Update: AMD's Ryzen 5 3600 Mainstream 6-Core CPU On Sale For Low $160

by Brandon Hill — Saturday, March 21, 2020, 06:45 PM EDT

AMD has encountered a lot of success with its Ryzen 3000 family of processors, which offer a compelling balance of performance, value, and power efficiency that gamers are looking for. While all of us would likely love to have a 12-core Ryzen 9 3900X or 16-core Ryzen 9 3950X in our gaming rigs, some of us with more limited budgets are instead looking at processors in the sub-$200 range.

That leads us to the Ryzen 5 3600, which is available right now from Newegg for a low $164.99. The retailer typically sells the processor for $179.99, but it is discounting the processor by $15 with the coupon code EMCDEDR23. You of course get free shipping with the processor, and it also comes with a free three-month trial of Xbox Game Pass for PC. Newegg says that this represents a $29.99 added value to the deal.

The relatively low pricing of the Ryzen 5 3600 along with its strong performance has meant that it is consistently one of the best-selling processors across all online retail platforms. It was by far the best-selling processor at German retailer Mindfactory (which keeps a detailed track of CPU sales data), and it remains the #1 seller over at Amazon (where it's priced at $174.99).

AMD's Ryzen 5 3600 6-core/12-thread Processor $164.99 @ Newegg

The Ryzen 5 3600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor with a TDP of 65 watts. It has a base clock of 3.6GHz and a maximum boost clock of 4.2GHz. The AM4-socket Zen 2 processor is built on TSMC's 7nm FinFET process tech, and supports the PCIe 4.0 interface (when coupled with an AMD X570-based motherboard) along with DDR4-3200 memory.

We should mention that the Ryzen 5 3600 comes with a Wraith Stealth cooler in the box, so that's one less thing that you have to worry about purchasing. It should also be noted that if you happen to have a MicroCenter store nearby, you can get the same processor for $159.99 with free in-store pickup. Unfortunately, MicroCenters are only located in 16 states and they do not ship processors out of state.

Updated 3/21/2020 @ 6:45
Amazon is now selling the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 for $160 with free Prime Shipping

Tags: deals, AMD, Newegg, (nasdaq:amd), ryzen 5 3600

Brandon Hill

Brandon received his first PC, an IBM Aptiva 310, in 1994 and hasn’t looked back since. He cut his teeth on computer building/repair working at a mom and pop computer shop as a plucky teen in the mid 90s and went on to join AnandTech as the Senior News Editor in 1999. Brandon would later help to form DailyTech where he served as Editor-in-Chief from 2008 until 2014. Brandon is a tech geek at heart, and family members always know where to turn when they need free tech support. When he isn’t writing about the tech hardware or studying up on the latest in mobile gadgets, you’ll find him browsing forums that cater to his long-running passion: automobiles.

Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.