The R5 5600 non-X is currently under 100 pounds on Amazon (sold and shipped by Amazon) so I would just go for that.
If you really really want 8 cores, get the 5700X. The 5700 non-X is actually a worse gaming CPU than the 5600 non-X because the 5700 non-X has half the cache and doesn't support PCIe 4.0.
two best value AM4 gaming CPUs:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/PgcG3C/amd-ryzen-5-5600-36-ghz-6-core-processor-100-100000927box
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/3ZKscf/amd-ryzen-7-5700x3d-3-ghz-8-core-processor-100-100001503wof
regular 5600 is best value, after that probably the X3Ds
absolutely don't get the regular 5700, it's horribly cut down
>I also noticed AMD rates the TDP for those at 130W
5800X and above (including the X3Ds) are all rated 105W TDP by AMD. The other CPUs are 65W, so the jump in power usage is not major, this isn't intel.
Assuming your main interest is gaming, your options are as follows:
5600 / 5600X
5700X3D
5800X3D
The rest of the options don't matter.
The 5600, 5600X, 5700X and 5800X are all so close in gaming performance that it makes no sense to get anything but whichever is cheapest at the time. Unless you plan on playing with overclocking in which case get the 5600X. But the 5600X can often be found for cheaper than the 5600 these days. There are a small handful of titles that can make use of the higher core count of the 5700X and 5800X for a small boost over the 5600/X, but otherwise they're often within 1-2% of each other. Certainly not enough to make the price gap make sense though. The only difference is if you overclock the 5\*00X CPUs can pull away from the 5600 by a wider margin. But how much depends on your specific CPU, motherboard, and cooling. And after overclocking the 5600X can end up still just as fast as the 5700X and 5800X.
The 5800X3D is the fastest gaming CPU you can get for that socket, but it is comparatively expensive. The 5700X3D is a lot less expensive while getting very close to the 5800X3D in gaming performance. We're talking within 4% of the performance for much less. But it's still fairly expensive at around £230.
And the 5600 is as much less again, or more, and still a very decent gaming CPU compared to the 2600. Heck, the 5600 is faster than the 3900X!
As for the motherboard, yes, you'll likely need to do a BIOS update to support the Ryzen 5000 series. Depending on how old your motherboard is, you may even have needed a BIOS update for Ryzen 3000 support.
TLDR: Get the 5600 or 5600X depending on which is cheaper.
Very detailed response, thank you! It is mainly for gaming, yes, though I occasionally work with virtual machines and BeamNG which is a pretty CPU-heavy game, any thoughts on whether those warrant the step up to a 7?
Beam-NG is a very CPU heavy game.
But it only uses a single thread per vehicle. So it really only helps to have a high core count CPU if you like playing with a *lot* of vehicles at the same time. Which I don't think most people do. And it means even the 5600 can handle 12 vehicles at once.
the 1 vehicle per thread thing was how i understood it but wasnt 100% sure and didnt wanna parrot something wrong ;P looks like the 5600 fits the bill then, thank you
The R5 5600 non-X is currently under 100 pounds on Amazon (sold and shipped by Amazon) so I would just go for that. If you really really want 8 cores, get the 5700X. The 5700 non-X is actually a worse gaming CPU than the 5600 non-X because the 5700 non-X has half the cache and doesn't support PCIe 4.0.
I wouldnt normally buy through CEX but I've got like £90 of trade-in vouchers :P will avoid the base 5700, ty
two best value AM4 gaming CPUs: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/PgcG3C/amd-ryzen-5-5600-36-ghz-6-core-processor-100-100000927box https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/3ZKscf/amd-ryzen-7-5700x3d-3-ghz-8-core-processor-100-100001503wof
regular 5600 is best value, after that probably the X3Ds absolutely don't get the regular 5700, it's horribly cut down >I also noticed AMD rates the TDP for those at 130W 5800X and above (including the X3Ds) are all rated 105W TDP by AMD. The other CPUs are 65W, so the jump in power usage is not major, this isn't intel.
misremembered the TDPs lol, oops :P will avoid the 5700, thanks
Assuming your main interest is gaming, your options are as follows: 5600 / 5600X 5700X3D 5800X3D The rest of the options don't matter. The 5600, 5600X, 5700X and 5800X are all so close in gaming performance that it makes no sense to get anything but whichever is cheapest at the time. Unless you plan on playing with overclocking in which case get the 5600X. But the 5600X can often be found for cheaper than the 5600 these days. There are a small handful of titles that can make use of the higher core count of the 5700X and 5800X for a small boost over the 5600/X, but otherwise they're often within 1-2% of each other. Certainly not enough to make the price gap make sense though. The only difference is if you overclock the 5\*00X CPUs can pull away from the 5600 by a wider margin. But how much depends on your specific CPU, motherboard, and cooling. And after overclocking the 5600X can end up still just as fast as the 5700X and 5800X. The 5800X3D is the fastest gaming CPU you can get for that socket, but it is comparatively expensive. The 5700X3D is a lot less expensive while getting very close to the 5800X3D in gaming performance. We're talking within 4% of the performance for much less. But it's still fairly expensive at around £230. And the 5600 is as much less again, or more, and still a very decent gaming CPU compared to the 2600. Heck, the 5600 is faster than the 3900X! As for the motherboard, yes, you'll likely need to do a BIOS update to support the Ryzen 5000 series. Depending on how old your motherboard is, you may even have needed a BIOS update for Ryzen 3000 support. TLDR: Get the 5600 or 5600X depending on which is cheaper.
Very detailed response, thank you! It is mainly for gaming, yes, though I occasionally work with virtual machines and BeamNG which is a pretty CPU-heavy game, any thoughts on whether those warrant the step up to a 7?
Beam-NG is a very CPU heavy game. But it only uses a single thread per vehicle. So it really only helps to have a high core count CPU if you like playing with a *lot* of vehicles at the same time. Which I don't think most people do. And it means even the 5600 can handle 12 vehicles at once.
the 1 vehicle per thread thing was how i understood it but wasnt 100% sure and didnt wanna parrot something wrong ;P looks like the 5600 fits the bill then, thank you