Ryzen 5 3600 vs. Ryzen 5 5600: Upgrade or Not?

[Steve]

It's clear that anyone running a first-gen Ryzen CPU should look into upgrading to an affordable Zen 3. But how about Zen 2 owners, like the Ryzen 5 3600? Then it's less obvious what you should do.

Read the full article here.

https://www.techspot.com/review/2482-ryzen-5600-vs-ryzen-3600/

 

[Nobina]

I was forced to buy a new CPU when my R5 3600 died so I ended up buying an R5 5600X at a price I would never pay otherwise. The overall performance difference wasn't anything noticeable for me but I'm very GPU limited when it comes to games. Not sure if I would recommend anyone make that switch.

 

[grvalderrama]

I'm so happy that I switched my 1600 for a 3600 about two years ago, since it was a much better upgrade than upgrading the 3600 to a 5600. It's a very capable cpu and won't upgrade it in a few years since it's more than plenty for my daily use and gaming.

 

[takaozo]

Just upgraded to 5600x and it's smashing baby. just one single issue with this CPU......the heat.
The embeded cooler it's a bad joke.

Also the fact that the CPU chip no longer in center I guess.
What air coolers do you use to keep this beast on the leash? I really hate waterpumps vibrations and noise induced in case.

 

[wiyosaya]

One of my PCs is a Phenom II X4. Yeah, Yeah, I know its dated. I'm waiting for AM5.

 

[envirovore]

Just upgraded to 5600x and it's smashing baby. just one single issue with this CPU......the heat.
The embeded cooler it's a bad joke.

Also the fact that the CPU chip no longer in center I guess.
What air coolers do you use to keep this beast on the leash? I really hate waterpumps vibrations and noise induced in case.

Get a Fuma 2. Thank me later.
Needs 155mm clearance to close the case though.

 

[takaozo]

Get a Fuma 2. Thank me later.
Needs 155mm clearance to close the case though.

No stock in my zone for this hefty boy.
I got a 240mm wide full tower case, I worry more about motherboard cleareance.

 

[itgerald]

Good review. I have now decided rather than upgrading my Ryzen 3600 cpu to a newer Zen, I will rather save and go for a complete new build. Rocket lake or Ryzen 7000 series (Hopefully a Ryzen because of the motherboard-CPU longevity support)

 

[AIC1Drew]

No stock in my zone for this hefty boy.
I got a 240mm wide full tower case, I worry more about motherboard cleareance.

Noctua NH-D15 chromax.Black or be quiet! 250W TDP Dark Rock Pro 4 are beasts as well.

 

[fluffydroid]

3600 is still fine unless you are running a high refresh rate monitor. Also, cheap tower coolers are an excellent replacement to the stock cooler on this CPU.

 

[MarcusNumb]

I'm using a 3600x with a 3070ti, I was very tempted to upgrade to a 5600x but in the end, I'm staying with my 3600x and waiting for AM5. If you have no intention to go for AM5, 5700x would be a better option to upgrade.

 

[Vulcanproject]

I built a few machines for some people back in late 2018, early 2019 before the madness began. Most of them with Ryzen 5 2600 and RX 570 8GB combos and 16GB RAM. Cheap Gammaxx 400 tower cooler. I made sure to go with a decent board. At that time they were a really good sweet spot for budget gaming.

A few of them have come back just this past month now the GPU market is cooling and thinking about upgrades. I am really pleased with the potential AMD's platform has for them after more than three years of gaming goodness.

I think I'll drop a 5600X in and a 3060Ti or similar for many of them. Should easy last another 3 years before a platform change might be desired. Worked out pretty well.

 

[cuerdc]

Have the 3600x works fine was thinking of getting a 5950x or 3800x3d just as a last upgrade on am4 then putting 3600x into a spare x470 board to build 1st mining rig so much for that...

 

[Tantor]

Another great article from Steve Walton! I keep coming back because TechSpot is the only place that does these interesting, in-between articles.

My daughter's computer has an AMD 2400g and BioStar x370 mini-itx board. When I upgrade my computer to Zen 4, I'll probably give her my Ryzen 5800x, which should drop right into the Biostar board. Now that GPU prices are dropping, I may complement it with a good late model GPU.

It's super nice to not have to get a new motherboard. Maybe we can get another 5 years out of the little computer.

AMD gives you tremendous long term value.

 

[Roboyt0]

Just upgraded to 5600x and it's smashing baby. just one single issue with this CPU......the heat.
The embeded cooler it's a bad joke.

Also the fact that the CPU chip no longer in center I guess.
What air coolers do you use to keep this beast on the leash? I really hate waterpumps vibrations and noise induced in case.

Arctic Freezer 34 eSports Duo. This cooler is slept on a lot, but has fantastic performance for the fraction of many of the other big air coolers.

Still doing well cooling my buddy's 3950X that he regularly loads heavily doing video editing work. I'd strongly suggest checking it out. Cooling the 5600X should be a breeze for this heatsink.

 

[Gravitytr1]

Great article, along with the prior one I read about 3070 laptop vs desktop. Made me create an account.

 

[takaozo]

Arctic Freezer 34 eSports Duo. This cooler is slept on a lot, but has fantastic performance for the fraction of many of the other big air coolers.

It's the same cooler I was looking at right now.
Thanks !

 

[ZedRM]

I was forced to buy a new CPU when my R5 3600 died so I ended up buying an R5 5600X at a price I would never pay otherwise. The overall performance difference wasn't anything noticeable for me but I'm very GPU limited when it comes to games. Not sure if I would recommend anyone make that switch.

While that's true for you, it would not be true for everyone. Those people who are not GPU limited would see a very good performance boost, depending on the game and resolution.

 

[Nobina]

While that's true for you, it would not be true for everyone. Those people who are not GPU limited would see a very good performance boost, depending on the game and resolution.

Resolution is likely 1440p in which case CPU matters less, at 1080p who cares wether you'll get 300 or 500 FPS in some esports title. Ofcourse, we all have different needs but for most people I think this applies.

If you're upgrading to next gen at least move up one tier, so from Ryzen 5 3600 go to Ryzen 7 5800X. It's gonna be a noticable difference in most cases.

 

[dihartnell]

I'm using a 3600x with a 3070ti, I was very tempted to upgrade to a 5600x but in the end, I'm staying with my 3600x and waiting for AM5. If you have no intention to go for AM5, 5700x would be a better option to upgrade.

I have a 3700x and the 5700x was what I was thinking off. In truth I don't need it. My monitor (3440x1440 60hz) is my limiting factor. I have hit that crossroads where its not the platform, cpu and ram that's holding me back. Its the monitor and if I change the monitor then I may also need to change cpu and gpu to enable it to live to its potential and that all negates the potential of a cheap cpu upgrade.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

If you don't just game, 5600 is much better for real workloads.

 

[Lionvibez]

I was forced to buy a new CPU when my R5 3600 died so I ended up buying an R5 5600X at a price I would never pay otherwise. The overall performance difference wasn't anything noticeable for me but I'm very GPU limited when it comes to games. Not sure if I would recommend anyone make that switch.

I did 3800X to 5800X with a RX580 GPU at the time and it was noticeable.

 

[takaozo]

After many hours of research I ended with a ID-Cooling SE-224-XT, this is a dirt cheap 4 pipes tower cooler, ~20 Euro.
Now the idle temp from 50 to 30 Celsius and load from 95 to 70, compared to boxed thing.
Even the core boost to 4650MHz now possible, not 4200MHz.

 

[AlaskaGuy]

Just upgraded to 5600x and it's smashing baby. just one single issue with this CPU......the heat.
The embeded cooler it's a bad joke.

Also the fact that the CPU chip no longer in center I guess.
What air coolers do you use to keep this beast on the leash? I really hate waterpumps vibrations and noise induced in case.

https://www.amazon.com/DeepCool-AK620-High-Performance-Dual-Tower-Dissipation/dp/B09CSXS3X4
DeepCool AK620 CPU Cooler $64.99

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/deepcool-ak620-review

https://global.deepcool.com/product...-High-Performance-CPU-Cooler/2021/13067.shtml

or ...

https://www.amazon.com/Rev-B-Cooler-LGA1700-LGA1151-Towers/dp/B09NZGH4RD/
Scythe Fuma 2 Rev.B CPU Cooler $65.99

https://hardwarecanucks.com/forum/t...-review-the-best-cpu-cooler-got-cooler.84709/

https://www.scytheus.com/fuma2-rev-b

 

[Q Wales]

Thanks so much for this modified review, 5600X purchased @£171 with a little 10% off voucher and looking forward to some smoother Fortnite playing. Next stop, upgrading my 1660S to a 6600XT or 3060.