[SOLVED] 3500x or 3600?

[jaymes2015]

The 3500x is a China CPU. Will the 3500x compatible with our motherboards sold in US?
My co worker is selling his used 3500x for $130. I don’t want to buy it and turns out I have to do extra tuning just to operate it properly. Or, should I stick to buying the 3600?

 

[helpstar]

check your motherboard´s compatibility list, usually the 3500X is listed there and the CPU will work out of the box

e.g. https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/B450-TOMAHAWK-MAX#support-cpu

 

[RodroX]

Hi, the 3600 is a good buy, but if you strip it down of its extra 6 logical cores, it doens't make a huge sense.

I would instead go with the https://www.microcenter.com/product...f-coffee-lake-29-ghz-lga-1151-boxed-processor.

Unless you already own an AM4 motherboard, if thats the case, and you don't have a great AM4 CPU then it may be worth it to buy the R5 3500X.

But then again, I would ask, What AM4 CPU you have now? (if you own one)

 

[jaymes2015]

check your motherboard´s compatibility list, usually the 3500X is listed there and the CPU will work out of the box

e.g. https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/B450-TOMAHAWK-MAX#support-cpu

I haven’t thought of that. Yeah I’ll check the list.

Hi, the 3600 is a good buy, but if you strip it down of its extra 6 logical cores, it doens't make a huge sense.

I would instead go with the https://www.microcenter.com/product...f-coffee-lake-29-ghz-lga-1151-boxed-processor.

Unless you already own an AM4 motherboard, if thats the case, and you don't have a great AM4 CPU then it may be worth it to buy the R5 3500X.

But then again, I would ask, What AM4 CPU you have now? (if you own one)

Nice suggestions.
I owned the b450 Tomahawk, currently running on R3 2200G. Thinking about an upgrade. I might just go with the 3600.

 

[WildCard999]

I wouldn't want to be limited to 6 cores on Ryzen and would take the 2600 or X variant over the 3500X.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Get the 3600. The 6 threads in the 3500x will likely limit you sooner rather than later.

 

[King_V]

The 3500x is a China CPU. Will the 3500x compatible with our motherboards sold in US?
My co worker is selling his used 3500x for $130. I don’t want to buy it and turns out I have to do extra tuning just to operate it properly. Or, should I stick to buying the 3600?

If you're in the US, then your co-worker is completely screwing you. A 3500X is a 3600 with a slightly lower boost clock (4.1GHz vs the 3600's 4.2GHz), and with multi-threading disabled (so, 6 core, 6 thread instead of 6 core 12 thread).

I'd rather pay $45 more (ie: $175) for the 3600, new with a full warranty.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/9nm323/amd-ryzen-5-3600-36-thz-6-core-processor-100-100000031box

Though, were it me, honestly, I'd instead choose pay $10 less (ie: $120)for the slightly slower 2600, again, new with a full warranty.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/jLF48d/amd-ryzen-5-2600-34ghz-6-core-processor-yd2600bbafbox

Or, if you REALLY want to go full-on bang-for-buck, the 1600AF version (12nm refresh of the 1600, basically a slightly down-clocked 2600) for only $85. Again, new with full warranty. This is what I went for with my son's new PC in December, and I haven't regretted it.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XTQZJ28


All three of those (3600, 2600, 1600 12nm refresh) are 6-core, 12-thread chips.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

And the 1600af, toss a good cooler on there and overclock.

 

[mdd1963]

Catch the 2600 or 2600X on sale...

Just be aware the 3600 is now as hitting as low as $160-ish on sale...(it is clearly worth $40-$60 more than the 2600X)

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Agreed. Keep an eye out as well. In a few months I think we'll see ryzen 4000 launch. Then those 3000 series will probably be on good sales.