AMD RYZEN 5 3600 - $229.99+$5 shipping

Would this be better than the similarly priced Ryzen 7 2700x?

JordanO81 wrote: ↑ Would this be better than the similarly priced Ryzen 7 2700x?

Much better single core performance with comparable multicore performance. This will generally be better for gaming.

JordanO81 wrote: ↑ Would this be better than the similarly priced Ryzen 7 2700x?

I wouldn't compare it against the 2700X. A more fair comparison if you're interested in a series 7 Ryzen would be the 2700 (~$200) based on at least a common TDP. An even more fair comparison would be against the Ryzen 5 2600 (~$160), which has the same number of cores and TDP. Thermal Design Power is essentially the amount of power (watts) it draws.

The 3600 is the successor to the 2600 and thus is built on a more modern process and includes support for PCIe 4.0 with a X570 board. It is generally regarded that the 3600 is worth the upgrade, particularly if you plan on keeping the processor for a while and are not too budget constrained. The primary reason to consider a 7 series processor instead is to get the extra two cores for data/VM/media-heavy processing (Blendor, DaVinci Resolve, ...), but if you're serious about this kind of work, consider going to the 3700X if you can. Otherwise, the 2700X for $20 more over the 2700 is worth it given the better stock cooler that comes with it.

But as @ImADecoy wrote, the 3600 is in the sweet spot for most people.

Edit: For sake of completeness, now with the appearance of the Ryzen 5 1600 AF (12nm) for as low as US$85 when available (shipping only within the US) - and given that it performs almost identically to the 2600 - it is the best budget option if you're also buying a discrete GPU (i.e. video card). Otherwise get something with a built-in APU like the Ryzen 3 3200G (~$130) or an even better value, the Ryzen 5 3400G (~$190) - great if you're never going to do more than general office/browsing work.

Amazing feedback. Thanks all. Not too familiar with computer processors and am looking to build my first PC with the purpose of efficiently running Photoshop/Lightroom.

This seems like the lowest 'legit' price so far or close to it..I dont see it dropping significantly anytime soon?

Great price, I missed the amazon matching price so opted to grab at CC locally for 239.

When memory express does price matching do they add the shipping costs to the matched price?

zebracobra007 wrote: ↑ When memory express does price matching do they add the shipping costs to the matched price?

I believe their matched price does not include whatever shipping options are available to you.

Shipping has gone up to $19, and now being shipped from the US.

Memory Express did price match at $229.99

JordanO81 wrote: ↑ Amazing feedback. Thanks all. Not too familiar with computer processors and am looking to build my first PC with the purpose of efficiently running Photoshop/Lightroom.

Then you absolutely should be aiming for the AMD Ryzen 5 3600. Those applications are most reliant on CPU frequency (source). So much so in fact that you may be one of the few who could even consider the almost identical 3600X, especially if you can get it for only $20 or so more. The fringe exceptions would be: 1. If you were experienced and enjoyed overclocking your machine, then one of the 9xxxK series of Intel CPUs at probably double the money may be one option; or 2. If money was burning holes in your pockets or you were a big time professional, then the AMD Ryzen 9 3900x (~$650) at stock configuration will give you a small bump in performance. I would sooner put the money into the best RAM you can find (aim for DDR4 3600 (PC4 28800) and low CL) and secondly into a good motherboard (aim for x570) and potentially into a faster M.2 NVMe SSD (aim for 1TB at $200).

Edit: here are some Intel CPUs potentially worth your time to check out: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/products/cp ... 00&s=12,13 (the 'K' indicates overclockable (all Ryzen ones are by default) and 'F' indicates without an APU). You'd also have to buy a CPU cooler as Intel doesn't include any.