WITH GREAT SPECS COME GREAT CAPABILITIES
The Ryzen 5 3600X’s multithreading support and newly increased cache size
help it achieve excellent mainstream performance. In most cases, the Ryzen 7
3700X slightly exceeds that performance, which is why it retains our Editors’
Choice for best mainstream CPU. If you don’t want to pay the $80 premium for
the Ryzen 7 3700X, however, the Ryzen 5 3600X is an excellent option.
The only PC builders who should probably shun the Ryzen 5 3600X are gamers
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you really want to eke out the fastest frame rate, it’s worth investing in a more
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discrete GPU will want a CPU with a capable built-in graphics processor such as
the Ryzen 5 3400G.
Finally, no matter your reason for buying a new CPU, it’s hard to argue with the
Ryzen 5 3600X’s backward-motherboard-compatibility and support for the
cutting-edge PCIe 4.0 standard. The Intel competition currently lacks this last
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TOM BRANT
PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE (^) I DECEMBER 2019