Ryzen 5 3600 vs. 3600X: Which should you buy?

[Julio Franco]

We were among the first to review the Ryzen 5 3600 and at $200 we found the 6-core, 12-thread processor a crankin' good deal. In short, it murders the 9600K in core-heavy productivity benchmarks and was right there for the gaming tests. But without question the most popular question we received afterwards was: should you buy the Ryzen 5 3600 or the 3600X?

Read the full article here.

https://www.techspot.com/article/1880-ryzen-3600x-vs-3600/

 

[QuantumPhysics]

Although I don't buy AMD products...I'm certain that if I were to buy an AMD CPU/Motherboard that I'd most likely buy an AMD GPU as well.

Quite simply: what's the most powerful CPU and GPU I can get.

I don't do that "budget" nonsense cause I never wanna feel like "I shoulda just spent more when I had the chance".

Better to buy the best you can afford and just pay for it later - if you can't afford to pay it off immediately.

I honestly don't know what the most powerful AMD CPU is so that's the one I'd take.

 

[Lounds]

Hi Steve

It would be interesting to see what an overclocked 1600 at 3.9/4Ghz does against a stock 3600, see as us B350 owners have a nice upgrade path or if it's worth hanging on for a 4000 series next year (if they're compatible.) seeing as your review of the 3700X paired with the B350 made very little difference in performance over the X570 boards and made it promising upgrade path for B350 wanting a performance increase without a full system rebuild.

It's good to see AMD is aiming for the sweet spot of PC building for hobbiest's and budget minded gamers with the X600 CPU's.

Keep up the good work!

 

[Puiu]

Although I don't buy AMD products...I'm certain that if I were to buy an AMD CPU/Motherboard that I'd most likely buy an AMD GPU as well.

Quite simply: what's the most powerful CPU and GPU I can get.

I don't do that "budget" nonsense cause I never wanna feel like "I shoulda just spent more when I had the chance".

Better to buy the best you can afford and just pay for it later - if you can't afford to pay it off immediately.

I honestly don't know what the most powerful AMD CPU is so that's the one I'd take.

Nobody wants to buy stuff and pay it later (I'm assuming you are talking about instalments). That's how many fall into debt. it's a good idea to set realistic limits to your budget otherwise you'll fall into the "just a bit more" trap.
People are already paying for low-midrange stuff using instalments and I find that to be weird... I prefer to go second hand than to stretch my budget.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

#1 I

Nobody wants to buy stuff and pay it later (I'm assuming you are talking about instalments). That's how many fall into debt. it's a good idea to set realistic limits to your budget otherwise you'll fall into the "just a bit more" trap.
People are already paying for low-midrange stuff using instalments and I find that to be weird... I prefer to go second hand than to stretch my budget.

If you're buying "gaming computers" you're already wasting money by spending excessively on RAM, GPU, CPU, SSD and other components that you could have simply saved on by buying a "regular computer" for "work".

So right then and there, lets not talk about "debt" in you've already agreed to either spend that money up front or spend it in installments - which you coulda saved for your wealth building or kids college fund.

Secondly: used correctly a credit card is a great financial tool. I get upgrades to business class or First class using my Capital One Venture card to purchase equipment like this.

THEN: I give my CPA all the receipts and double dip by reaping small business equipment tax benefits as well as the card points. The credit card provides excellent record keeping for the end-of theyear tax prep. I purchase EVERYTHING I can on my card and just pay it off before week's end.

Proof of point: I'm currently in Quezon Philippines right now for the entire month of July with Bali coming up before I return to NY...business class.

 

[Puiu]

#1 I



If you're buying "gaming computers" you're already wasting money by spending excessively on RAM, GPU, CPU, SSD and other components that you could have simply saved on by buying a "regular computer" for "work".

So right then and there, lets not talk about "debt" in you've already agreed to either spend that money up front or spend it in installments - which you coulda saved for your wealth building or kids college fund.

Secondly: used correctly a credit card is a great financial tool. I get upgrades to business class or First class using my Capital One Venture card to purchase equipment like this.

THEN: I give my CPA all the receipts and double dip by reaping small business equipment tax benefits as well as the card points. The credit card provides excellent record keeping for the end-of theyear tax prep. I purchase EVERYTHING I can on my card and just pay it off before week's end.

Proof of point: I'm currently in Quezon Philippines right now for the entire month of July with Bali coming up before I return to NY...business class.

Ah, you meant small delays in payment. That's different and yes, it's a nice way of buying before you get your salary
And "gaming computers" are not really a waste of money. It might be if you are going for ultra high end just to have that bragging right (if your income doesn't justify buying such a PC), but most gaming PCs can and are used for more than just games. A good PC is a good PC and you can be smart about how and what you buy (which it seems you are ).

 

[OcelotRex]

Is the Ryzen 5 3600 compatible out of the box with the B450 Chipset or is a firmware update needed?

 

[Nobina]

Is the Ryzen 5 3600 compatible out of the box with the B450 Chipset or is a firmware update needed?

I'm pretty sure you need to update the firmware first, out of the box won't work.

 

[MDBumblebee]

Is the Ryzen 5 3600 compatible out of the box with the B450 Chipset or is a firmware update needed?

I'm pretty sure you need to update the firmware first, out of the box won't work.

That's correct. I just put a 3600 into my asrock ab350 Fatal1ty gaming K4 and just needed to update the bios. Be sure and update BEFORE you swap in the 3600.

 

[OcelotRex]

I'm pretty sure you need to update the firmware first, out of the box won't work.

I guess I will have to look into the program where AMD loans you a CPU since I will be building from scratch.

 

[OcelotRex]

That's correct. I just put a 3600 into my asrock ab350 Fatal1ty gaming K4 and just needed to update the bios. Be sure and update BEFORE you swap in the 3600.

I don't have a 2XXX series; I'll be building a whole new PC.

 

[Capaill]

"The 3600X gets you a better cooler out of the box, but rather than waste $50 on the 3600X, we recommend instead to buy the 3600 and if you want to reduce the operating volume and squeeze a tiny bit more performance, grab something like the Cooler Master 212 Black for $30."
As we've discussed previously, it would be great if AMD offered the 3600 without any cooler. Anybody who is overclocking will bin the included cooler, so that's a waste of money. I was sure one of the 1600s was offered without any cooler but it might have been the 1600X which no sane overclocker would buy unless it was cheaper than the 1600.

"Other than to improve AMD’s margins there’s absolutely no reason for the 3600X to exist."
There should be 3 offerings:
3600 with a cooler - basic model for people who don't know any better.
3600X with a cooler - for people who want an OC'd CPU without having to do it themselves.
3600(some other cool letter) with no cooler - for people who want to overclock and provide their own cooling. This would be the cheapest so it would need a very large warning on the front that the user needs to provide their own cooling.

"Misleading TDP ratings: The only thing that makes the R5 3600 a 65 watt TDP part, is the 65 watt cooler, while the 3600X is a 95 watt TDP part because it comes with a 95 watt cooler. The CPUs themselves are otherwise identical."
I believe the 3600 moves from 65W to 95W when you overclock it. So it's not the cooler but rather the overclocking that changes the TDP, as the 3600X is just a 3600 with a mild OC. If you overclock the 3600, treat it as a 95W TDP.

 

[amstech]

Excellent article once again.
It looks like they just clocked up the X and gave it a better cooler, but the quality of the chip is identical.
Worth finding out for sure as this will be a very popular choice for low-mid tier folks looking to upgrade.

 

[dcolee01]

Based on all the reviews and Benchmarks I have seen there is very little reason to go with the 3600X over the 3600 except the Heatsink and Fan. With a little overclocking you can get the 3600 to 3600X performance they are basically the exact same CPU. Go with the 3700X if you don't want 3600. You get 2 additional Cores and 4 Hyperthreads. And you get a very high end Air Cooler. Also 65 Watt CPU so a lot of performance for that low of wattage.

 

[dcolee01]

Although I don't buy AMD products...I'm certain that if I were to buy an AMD CPU/Motherboard that I'd most likely buy an AMD GPU as well.

Quite simply: what's the most powerful CPU and GPU I can get.

I don't do that "budget" nonsense cause I never wanna feel like "I shoulda just spent more when I had the chance".

Better to buy the best you can afford and just pay for it later - if you can't afford to pay it off immediately.

I honestly don't know what the most powerful AMD CPU is so that's the one I'd take.

Although I don't buy AMD products...I'm certain that if I were to buy an AMD CPU/Motherboard that I'd most likely buy an AMD GPU as well.

Quite simply: what's the most powerful CPU and GPU I can get.

I don't do that "budget" nonsense cause I never wanna feel like "I shoulda just spent more when I had the chance".

Better to buy the best you can afford and just pay for it later - if you can't afford to pay it off immediately.

I honestly don't know what the most powerful AMD CPU is so that's the one I'd take.

I uses to think the same way on AMD, but have to say the new Ryzen CPU's are a Homerun. Especial 3600, 3700x, 3900X. Amazing performance, for less than Intel CPU it is competing against.

 

[Colonel Blimp]

So, if like me you run a 1600, you just get the 3600 and put the Spire that came with the 1600 on it.
Instant 3600x for 200.

Job done, cheers AMD!

 

[bluetooth fairy]

It would be interesting to see head-to-head comparison of available (eg, on eBay) AMD stock coolers and the one, recommended here, CM 212 Evo, or the one, that was mentioned earlier, like Gammaxx 400, which is cheaper on Newegg now.

I mean, for 3600 we have several temperature data points: 62° for aio lc, 78° for spire and 84° for stealth. Seems like an abyss between them. There's obvious prism left and any other affordable ($30-40-ish) alternative, like that 212th.

Also, looking forward to the 3800x review. Expect its TL;DR will be even shorter

The bigger picture is why AMD chose efficiency instead of speed, for desktop parts (looking at 1st and 2nd gen X-models power consumption). Imagine a 3rd-gen X model actually overclocking 10% more (good evening, Intel). Idk, but probably they built Zen2 node keeping in mind all markets, incl. laptop and server ones. That's where Zen2 will shine even brighter..

PS Another open discussion for the stock 3600 and its 80-ish temps (that's with 30-ish at idle) could be undervolting. Going just 0.1V under stock could lead to decision to keep the box (stealth) cooler.

 

[Peter Sky]

I'm coming from a 1700, so I will definitely go to the 3700x or the 3900x. I'm waiting to see how they shake out after several months of bios updates. But the 3600 is definitely a great chip for a great price. AMD knocked Intel's head off with these chips. They completely dominate the Intel chips in almost everything else, besides some games. And even in those games where the k chips still win, it's only by a small margin and not even noticeable on the actual game screen.
So if you are coming from older Ryzen 3 or 5, the 3600 is hands down the best chips to own. And if you are coming from the R7's or Intel, then the 3700x or 3900x are the bosses. Can't wait to see what the 16 core can do!!!

 

[J Town]

Get the 3600 and spend the extra money on the GPU.

 

[Jeffrey2009]

I wonder if the same story happens to 3800X vs. 3700X ;-)

 

[PetrolHead]

AMD's performance boost works so well that it makes the higher clocked versions of the same CPU practically pointless. Even with the box cooler and "normal" ambient temperatures the base clocks are always exceeded and the differences in single core maximum boost clock are on the other hand mostly just theoretical differences with little to no impact in actual applications. It's a bit ironic. AMD would have an easier time justifying the existence and pricing of 3600X and 3800X (and enthusiasts would have some overclocking headroom to play with) if performance boost didn't exist, but without it customers would get worse performance on all of the CPUs.

 

[Shadowboxer]

If Intel released the same chip twice but one $50 more for a cooler that is most certainly not worth $50 the community would hang them out to dry.

Personally I feel that users should read reviews like the ones on this site before making decisions so I have no problems with manufacturers doing this sort of thing. If you buy a 3600X and expect it to be a better chip than a 3600 then that’s your failure for not reading the reviews.

 

[Badelhas]

Great article. I'm finally upgrading my good old i5 2500k @4.7GHz to the 3600.
My question now is which budget B450 board works best with it. The MSI B450 Tomahawk seems to be a good fit but the 16mb BIOS is giving lots of problems, so they are releasing a Max version which will work better with Ryzen 3000.
Any other suggestions?
Cheers

 

[Mustafa OZCAN]

Can u compare 3600 vs Core i5 9400F with (rtx 2060 or gtx 1660 ti) and more affordable ram?

So we can see "Real Life" bechmarks .. At least for me.. ..

And which one is woth to buy? Core i5 9400F or Ryzen 5 3600 for gaming..?

 

[GreenNova343]

I'm pretty sure you need to update the firmware first, out of the box won't work.

I guess I will have to look into the program where AMD loans you a CPU since I will be building from scratch.

Or double-check with the OEM and/or vendor you buy the motherboard from to see if they can flash the BIOS first. I know some stores, like Micro Center, have done that for customers in the past.