicely on this space, and b) it has double the variety of threads because the 9600Ok. In truth, it’s just about neck and neck with AMD’s eight-core / sixteen-thread Ryzen 7 2700 right here, which is fairly good going contemplating it’s nonetheless a mid-range CPU.
Overall, then, the Ryzen 5 3600 is unbelievable worth for cash, particularly if you happen to’re shopping for within the US the place costs for the 3600X and Core i5-9600Ok are nonetheless a superb $50 costlier (to not point out the additional expense you’ll have to think about for a cooler if you happen to go down the Core i5 route). While not fairly as quick on the outdated gaming entrance as both of its major rivals total, it’s solely a hair’s breadth behind in numerous circumstances, which in my eyes is greater than a suitable shortfall given its decrease value.
In the UK, although, you would possibly as nicely spend the additional £20 and get the 3600X if you happen to’re shopping for one proper now – though if costs begin creeping again up in the direction of its unique worth of £240, I’d undoubtedly advocate dumping the X off and sticking with the common 3600 as an alternative.
As a consequence, whereas the Intel Core i5-9600Ok continues to be in all probability absolutely the bestest best gaming CPU for mid-range PC builders proper now, the Ryzen 5 3600 is my new ‘best gaming CPU you should actually buy’ advice for individuals who’d relatively save themselves a bit of money and favour ease of use over the quickest potential gaming speeds.
