[SOLVED] Why is there a Ryzen 5 3500X?

ManOfArc

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Jul 8, 2017
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Probably a dumb question... but the 3500X is selling for the same (or more) than the 3600, but has only 6 threads. And has nearly the same clock speeds. What is its purpose? AMD unloading 3600s that fail SMT, maybe?
 
Jan 8, 2020
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I have the ryzen 3500x and it cost me way cheaper than the 3600 about 60 to 80 euro cheaper from AliExpress. I have it overclocked to 4.4ghz and my God it's an amazing chip it games better than my 2700x. It's practically a 3600 without the extra threads.
 
Jan 8, 2020
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Probably a dumb question... but the 3500X is selling for the same (or more) than the 3600, but has only 6 threads. And has nearly the same clock speeds. What is its purpose? AMD unloading 3600s that fail SMT, maybe?
In the UK THEY SELL
Probably a dumb question... but the 3500X is selling for the same (or more) than the 3600, but has only 6 threads. And has nearly the same clock speeds. What is its purpose? AMD unloading 3600s that fail SMT, maybe?
In the UK THEY are selling for £120 versus say £175. But the 3600 will come with a cooler and the 3500X doesn't. That seems a fair price based on the reported benchmarks. That said there aren't many about and 2700X is comparable SC and superior MC. A second hand 2700X can be had for maybe £10 more so the 3500X aren't selling fast. They sit there on eBay then go for between 100 to 120 as far as I can see.

As people have said it is OEM and not for the Western markets where it makes little sense. There was some talk about the SC being better than 3 600 but it wasn't by much and you can just disable hyperthreading on the 3600 and get a 3500X. When you need the extra threads turn it back on again.

It did cross my mind to buy one and see if there were any collectors but it didn't seem worth the gamble. There isn't really anything special about it and I don't get the collectors of things like CPU, cases yes, and I have a bit of a soft spot for AM1 motherboards (like paying up to £50 for some!) but CPU not so much.
 

ManOfArc

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Jul 8, 2017
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Must be a regional thing, then. Here is the US, Newegg is selling the 3500X for $199.99 and the 3600 for $194.99 (as of today). Seems like the 3600 would be preferable since it comes with twice the thread count.

Is there some benefit that the 3500X has over the 3600 that I don't know about?
 

ManOfArc

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Jul 8, 2017
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I guess I'm wondering what its purpose was in the first place? Unloading bad chips that need the SMT disabled, maybe? But even that doesn't make sense selling at the same price as the 3600. And why the "X". Is there a 3500 sold somewhere too?
 
Jan 8, 2020
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Ignore the 3500. It is irrelevant
Still selling for £120 in the UK. You can get the 3600 for say 180 so it is about right as threads aren't cores. Except you don't get a cooler which makes it poor value. Better to save for a 3600, get a cooler and proper support. I think these will disappear fast from the western market. Too expensive. You can get 6 cores and threads for the same price with a 2600, and a cooler. I'm seeing 3400g crop up around £100 new recently as well. So the 3500x serves no purpose