I'm on a tight budget for my new PC build and I've narrowed my choices down to the Ryzen 5 3600 and Ryzen 5 5500, both priced the same in my area. The 3600 has a better L3 cache and supports PCIe 4.0, while the 5500 features a newer architecture and better power consumption based on some benchmarks I've seen. My main focus is gaming, and I'll be using a B450 motherboard paired with an RTX 2060. Initially, I opted for the 3600 because it was cheaper, but now that the prices are equal and the 5500 shows slight advantages in FPS and power usage in some videos, I'm not sure which one to pick. I would have gone for the Ryzen 5 5600, but it's outside my budget right now.
3 Answers
I personally lean towards the Ryzen 5 5500 if both are priced the same. The newer architecture can offer better efficiency and performance across many titles. It’s close between the two, but the 5500 might edge out just slightly in general gaming due to its improvements. Just keep in mind that individual game performance can vary.
Generally, newer games tend to optimize for newer architectures, so titles that push more graphical limits could favor the 5500.
I think you should stick to the Ryzen 5 3600 like I did. I've used the 5500 too, and while it’s decent, in day-to-day tasks and most games, the 3600 delivers similar, if not better, performance. The older generation has often shown to be cheaper while not sacrificing much in performance.
What made you choose the 3600 over the 5500 back then?
Mainly because of its price and reliability. Plus, higher cache can help with performance in several gaming scenarios.
I'd recommend going with the Ryzen 5 3600. The PCIe 4.0 support is a minor point unless you're using cutting-edge NVMe drives, and the larger cache on the 3600 can be beneficial for gaming performance in many cases. While the 5500 does have a newer architecture, the performance difference is usually not drastic. If you're keeping things budget-friendly, the 3600 should serve you well.
Absolutely! Cache can impact how games perform, especially since they process different amounts of data. The 3600's cache might give it an edge in specific titles.
But for gaming specifically, isn't the cache difference something to consider?
Are there specific games that benefit more from the 5500?