Ryzen 5 3600 + RTX 3080: Killer Combo or Not?

[Bamda]

I was talking about buying a 5900x, it's so much more money than a 5600x for 5% more performance.

Do you have benchmarks to prove that? I have not seen any yet.

 

[darkzelda]

I'm really confused now, I don't really know what CPU to choose for changing my Core i7 4790k, I was hoping to get one of the new 8 core Ryzen CPU, but it's way too expensive.

 

[OortCloud]

Nice to finally see some benchmarks that are not all Blender and Cinebench - ie massively parallel and so skewed heavily in Ryzens' multicore favour. It is at this point we see just how far Ryzen lags behind on pure single core performance over Intel. Hopefully AMD close the gap on this with Ryzen 5 if for no other reason than we start see some sensible benchmarking in the weirdly AMD-biased tech media.

 

[MaxSmarties]

I still think is wrong to use a low end CPU with an high end GPU. A system should be balanced in its components. A 3080 could be coupled with a 3800X for instance. You want to play but the budget is somewhat limited ? 3600 and a 3060 (when available) would be perfect together.
Overclock or using expensive high performance RAM just to try to make the graphs looking better doesen't change the point. If you look at default Ryzen 3600 results, you are holding the 3080 back in almost any situation.

 

[MaxSmarties]

I'm really confused now, I don't really know what CPU to choose for changing my Core i7 4790k, I was hoping to get one of the new 8 core Ryzen CPU, but it's way too expensive.

Ryzen 7 5800X would be perfect, but I think even the 5600X would be a great upgrade for your system, if the budget is a problem

 

[pit1209]

Nice to finally see some benchmarks that are not all Blender and Cinebench - ie massively parallel and so skewed heavily in Ryzens' multicore favour. It is at this point we see just how far Ryzen lags behind on pure single core performance over Intel. Hopefully AMD close the gap on this with Ryzen 5 if for no other reason than we start see some sensible benchmarking in the weirdly AMD-biased tech media.

I don't get your comment at all, specially on this website the reviews have always been more than just Blender and Cinebench but not all people spend thousands on a PC just to play games anyways and the single core difference between Ryzen 2 and Intel is just the clock speed and latency, on this website and others it has been proven that Ryzen has similar or even better IPC than Intel offerings.

I don't know where you've been the past 10 years but anyone actively reading tech websites since 2006 won't tell you that the media is bias towards AMD but now that they have a better product than Intel and have brought competition to the industry there's so many people mad at this that it isn't even funny.

 

[pit1209]

I still think is wrong to use a low end CPU with an high end GPU. A system should be balanced in its components. A 3080 could be coupled with a 3800X for instance. You want to play but the budget is somewhat limited ? 3600 and a 3060 (when available) would be perfect together.
Overclock or using expensive high performance RAM just to try to make the graphs looking better doesen't change the point. If you look at default Ryzen 3600 results, you are holding the 3080 back in almost any situation.

Yeah but the point is to know how much I'm holding back a $700+ GPU with this $200 CPU and if it's just taking into account the 1080p results (based on your logic no one should be using a 1080p screen with a 3080 anyways) then at worst it can be as much as 25% or nothing at all even less the higher the resolution goes, that's great if you ask me.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I get the feeling that the RX 5700 XT was made for the R5-3600(X).

 

[deksman2]

I was talking about buying a 5900x, it's so much more money than a 5600x for 5% more performance.

5900x having 5% more performance in what?
Single core perhaps, but not when it comes to multi-core.

 

[Ludak021]

I have a 3600x and a 3080 on order. No one should be surprised by the results here, CPUs just aren't that important, even at 1080P. I'll be selling my 3600x and getting a 5600x because paying literally 3 times more money for a CPU that will give you 5% more performance at 1080P is insane IMHO.

i3 and R3 is entry level, enough for most people who don't game, 5 is mid-range, 7 is high-end and 9 is "enthusiast level" basically overkill even for most gamers. The fact that R5 or i5 can game at any resolution without issues shows that it cannot be "low-end", you can make a case that it's actually high mid-range since you don't really need better. Epyc is not for regular consumers, it's for servers. Pentiums and Athlons are the true "low-end".

compared to threadrippers and Epyc, they are toys. That's my take on it and I have no illusions that when I buy a ~$500 cpu I am getting overkill high-end cpu, because I know there are much better and much more expensive CPUs.

But, you do you.

 

[Nobina]

compared to threadrippers and Epyc, they are toys. That's my take on it and I have no illusions that when I buy a ~$500 cpu I am getting overkill high-end cpu, because I know there are much better and much more expensive CPUs.

But, you do you.

It's not me doing me, it's how 99% of people see it because that's how it is. You do you, though.

 

[MaxSmarties]

Yeah but the point is to know how much I'm holding back a $700+ GPU with this $200 CPU and if it's just taking into account the 1080p results (based on your logic no one should be using a 1080p screen with a 3080 anyways) then at worst it can be as much as 25% or nothing at all even less the higher the resolution goes, that's great if you ask me.

Most people with a 3080 would play at 1440P (I don't think 4K gaming is really a thing nowadays), and the 3600 is holding your GPU back at that resolution. How much ? Not much, but some FPS are still something. It clearly depends on the game...

I really don't get all this excitement about Ryzen 3600. Yes it is a good general purpose CPU, with a good number of cores and threads for its price and optimal for people without a specific task in mind. But it is not a gaming CPU, just as it is not the best CPU for rendering...
Yes, you still can play on it, but the 3080 deserve a better CPU.

 

[lilly7]

Very nice article and I like it, that you put the comparations of stock cpu, overtuned and with memory optimization separately. Good practice to know where the effect of which "tune" is bigger or lower. Overall, the 200$ Ryzen is great compared to the 3 or 4 times more expensive Intel i9-10900K and amd 3950X

 

[pit1209]

Most people with a 3080 would play at 1440P (I don't think 4K gaming is really a thing nowadays), and the 3600 is holding your GPU back at that resolution. How much ? Not much, but some FPS are still something. It clearly depends on the game...

I really don't get all this excitement about Ryzen 3600. Yes it is a good general purpose CPU, with a good number of cores and threads for its price and optimal for people without a specific task in mind. But it is not a gaming CPU, just as it is not the best CPU for rendering...
Yes, you still can play on it, but the 3080 deserve a better CPU.

No one is saying that if you buy a $700 GPU you should pair it with a mid range CPU but if anyone has to do that for whatever reason, for example I much rather invest the difference between a 3600 and a 3900x to get a much better GPU while I wait for the next version of Ryzen and now I know that I will probably lose less than 10% performance in avg playing at a very high fps counts anyways, an easier decision to make now.

 

[Strawman]

Very interesting article. Basically, 3600 trails noticeably only at 1080p and that too with perfectly good and butter smooth frame rates.
The 4k tests were surprise and while it is understood that games are gpu bound at that resolution but still seeing a 3600 stand at parity with something that cost over three times more was just hilarious.

My 100 euro bike is on par with a ferrari in a road with 25km/h speed limit. Doesn't say much about my bike or the ferrari. Do you find that hillarious?

 

[Strawman]

Indeed.

I have big issues with PC enthusiast who always quote like i5/R5 with 2060 as "low end". Find me a game outside of flight simulator that can't play games at 1080P with stable FPS on at least medium settings. Because these are the same people that go "console sucks".

Well, you are proving the point. 1080p is low end / entry level resolution, so yeah, low end hardware can play in low end resolutions.

 

[Roddy_K]

The I9-10900K is $668 and a runs at 125W and the R5 3600 runs at 65w and only cost $199 which I bought mine for $169 a couple months ago. If can get a RTX 3080 do you want to save money on your pc and your electric bill or do you just want bragging rights. You know who you are Intel fan boys. And yes 4K gaming is a thing.

 

[Endymio]

My 100 euro bike is on par with a ferrari in a road with 25km/h speed limit. Doesn't say much about my bike or the ferrari.

If the Ferrari owner realizes he will be spending all his time driving that road, then yes it does.

 

[Eldritch]

Well, you are proving the point. 1080p is low end / entry level resolution, so yeah, low end hardware can play in low end resolutions.

I think we both read very different articles. Because in the article that I read above it was very clearly illustrated with benchmarks that at 4k resolution, 3600 stands neck to neck with offerings which cost more than three times as much. So I suggest you go through it again.

 

[amghwk]

The Ryzen crushes the more expensive Intel at higher resolutions.

"Intel is (gaming) king" only in lower resolutions, it seems.

And c'mon, they claim that just because it leads by a few numbers in benchmark graphs, while almost negligible perception in real life??

I think it's pathetic they fail to look into the value of any component.

 

[Strawman]

If the Ferrari owner realizes he will be spending all his time driving that road, then yes it does.

What does it say about the ferrari?

 

[Strawman]

I think we both read very different articles. Because in the article that I read above it was very clearly illustrated with benchmarks that at 4k resolution, 3600 stands neck to neck with offerings which cost more than three times as much. So I suggest you go through it again.

4k gaming is a GPU task, why would you expect the CPU to make a difference? Its like saying that my 1080ti can keep up with a 3090 in cinebench. Well yeah sure it can, because the cpu is one doing the work.

 

[Endymio]

What does it say about the ferrari?

It says you spent a lot a money for a capability you can't use -- which, like the pricey CPU in the original post, was the OP's point all along. Glad you're agreeing now.

 

[AMDGeForceRX4090]

3600 the value king? lol wat. 3300x is the value king.

 

[Strawman]

It says you spent a lot a money for a capability you can't use -- which, like the pricey CPU in the original post, was the OP's point all along. Glad you're agreeing now.

So it says nothing about the Ferrari. Glad you are agreeing now.

The OP talked about the actual cpus, not the user.