In an interesting move designed to revitalise gaming interest in the venerable AM4 platform home to every Ryzen CPU from 2017 through late 2022, AMD has released the most budget-friendly 3D V-Cache-equipped processor yet. Enter the limited availability Ryzen 5 5600X3D.
AMD pioneered 3D V-Cache (X3D) on last-generation Ryzen 7 5800X3D, innovating on the former best CPU. Offering an additional 64MB of game performance-boosting cache through novel stacking technology, results were superb at lower resolutions, enabling high-performance GPUs to really strut their stuff and push framerate higher than ever before. Since then, X3D has proliferated to newer Ryzen 7000 Series CPUs.
| Model | Cores / Threads | TDP | L3 Cache | Base Clock | Boost Clock | Current price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryzen 9 5950X | 16 / 32 | 105W | 64MB | 3.4GHz | 4.9GHz | $445 |
| Ryzen 9 5900X | 12 / 24 | 105W | 64MB | 3.7GHz | 4.8GHz | $350 |
| Ryzen 7 5800X3D | 8 / 16 | 105W | 96MB | 3.4GHz | 4.5GHz | $350 |
| Ryzen 7 5800X | 8 / 16 | 105W | 32MB | 3.8GHz | 4.7GHz | $350 |
| Ryzen 7 5700X | 8 / 16 | 65W | 32MB | 3.4GHz | 4.6GHz | $180 |
| Ryzen 7 5700G | 8 / 16 | 65W | 16MB | 3.8GHz | 4.6GHz | $200 |
| Ryzen 5 5600X3D | 6 / 12 | 105W | 96MB | 3.3GHz | 4.4GHz | $229 |
| Ryzen 5 5600X | 6 / 12 | 65W | 32MB | 3.7GHz | 4.6GHz | $180 |
| Ryzen 5 5600G | 6 / 12 | 65W | 16MB | 3.9GHz | 4.4GHz | $130 |
| Ryzen 5 5600 | 6 / 12 | 65W | 32MB | 3.5GHz | 4.4GHz | $120 |
| Ryzen 5 5500 | 6 / 12 | 65W | 16MB | 3.6GHz | 4.2GHz | $94 |
Back on point, six-core, 12-thread Ryzen 5 5600X3D’s $229 price makes sense when one uncovers the rest of AMD’s AM4-based Ryzen 5000 Series CPUs. Featuring lower base and boost clocks than regular 5600X, the presence of 3D V-Cache means there’s also less scope for overclocking. In other words, better options exist for regular day-to-day work.
Going by what we have previously seen on the eight-core, 16-thread 5800X3D, however, Ryzen 5 5600X3D will absolutely shine in gaming workloads, making it a worthwhile addition to the firmament. One snag is much higher peak power consumption than other Ryzen 5 chips – 105W vs. 65W – but that’s a price worth paying for the keen gamer limited by budget.
Our commentary speaks to Ryzen 5 5600X3D being a smart move on AMD’s part. Millions of AM4 motherboards are ready to accept this gaming-focussed CPU with open arms, albeit with, one would presume, a BIOS update. So why do we mention it’s a strange CPU in the headline? Turns out this particular chip is only available via Micro Center from July 7, which puts a spanner in many enthusiasts’ works – the retailer is a brick-and-mortar store with no provision for shipping. Say hello to the year 2000.
Not a huge deal for US customers as 25 Micro Center stores are located nationwide, the rest of us will need to phone a friend and ask a favour.
