Home > CPU Comparison > Ryzen 7 3700X or Ryzen 5 5600X: what's better?

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X vs Ryzen 5 5600X

42 out of 100
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
VS
48 out of 100
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X

We compared two desktop CPUs: the 3.6 GHz AMD Ryzen 7 3700X with 8-cores against the 3.7 GHz Ryzen 5 5600X with 6-cores. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.

  1. Review
  2. Differences
  3. Performance
  4. Specs
  5. Comments (54)

Review

General overview and comparison of the processors
Single-Core Performance
Performance in single-threaded apps and benchmarks
Multi-Core Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of power consumption
The "iGPU" and "Power Efficiency" have a minor impact on the NanoReview Score for desktop CPU.
NanoReview Final Score
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
๐Ÿ”Œ Usage Scenario:

Value for money (Beta)

Global average CPU prices are used by default! For better accuracy, enter your current prices and click โ€œCalculate".
Currency
VS
35.3
(Mediocre)
Value Index
48.0
(Average)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between 5600X and 3700X
Advantages of AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
  • Has 2 more physical cores
Advantages of AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
  • 33% faster in a single-core Geekbench v6 test - 2173 vs 1640 points
  • Newer - released 1 year and 3 months later
  • Around 3.52 GB/s (7%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
  • 5% higher Turbo Boost frequency (4.6 GHz vs 4.4 GHz)

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
Ryzen 7 3700X
vs
Ryzen 5 5600X

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
Cinebench 2026 (Single) - 459
Cinebench 2026 (Multi) - 2477
Submit your benchmark results

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Ryzen 7 3700X
1640
Ryzen 5 5600X +33%
2173
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
File compression 673.4 MB/sec 954.5 MB/sec
Clang compilation 77.6 Klines/sec 66.2 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 162.9 pages/sec 169 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 242 Mpixels/sec 245 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 151.6 pages/sec 213.5 pages/sec
Background blur 38.1 images/sec 47.2 images/sec
Photo processing 54.1 images/sec 68.8 images/sec
Ray tracing 18.8 Mpixels/sec 16 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] โ€“ 550 & 1003 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Ryzen 7 3700X
2654
Ryzen 5 5600X +27%
3366
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
Ryzen 7 3700X +3%
22401
Ryzen 5 5600X
21824
Integer math 66.3 GOps/sec 70.6 GOps/sec
Floating point math 39 GOps/sec 39.5 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 97M Primes/sec 135M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 32.1M Strings/sec 26.2M Strings/sec
Data encryption 18.9 GBytes/sec 15.7 GBytes/sec
Data compression 296.3 MBytes/sec 252.2 MBytes/sec
Physics 1175 Frames/sec 1307 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 19.2B Matrices/sec 17B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] โ€“ 26391 & 35079 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
Ryzen 7 3700X +16%
181.78
Ryzen 5 5600X
156.48

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 10.6 PPW 9 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 129.1 PPW 140.5 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 344.6 PPW 335.8 PPW
Blender / Watt 2.8 PPW 2.41 PPW
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
DateBenchmarkResult
๐Ÿ“˜ 2026-04-21 (Louis)Cinebench 202473 / 663
๐Ÿ“˜ 2026-02-06 (Azuki_12)Cinebench 202469 / 715
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-01-31 (@ProfitHound Youtube)Cinebench 202474 / 688
๐Ÿ“˜ 2024-12-04 (Av8orGamer)Cinebench 202476 / 696
๐Ÿ“˜ 2024-09-27 (Nathan/Naskun)Cinebench 202473 / 693
Add View all (7)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
DateBenchmarkResult
๐Ÿ“˜ 2026-09-20 (CTB)Cinebench 2026497 / 2892
๐Ÿ“˜ 2026-08-17 (dolip)Cinebench 2026459 / 2477
๐Ÿ“˜ 2026-04-07 (Skull)Cinebench 202493 / 592
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-11-24 (Suhail Alharbi)Geekbench 6 CPU2174 / 9054
๐Ÿ“˜ 2025-11-24 (Suhail Alharbi)Cinebench 202490 / 583
Add View all (20)

Specifications

Full technical specification of AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and Ryzen 5 5600X

General

Vendor Amd Amd
Released July 7, 2019 October 8, 2020
Type Desktop Desktop
Instruction Set x86-64 x86-64
Codename - Zen 3 (Vermeer)
Integrated GPU No No
Rival Equivalent - Intel Core i7 9700K - Intel Core i5 11600K
Successor - AMD Ryzen 7 9700X - AMD Ryzen 5 9600X
AMD Ryzen CPU ranking (154th and 124th place)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 8 6
P-Threads 16 12
Base Frequency (P) 3.6 GHz 3.7 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) 4.4 GHz 4.6 GHz
Total
Total Cores 8 6
Total Threads 16 12
Bus Frequency 100 MHz 100 MHz
Multiplier 36x 37x
L1 Cache 64K (per core) 64K (per core)
L2 Cache 512K (per core) 512K (per core)
L3 Cache 32MB (shared) 32MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier Yes Yes

Package

Transistors 3.8 billions -
Fabrication Process 7 nm 7 nm
TDP (PL1) 65 W 65 W
Max. Boost TDP (PL2) - 88 W
Socket AM4 AM4
Peak Temperature 95ยฐC 95ยฐC
Desktop CPU ranking (142nd and 119th place)

Memory Support

Memory Types - DDR4-3200 - DDR4-3200
Max. Memory Size 128 GB 128 GB
Memory Channels 2 2
Max. Memory Bandwidth 47.68 GB/s 51.2 GB/s
ECC Support Yes Yes

Misc

Official Site AMD Ryzen 7 3700X official page AMD Ryzen 5 5600X official page
PCI Express Version 4.0 4.0
PCI Express Lanes 16 20

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
1676 (40.5%)
2465 (59.5%)
Total votes: 4141

Competitors

1. AMD Ryzen 7 3700X vs AMD Ryzen 5 9600X
2. AMD Ryzen 7 3700X vs AMD Ryzen 7 9700X
3. AMD Ryzen 7 3700X vs AMD Ryzen 7 5700X
4. AMD Ryzen 7 3700X vs AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
5. AMD Ryzen 7 3700X vs AMD Ryzen 5 7600X
6. AMD Ryzen 5 5600X vs AMD Ryzen 5 5600
7. AMD Ryzen 5 5600X vs AMD Ryzen 7 5700X (5)
8. AMD Ryzen 5 5600X vs Intel Core i5 12400F (13)
Compare other CPUs (460+)

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X or Ryzen 7 3700X?
๐ŸŒ Register your profile and become part of NanoReview community!
Avatar
Harsh Singh December 9, 2020 at 07:25 PM
Hey guys I'm building a new pc for gaming and streaming my needs are high fps gaming on 1080p 144hz monitor while streaming in 1080p and also good 4k gaming performance the parts I've chosen are below- MSI B550 GAMING PLUS(BEST VRM IN MY RANGE Kingston a2000 500gb SSD 750W PSU Deepcool 4 fan case MSI RTX 3070 2X OC VENTUS 16GB 3200Mhz RAM ADATA SPECTRIX RGB CL16 Which processor should I buy ? RYZEN 7 3700X or Ryzen 5 5600X?
+180 Reply
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Ishan December 16, 2020 at 04:49 AM
Go with 5600x. It will give high fps and almost same productivity.
+32 Reply
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Ishan December 16, 2020 at 04:50 AM
U can even save money and get a 650w or a gigabyte p700h and spend it on some other necessary parts
+8 Reply
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CheapAcE January 27, 2021 at 02:25 PM
You can change the 16gb ram with 32 for better streaming in some games!
+10 Reply
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CheapAcE January 27, 2021 at 02:26 PM
You should buy ryzen 5 5600x for better fps tho
+15 Reply
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Chris April 16, 2021 at 06:49 PM
If I were you I would go with the 3700x because it has more cores for streaming. Also if you had a little extra money I would upgrade to 32 gb of ram instead of 16
+2 Reply
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Guest 456 May 8, 2022 at 10:06 AM
You should purchase ryzen 5 5600X, it helps me a lot.
+3 Reply
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Jake December 8, 2020 at 01:37 AM
Hey, I'm planning on making a high end pc with RTX 3070, I'm confused whether I should buy r5 5600x for faster cores or r7 3700x. I'm playing games such as csgo, valorant, fortnite, and apex. Which should I buy?
+43 Reply
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root December 8, 2020 at 10:09 AM
Both will be good, but go for 5600x)
+29 Reply
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Sean November 9, 2020 at 02:33 PM
Could I still use the Ryzen 7 3700X when I update my B550 MB for the support for 3rd GEN Ryzen?
0 Reply
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PCDude November 9, 2020 at 10:32 PM
Of course. BIOS update is expanding the list of supported CPUs, not making the older models obsolete.
+13 Reply
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alex November 8, 2020 at 01:53 PM
Wait for 5800x/5900 for price to fall down, after all 5600x sold out, bf is near so wait. In my country 10700k is 250$ atm and is best of the deal cause mobo can support 1 more cpu release and is basically equal to 5600x and a lot cheaper. 5600x > 3700x gaming 3700x > 5600x productivity intel has best of both. at 250$ with future mobo proof, is best deal.
+29 Reply
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Linus November 11, 2020 at 11:30 PM
Where do you buy a 10700k for 250โ‚ฌ ?
+36 Reply
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PCDude November 7, 2020 at 07:09 PM
Given the price and low availability of 5600x, I'm considering getting a 3700x. Is this a good idea at this point? 3700x price is already lower here, than release price of 5600x I would pair that 3700x either with Nvidia RTX 3070 or AMD 6800 (RDNA2).
+22 Reply
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root November 8, 2020 at 01:28 PM
Go for 3700x, it's still a good choice, especially for it's price.
+6 Reply
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PCDude November 9, 2020 at 10:34 PM
Root, Yea I figured as much. At the moment 5600x has superior single core performance, but soon games which use all 8 cores are going to be more and more common. At that moment I figure 3700x might start having an edge vs 5600x due to having 2 extra cores that do the job. In some sense 3700x might age like wine when it comes to modern gaming.
+11 Reply
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TrintThe? November 11, 2020 at 01:31 AM
PCDude, I though that's not how games and CPUs works. I'm pretty sure games just use as much as the CPUs gives them in raw power and not really caring much about specifically how many cores. Isn't their a VERY minimal difference between the Ryzen 5, 7, and 9 for frame rates across games of all ages despite all having different core counts?
+5 Reply
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PCDude November 12, 2020 at 12:28 AM
TrintThe?, It depends on the game. Not all games can use 8c/16t, but now the new generation of consoles is here, so new games should utilize 8c/16t on normal basis. Due to this an older 3700x might suddenly even up or even surpass 5600x 6c/12t. Time will tell, but the way I see it 3700x might be quite futureproof thanks to the superior amount of cores/threads.
+5 Reply
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Enchanted November 5, 2020 at 08:10 PM
I am stumped whether to go for a 3700x or 5600x. Gaming performance is the most important factor so 5600x seems like a no-brainer, but one deal breaker for me is the included stock cooler. As this would be my first build, I would want a cooler that doesnโ€™t require applying thermal compound. The stock cooler on the 3700x seems like a better option for me, partly because of the RGB since, it obviously leads to more performance. Jokes aside, itโ€™s also better at cooling than the stock cooler for the 5600x. I am open to good cooler options though! It would be a good experience to learn how to apply thermal paste anyways. Thanks, Enchanted
+32 Reply
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Ike November 6, 2020 at 12:14 AM
You can buy that same cooler for $30-$40 and it should have the same paste applied. Iโ€™ve got a 3700x temporarily while waiting for the 5600x. I suggest going that way for the gaming performance, especially if you are getting a new 6000 series GPU.
+6 Reply
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TheRealJoe24 November 6, 2020 at 12:31 AM
I would go with the 3700x. First thing: stocking, do you think you will be able to get one before the end of the year? Second: physical cores, the 3700x has a higher core and thread count. Third: Testing, there is nothing out there yet for the 5600x and the bios is still in beta as far I as I know. Applying thermal paste isn't very difficult but I do not know as this is my first build too. I went with the 3700x for my personal build. I bought it last week for close to $50 off msrp and deals like those are a great reason to get one. Also multicore performance, although not important for gaming, is great for productivity. I would say the 3700x is always the better choice if you are planning on getting a great gpu in 2020. I am really glad though that I found this comment as I was having the same dilemma and I refused to view any benchmarks or reviews for the new cpus and when I did, I realized I was not going to miss out on much. I hope this answered your question, TheRealJoe24
+15 Reply
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Gauthier November 5, 2020 at 05:42 PM
Got the same Dilemma between these two. I'm a gamer but i would stream sometimes. I saw in early benchmarks that the 5600X gains around 20% more fps in games than the 3700X. So that's a big jump of course. I an other review was the 3700x 5% better in streaming and gaming together so i think i take the 5600X.
+17 Reply
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CC^ November 7, 2020 at 06:00 AM
> another review was the 3700x 5% better in streaming and gaming together May I ask from what review did you get this info from?
+36 Reply
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Sean November 5, 2020 at 04:13 PM
Hi, I'm building a content creation PC and I was wondering which of the two is better. I know that they have similar performances despite the 7 3700X having 2 more cores but it has ECC support. Which should I choose now? Don't worry about the price between the two.
+13 Reply
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root November 5, 2020 at 04:35 PM
For content creation I would go for 3700x.
0 Reply
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Sean November 5, 2020 at 07:12 PM
Root, Does the 3700x support the "SMART ACCESS MEMORY" feature when I will buy and pair it with a Radeon 6000 series GPU? I'm planning to buy that since it supports the AV1 encoder format which some say is better than the NVENC encoder when doing content creation.
+24 Reply
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RGB November 5, 2020 at 07:32 PM
Got to have that RGB cooler ;p. so Ryzen 7 3700x
+1 Reply
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TheRealJoe24 November 6, 2020 at 12:32 AM
RGB, same here. The cooler is just awesome
+1 Reply
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wiiuboy619 November 6, 2020 at 01:49 AM
RGB, @RGB, you can pick up an rgb cooler for around 45 bucks, which isnt a lot when ur spending 500 on a cpu + gpu
0 Reply
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Yaboi November 6, 2020 at 06:25 AM
Sean, As of rn itโ€™s only for 5000 series. I doubt they would add it to the 3000 but who knows
0 Reply
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Kkk November 6, 2020 at 09:32 AM
Sean, I think they said it only works if you have 5000 series cpu but i m not sure.
+1 Reply
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Vin November 16, 2020 at 08:05 AM
Sean, I believe no, Smart Access memory will only be available for 6000 gpu series and zen 3 processors.
0 Reply
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Peyton November 3, 2020 at 03:00 PM
Both of them are pretty much the same price. For gaming and streaming, does the fact that the 3700X has 2 more cores make it the better deal, or does the fact that the 5600X have better single-core performance make it better? How would two extra cores affect stream performance? I know from experience with my 1600X and 1050 ti that only having 6 cores results in pretty severe frame drops (even on 30fps), terrible pixel rendering, and a result that looks like a 5-year-old tried to paint half the pixels.
+17 Reply
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Peyton November 3, 2020 at 04:46 PM
Looking back, the fact that I used a 1050 ti and did full HD rendering probably didn't help matters.
+9 Reply
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Simon November 2, 2020 at 03:21 AM
I am afraid 5600X starting price will come higher.
0 Reply
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Isaac November 2, 2020 at 09:32 PM
Itโ€™s 300$ For ryzen 5 and 330 for the 7
0 Reply
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Dee November 3, 2020 at 10:01 PM
Isaac, Microcenter has one for 279.99 and a 3800x for 299.00 and 20$ off a motherboard if you purchase one
+3 Reply
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TheRealJoe24 November 6, 2020 at 12:34 AM
Dee, Yeah that is a great deal. I price matched at best buy to get a $279 3700x and I could not be happier with the price
0 Reply
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wiiuboy619 November 6, 2020 at 04:15 AM
Dee, im lucky to have a microcenter 15 mins away, its 280 bucks there?
0 Reply
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Anray October 31, 2020 at 02:59 AM
Hello, I'm interested in building a PC for Gaming, maybe Streaming, Video Editing (Adobe Premiere) and Music Production (FL Studio). I'm not sure if I should go for the 3700x or the 5600x, I know the 3700x is better in multitasking but I'm not sure if more cores are better or if less but faster cores are better, maybe someone could help me to select one?
+81 Reply
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Gamer 3000 November 2, 2020 at 01:13 PM
Hello Anray. Acuttaly there is only little difference in mutli core performence. So you can buy ryzen 5 5600x
+4 Reply
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Isaac November 2, 2020 at 09:33 PM
The 5 will be enough and cheap
0 Reply
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Anray November 3, 2020 at 03:30 PM
Isaac, Thank you so much, Guys!
0 Reply
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TheRealJoe24 November 6, 2020 at 12:35 AM
If you are on a budget, go with the 3700x. It has a higher core count and better multitasking and all of that makes a huge difference in those tasks
+1 Reply
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Preston October 29, 2020 at 05:20 PM
I can get a Ryzen 7 3700x for $279.99 at my micro center. Should I get it or wait for the 5600x?
+67 Reply
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David November 1, 2020 at 02:25 PM
I'm looking for a deal on a 3700X or 3800X on Black Friday.
+7 Reply
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Pranav November 3, 2020 at 03:35 AM
Thats a very good deal! go forth and get it
0 Reply
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Dee November 3, 2020 at 10:02 PM
I did yesterday, got a new mb too for the extra 20$ off
0 Reply
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TheRealJoe24 November 6, 2020 at 12:36 AM
I went for that deal and it is really good. I was worried about zen3 and black friday deals, but no black friday deal will be lower than that. Definitely get it
0 Reply
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Ale October 19, 2020 at 05:24 PM
For streaming and gaming ? Which one ?
+24 Reply
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Chris October 19, 2020 at 07:19 PM
For streaming and gaming it would be a close one, because the 3700x has more cores and threads it will be better for streaming by a small amount but the 5600x will be a little better at gaming. The 3700x is more expensive by $30 so the 5600x would be what I would choose.
+1 Reply
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Mark October 23, 2020 at 12:32 PM
Chris, Im having this decision issue right now but not sure the prices will be different between them in Europe
0 Reply
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Dan October 26, 2020 at 05:44 AM
Mark, Think a availability as well.
0 Reply
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Siddhesh October 31, 2020 at 11:28 AM
I think you should go for Ryzen 5 5600x
0 Reply
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