SIZING UP THE SPECS
There are currently two third-generation Ryzen 5 chips
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Ryzen 5 3600X and Ryzen 5 3600. Both have six cores
with multithreading support, which means each
processing core can handle two instruction threads at a
time for a total of 12 threads. The Ryzen 5 3600X we
tested is a 95-watt chip with a 3.8GHz base and 4.4GHz
boost clock. The $199 Ryzen 5 3600 is a 65-watt part
that comes in at 3.6GHz base and 4.2GHz boost. (A
third Ryzen 5 CPU, the Ryzen 5 3400G, is technically
part of the third generation but costs less and uses the
older Zen+ microarchitecture.)
Compared with their predecessors’ specs, these
improvements are slight. The second-generation Ryzen
5 2600X is also a six-core, 12-thread, 95-watt chip. The
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3.6GHz and 4.2GHz, respectively. But the third
generation boasts a major cache improvement: The
Ryzen 5 3600X carries a considerable 35MB Level 3
cache, a capacity it shares with the Ryzen 5 3600. That’s
more than double the 16MB of the preceding Ryzen 5
2600X and Ryzen 5 2600.
AMD Ryzen 5
3600X
PROS Multithreading
support.
Overclockable.
Robust management
software. Backwards-
compatible with older
AM4 motherboards.
Included cooling fan.
CONS No integrated
graphics. Hampers
performance on some
demanding games.
BOTTOM LINE: The
six-core AMD Ryzen 5
3600X is an excellent
mainstream CPU,
offering proficient
performance,
multithreading, and
overclockability.