AMD Ryzen 5 5500 6-Core 12-Thread Desktop Processor w/ Wraith Stealth Cooler Expired

First off, to preempt people saying they don't see this price, the default seller on the amazon page is AMD and they are NOT selling at this price. You need to click the button on the lower right side of the page which says "New & Used from" and select the listing sold and shipped by amazon.com, which is $98.98. An important thing to be aware of is that the listing displays a free delivery date of Wednesday, January 25th, so ~23 days from now. As a side note, both the ryzen 5 5500 and ryzen 5 5600 are also currently the same price on newegg as on amazon.
Moving on to the processor itself, this can be a fairly good value upgrade for an old computer with an early generation AM4 motherboard. While this isn't quite the lowest price this processor has been, it's certainly close enough that I wouldn't quibble over a few dollars. At ~$100 this cpu provides decent performance, though I wouldn't bother getting it if you don't already have an AM4 motherboard. The ryzen 5 5500 only supports pcie gen 3 and has greatly reduced cache size relative to the ryzen 5 5600, so if your motherboard supports pcie gen 4 I highly recommend opting for the ryzen 5 5600 (more on that cpu later). Moving back to the ryzen 5 5500, the vast majority of AM4 motherboards should support it, however I would still look up your particular motherboard model to make sure they have released bios updates to support zen 3 cpus. It's also necessary in some cases to already have a functional cpu on the motherboard in order to flash the necessary bios for a zen 3 cpu, so make sure to do your research before buying.
Moving on, the ryzen 5 5600 is $134.84 right now sold and shipped by amazon (also a decent discount though again a bit shy of their best prices ever), and OP should probably add it to their post. Here's the link: https://www.amazon.com/AMD-5600-1...B09VCHR1VH , to see the price of $134.84 check the "New & Used from" listings as I have detailed above. In my opinion the ryzen 5 5600 at this price is a far better value than the ryzen 5 5500 if your motherboard supports pcie gen 4, and even for pcie gen 3 boards is a sizeable upgrade for only ~$36. The ryzen 5 5600 can easily be a solid 10%+ faster across the board compared to the ryzen 5 5500, and pcie gen 4 support makes a huge difference assuming your motherboard supports it. The ryzen 5 5600 has the same motherboard compatibility as the ryzen 5 5500, so refer to my instructions above.
Overall, if you already have an AM4 motherboard with an older generation cpu and want a sizeable upgrade for cheap, these cpus are rather good options. If your current motherboard supports pcie gen 4 I highly recommend you spend the ~$36 more and get the ryzen 5 5600. If your motherboard only supports pcie gen 3 the ryzen 5 5500 is a very good value, offering respectable performance at a very low price, though the ryzen 5 5600 would still net you a meaningful performance boost.

Everyone has to realize that a PC component is only a deal if it fits your needs and budget. If a 5500 is too underpowered for your needs then it doesn't matter if it's going for $10, it's not right for you. Same if you can afford something better. And if a 5600 is more suitable for your situation then it really doesn't matter if it's $120, $130 or $140. Who the hell can afford a CPU at $120 but not at $130 or $140? I literally don't get all these component recommendations based on a difference of $10-$50. If you're going to lay out $500 or more for a new build or upgrade, spend whatever you need to to get the parts you need and don't cheap out. Sure, if you can wait a few weeks to months for prices to come down, do it. But at a certain point you're going to have to commit, and don't let a $30 difference stop you.

Myself, I just upgraded my 4+ year old AM4 PC with a new MB, SSD & HD, but am waiting for CPU prices to come down as I don't NEED a new one to replace my still perfectly fine 2600X, but would like one so my upgraded system can run at PCIe 4.0 (and faster otherwise for those occasions when it would be helpful). Most likely I'll replace it with a 5700X, when it goes below $150. It's AMD's most powerful AM4 CPU with a 65W TDP, and actually uses less power than my 2600X but is significantly faster (and supports PCIe 4.0). But it's not like I'm waiting for its current price of ~$190 to go down to $180. I can wait for a real price reduction.