AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D CPU Review: The Best Budget Gaming Chip For AM4

Conclusion - Disruptive Efficiency For High-End Users

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D is going to be the last CPU we get for the AM4 platform and now that we have it on our hands, let's talk about what I think about this chip from my brief testing.

The Best Gaming Chip For The AM4 Platform!

Starting right off with the performance, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D simply crushes it. Just like the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, the 5600X3D sits right next to or even blazes past the Intel Core i9-12900K and that's impressive for the price of this chip. Throughout all gaming benchmarks, the 5600X3D was offering stellar performance. There were a few bottlenecks that we encountered at lower 1080P resolution and even 1440P but that was mostly an RTX 4090 thing since that graphics card eats up high-end CPUs like nothing. Since most of the budget audience won't be running anything near an RTX 4090, the rest of the GPU combos such as an RTX 3060/4060 series or RX 6600/6700 series are going to make a great setup.

One of the key areas where the 3D V-Cache will offer a big improvement is the minimum FPS as it reduces the cache-associated blockades and delivers a much smoother experience. You definitely won't need to worry about any stutters or CPU bottlenecks with the boost 3D V-Cache.

Multi-tasking & Application Performance Suffers A Bit

One area where the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D doesn't shine though is the application performance. Just like the 5800X3D, the 5600X3D suffers from reduced clock speeds to maintain the voltage and thermal limits. These lead to reduced performance within applications which is lower than the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and Ryzen 5 5600. The 6 Zen 3 cores offer so-so performance but anything modern from Intel such as 12/13th Gen or even AMD's Zen 4 core architecture simply destroys the 5600X3D in this department.

Thermal & Power Efficiency Remains Top-Notch

But for gaming purposes, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D remains an extremely efficient and cool chip. The chip offers a sub-100W gaming performance that matches an i9-12900K and can run even on a Wraith air cooler and still maintain good temperatures.

Should I Stick To AM4 or Move To AM5?

The biggest question that will come to mind for existing AM4 users is whether they should upgrade to AM5 or upgrade to 5600X3D. The answer lies within your budget. The 5600X3D costs $229 US and that's it. If you got an AM4 motherboard, you only need to install the chip to your board and you're all set.

On the other hand, moving to AM5 requires you to upgrade your CPU, motherboard, memory, and possibly even the cooling solution. That's a lot more expensive and while there's a future-proofing factor associated with going this way, I believe that the AM5 platform still needs time to mature and needs more budget options such as the recently unveiled Ryzen 5 7500F. Those are likely to come in the coming Ryzen 8000 CPU generation next year and till then, older AM4 users running a Ryzen 1000/2000/3000 CPU can simply upgrade to the 5000X3D chips such as the 5600X3D and that will be well worth it.

Final Verdict - The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D offers insane value to existing AM4 users. It's one of the best gaming chips around for the platform which rivals the Core i9-12900K at a price of . This is a banger of a chip for those who don't find the need to move to AM5 yet & will do great for at least 1-2 generations. It's a pity that this awesome chip is only sold in the US but if you're one of the lucky persons living next to a Microcenter store, you can grab this chip right now!

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