More PC builders are buying ageing AMD Ryzen 7 5800X CPUs from Amazon UK than any of the latest Zen 4 and Zen 5 chips, according to the site’s best sellers page. Released in November 2020, this 8-core CPU has now been out for more than five years, and uses AMD’s old Zen 3 architecture. However, this chip has one big advantage over AMD’s latest CPUs in the current climate – it works with DDR4 memory.
With RAM prices going through the roof, it looks as though people with existing Socket AM4 systems are now choosing to upgrade to CPUs that will work with their old memory and motherboard, rather than buying AMD’s latest CPUs. This means they don’t have to splash out on new DDR5 RAM, much of which has quadrupled in price over the last two months, and is a requirement for AMD’s supporting motherboards.
As you can see in the above image, AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800X is now the best-selling CPU on Amazon UK, and it’s not the only Socket AM4 chip selling in large numbers. The 6-core AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT, which we listed on our guide to buying the best DDR4 CPU, is at number five. At number 8, you’ll also find the 6-core AMD Ryzen 5 5600GT, which has an integrated Radeon Vega 7 GPU.
That’s not to say people aren’t buying AMD’s latest chips – the acclaimed Ryzen 7 9800X3D is still putting in a strong showing at number two, as is the new Ryzen 9 9950X3D at number seven. As we saw in the December 2025 Steam Survey, there isn’t a single Intel CPU in the Amazon UK top 10 right now.
It’s a slightly different situation on Amazon US, where 9800X3D still holds the top spot. However, there are still four AM4 CPUs in the top 10 here, where the even-older Ryzen 5 3600 currently occupies the number five spot, thanks to an incredibly low price of just $74.99.
With memory prices continuing to rocket, and expected to do so throughout 2026 and beyond, we anticipate seeing more of these market anomalies, where old products suddenly become popular again. You might get a modest performance bump by upgrading from a Zen 3 to Zen 5 system, but it’s often not big enough to justify the huge cost of the DDR5 memory you’d need to buy with it.
We’ve already called for AMD to resurrect Ryzen 7 5800X3D in response to the situation, and there’s word that Asus is making more DDR4 motherboards as well.
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