AMD Ryzen 5600X vs 3600X

Which Ryzen 5 processor is best?

best CPU for 1060
Last Updated:

The new Ryzen 5000 series CPUs have finally been released and if you were lucky enough to get your hands on one already, then you probably aren’t interested in the benchmarking results. That being said, many are eagerly awaiting benchmarks to see what kind of generational differences and gains can benefit their newly planned gaming PCs. 

In this article, we are pitting the Ryzen 5 5600X vs 3600X. Now, it is worth saying that the obvious winner regardless of price is the brand-new Zen 3 5600X but it is worth comparing to see how far we have come and for a bit of insight for those of you out there planning your new system.

Generally, the “X” version of the Ryzen 5 3600 wasn’t considered as the value king, that title went to the non-X 3600. With the Ryzen 3000 series, it appeared as though AMD’s boost mechanism kind of made their 3600X a bit pointless. It is speculation at this point whether the same will be said for the 5600, if and when that is released, but in any case, the 5600X will offer a stellar performance boost over the 3600X.

Let’s take a brief look over the differences, if any, in specifications, pricing within AMD’s CPU stack, and what performance you can expect from the 5600X vs the 3600X.

AMD Ryzen 5 3600X

Ryzen 3600x packaging 50

Speed

3.8GHz/4.4GHz

Core (threads)

6/12

Socket

AM4

TDP

95W

Unlocked?

Yes

PCIe Version

PCIe 4.0 x16

Total L2 Cache

3MB

Total L3 Cache

32MB

CMOS

TSMC 7nm FinFET

Max Temps

95°C

Pros

Huge overclocking headspace

Fantastic single thread performance

100+fps across the most popular AAA game titles

Cons

The 95W TDP is fairly high, especially when you consider the 3700x is only 65W

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 1

Speed

3.7GHz/ 4.6GHz

Core (Threads)

6/12

Socket

AM4

TDP

65W

Unlocked?

Yes

PCIe Version

PCIe 4.0

Total L2 Cache

3MB

Total L3 Cache

32MB

CMOS

TSMC 7nm FinFET

Max Temps

95°C

Pros

Set to out-perform the 10600K

Great value for money

Unlocked overclocking

Cons

Slightly more expensive than what we’re used to from AMDs midrange offering

Requires CPU cooler

 

Zen 2 Vs. Zen 3 Architecture

“Zen” is AMDs term used to designate the different generations of their CPU architecture since 2017, with “Zen” being the first, superseded by “Zen+” in 2018, “Zen 2 “ in 2019, and “Zen 3” in November 2020.

Zen 2, and now Zen 3 is based on a 7nm process node. Generally speaking, the smaller the process node, the more transistors can fit onto the silicone, meaning greater processing power. While the process node may be the same, AMD has managed to refine this and many of the performance increases in the new Zen 3 CPUs can be attributed to the changes in the cache layout.

Thanks to improvements in manufacturing, AMD has been able to give eight CPU cores access to one large 32MB L3 cache, instead of splitting it into two lots of 16MB, with four CPU cores each. This is a notable improvement for gamers, as most games rely on the memory subsystems within the CPU (physical objects and laws within a game that are required to maintain a “world”). With these improvements, any one of the cores can directly access any part of the stored data in the single large memory pool, rather than the data having to cross the “Infinity Fabric” between the cache segments and the cores having to communicate with each other to access these segments, resulting in less latency for games with the Ryzen 5 5600X.

 

Ryzen 5 5600X vs 3600X: Benchmarks & Performance

Both the Ryzen 5 5600X and 3600X are gaming-focused CPUs, with some workstation performance lurking in the background. With this in mind, we are going to take a quick look into the gaming performance you can expect from a 5600X in comparison to the 3600X first.

Gaming Performance

The first thing we immediately notice is the Ryzen 5600X essentially becoming the ultimate value processor (until the inevitable release of the 5600, non-X that is). We see the 5600X not only outperform the 3600X but every SKU in the previous Ryzen 3000 series when it comes to gaming.

Naturally, we see the more significant improvements for CPU favorable games like CSGO but the performance increase does occur across the board. This is largely down to the improved single-core performance featured on the 5600X and other SKUs. While the base clock is actually slightly lower than the 3600X, the boost is obviously higher and clock speed is only part of the performance story. The improvements in architecture mean the number of Instructions Per Clock (IPC) is greater, so the overall number of instructions the CPU is capable of is higher.

Ryzen Counter Strike Global Offensive

In CS:GO we see anything between a 20-30% increase in average FPS, that’s a huge leap forward and firmly puts upgrading to the 5600X into the competitive player’s mind.

Ryzen Shadow of the Tomb Raider

With Shadow Of The Tomb Raider at 1080p in the highest preset, we see a similar story with around a 20% increase in average FPS for the 5600X when compared to the older 3600X. This performance increase is huge when looking at any of the older Ryzen 3000 series or 10th-gen Intel processors.

Ryzen Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020

When it came to Microsoft Flight Simulator, a CPU-heavy game, the 5600X showed around a 15% uplift when compared to the 3600X. These gains were impressive but less so than the higher end of the SKUs.

Workstation Performance

While the 5600X may be considered the best price to performance gaming CPU, it also holds some workstation value too for those that are on a strict budget or only do the occasional bit of CPU heavy tasks.

Ryzen Cinebench R20

The 5600X outperforms the 3600X across the board comfortably, although not by a lot, which is fine considering this is marketed as a gaming CPU.

Smart Access Memory

If AMD’s launch was anything to go off, we can expect further performance increase when pairing your 5600X with a new Radeon RX 6000 series GPU. Of course, until these graphics cards are available we have no significant data to go off.

Smart Access Memory takes advantage of the RX 6000 series Infinity Cache, allowing the CPU to access the graphics card’s memory buffer directly. Smart Access Memory essentially means more efficient use of the combined memory between the CPU and GPU, reducing buffering and latency.

This all sounds great in theory and as soon as we get our hands on these GPUs we will be testing extensively.

Final Word

So, Ryzen 5 5600X vs 3600X, there is little competition here. Sure the 3600X, for the moment, offers you something extremely powerful for around $100 less but the new Ryzen 5000 series is due to drop in price early next year, leaving the older generation obsolete, much like Intel’s 10th-gen.

The question of which you should buy is reserved for those that are building a new PC, have 1st-gen Ryzen, or any Intel chip. It doesn’t seem worthwhile to upgrade your 3600X unless you are flush with cash, as the performance is superb but not quite as worthy as those with older hardware.

The 3600X was one of the best price to performance processors we have seen but the 5600X is one of the best gaming processors we have ever seen. With that in mind, I’d say it is more than worth that extra $50 here or there, giving you the platform to build an incredible gaming PC.

The Author Who Worked On This Article

News Writer and CPU / Motherboard Product Specialist
at
WePC
Summary  ICT Level 3 Extended Diploma CompTIA A+ Diploma CompTIA Pentest+ Diploma PC Builder at Fierce PC Bench marker at BGFG Product Specialist at BGFG Senior Staff writer at BGFG News content planner at BGFG Experience I currently work at WePC as Tech and News Writer, but the journey that led me here has been both lengthy and fascinating. It all began during my college years when I transformed my computer passion into a formal education, earning an Extended Diploma in ICT. Subsequently, I entered the tech industry by securing my first job as a Systems Builder at Fierce PC. This role allowed me to refine my skills in assembling PCs, where I successfully built over 1,000 computers of various types and specifications. Afterward, I made the transition to WePC, as a Product Bench marker, responsible for producing videos on PC component performance, including CPUs and GPUs, for our YouTube channel. I then advanced to the position of Product Specialist, overseeing all content related to CPUs and Motherboards. I have since broaden into covering coolers and PC cases. Education  ICT Level 3 Extended Diploma – Accrington Collage CompTIA A+ Diploma – Studyhub CompTIA Pentest+ Diploma – Studyhub

Independent, transparent, rigorous and authentic, our reviews are the most thorough and honest in PC gaming. Learn about our review process.