Zoom in / AMD’s Ryzen 5 5600X3D.
AMD
A surprising twist for owners of older AMD PCs with an AM4 socket: AMD is announcing one (?) final processor for the legacy socket, a six-core Ryzen 5 5600X3D that brings the company’s 3D V-Cache chip-stacking technology to $229.
Catch? The new CPU will only be available through Micro Center, a tech retailer that does not ship most of what it sells to online buyers. The chip will only be sold as long as Micro Center supplies remain off, though Tom’s Hardware reports that the company will have “several months” in stock.
| AMD Zen 3 CPUs | Street price | cores/threads | hours (base/batch) | L3 cache | TDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryzen 5 5600 | $129 | 6/12 | 3.5 / 4.4 GHz | 32 MB | 65 watts |
| Ryzen 5 5600X | $149 | 6/12 | 3.7 / 4.6 GHz | 32 MB | 65 watts |
| Ryzen 5 5600X3D | $229 (MSRP) | 6/12 | 3.3 / 4.4 GHz | 96 MB | 105 watts |
| Ryzen 7 5800X3D | $289 | 8/16 | 3.4 / 4.5 GHz | 96 MB | 120 watts |
Like the Ryzen 5800X3D, the 5600X3D combines the regular Zen 3 processor with an extra 64MB of L3 cache stacked on top. Compared to its regular Zen 3 counterparts—in this case, the Ryzen 5 5600 and 5600X—the chip will draw slightly more power and run at somewhat lower clock speeds, making it slower than non-X3D chips at tasks that don’t. I can’t make use of the extra cache. They also have limited overclocking and undervoltage support. However, games tend to use the extra cache a lot, which benefits people who want to pair a high-end GPU with a cheaper CPU that won’t hold them back.
With a price drop from $449 to the high $200 range, the original eight-core Ryzen 5800X3D is a more attractive upgrade for people with older AM4-socket gaming PCs that they want to upgrade on the cheap (although eight-core chips like the 5700X and 5800 are still X is very capable and up to $100 cheaper).
The 5600X3D should also be a great gaming chip for the price, if you can get it. The Ryzen 7800X3D has fewer cores than the flagship 7950X3D, but it ran games nearly as quickly in our tests—we expect a similar relationship between the 5800X3D and the 5600X3D.
Owners of legacy socket AM4 systems must update the BIOS before installing the new chip — AMD says that BIOS systems that support 5000 series chips should at least boot with the 5600X3D installed, but “AMD always recommends that customers update to the latest BIOS to take advantage of this triple Dimensions with V technique. cache.” Last year, the company expanded support for Ryzen 5000 CPUs to all AM4-socket systems, including motherboards with 300-series chipsets dating back to 2017. Initially, only the latest 400 and 500 chipsets were supported.
The 5600X3D could also be an attractive alternative to Intel Core i5 processors for people who collect high-end, price-conscious gaming PCs — AM4 motherboards are still cheap and plentiful, and use cheap DDR4 RAM rather than forcing an upgrade to DDR5 at a higher price point. If you can afford it, the socket AM5 platform will save you several more years of chip upgrades, which could make the investment worth it in the long run.
If the 5600X3D sounds interesting to you and you live within easy commuting distance of Micro Center, the new chip goes on sale July 7th.
