Get the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D for $323 (was $449)
I’ve covered this CPU in detail quite a few times, thanks to its unique combination of extremely strong gaming performance and compatibility with affordable AM4 motherboards and DDR4 RAM, so let’s keep this relatively brief. The reason this CPU is so fast - as fast or faster than AMD’s Ryzen 7000 processors in some titles - is that it comes with a dramatic amount of L3 cache. In fact, the 5800X3D has three times as much of this cache as the 5800X that this CPU is based on. This cuts down the number of times data needs to be fetched from RAM, which is an order of magnitude slower, and can have a transformative effect on frame-rates as a result. Here’s past me on the subject: Interestingly, for content creation the regular 5800X is actually faster in most cases, as these sorts of tasks that can be divided and worked on in parallel don’t tend to be limited by cache size as much. That means that you may as well go for the $340 Ryzen 9 5900X if content creation performance is the focus, as this 12-core 24-thread processor beats out the 5800X3D by virtue of its core/thread advantage and higher clock speeds. In any case, the 5800X3D is well worth considering if you already have a B550, X570 or older motherboard that can support it, and you want to hold off on upgrading to the DDR5-only Ryzen 7000 series until motherboard and RAM prices begin to become more reasonable. However, if you’re building a whole new system, then Ryzen 7000 (and Intel’s 12th/13th-gen offerings) become a bit more appealing, so it’s worth having a look at some benchmarks and pricing out both options to see what would be best for you.
