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AMD Ryzen 5 5500 3.6 GHz Six-Core AM4 Processor
$74
$82
9% off
+ Free S&Hat Amazon
Top Comments
The 5500 is a massive trap compared to a trusty old 3600.
For anyone looking at this deal, keep these two massive downgrades in mind:
Half the L3 Cache: The 3600 has 32MB of L3 cache, while the 5500 only has 16MB. Games absolutely crave cache, so cutting it in half completely wipes out any generational architecture architectural gains.
Locked to PCIe 3.0: The 3600 fully supports PCIe 4.0, but the 5500 is strictly locked to PCIe 3.0. If you plan to pair this with a modern budget GPU that uses limited PCIe lanes (like an RX 6600 or RTX 4060) or want a fast Gen 4 NVMe SSD, the 5500 is going to actively bottleneck your bandwidth.
The 5500 is literally just a mobile laptop chip (the 5600G) with the integrated graphics disabled. AMD gutted the cache and the PCIe lanes just to fit it into a laptop power envelope. If you already have a 3600, this is a side-grade at best, and a platform downgrade at worst. Stick with the 3600.
Community Reviews
The Ryzen 5 5500 is a budget 6 core, 12 thread AM4 chip that fits well in everyday PCs, light gaming rigs, and older builds. It has been used successfully for office tasks, YouTube, browsing, kids computers, and as a secondary machine or media server, with enough headroom to feel like a solid upgrade over a Ryzen 2600. The main tradeoff is that it is locked to PCIe 3.0 and has half the L3 cache of a Ryzen 5 3600, which can matter in cache sensitive games or with faster storage and graphics cards. For a low cost build, it looks like a practical way to extend older hardware.
Common Questions (5)
It can be a solid gaming buy for a new build, and some report it outperforms the 3600 in most games. The main caveats are its 16MB L3 cache and PCIe 3.0-only support, which can matter in cache-sensitive games or builds that need PCIe 4.0.
Yes, it is reported to pair well with common budget cards such as the RTX 3060 and RTX 4060, with little noticeable difference versus a Ryzen 5 5600 in typical use. PCIe 3.0 is usually not a practical issue unless your workload specifically needs PCIe 4.0 bandwidth.
Yes. It is reported to work well for email, YouTube, browsing, light gaming, kids' PCs, and general home or office use, especially in budget builds with DDR4 and a basic SSD.
It can be a worthwhile upgrade for extending an older AM4 build, with better efficiency and a noticeable performance bump over the Ryzen 2600. One use case was turning an old gaming PC into a secondary machine or media server.
Yes, this thread points to a $74 shipped bundle at Newegg that includes the Ryzen 5 5500 and a Rosewill CPU cooler after coupon code BTS2555. That makes it a low-cost way to build or refresh an AM4 system.
AI-generated summary based on comments from the community. Updated ago
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19 Comments
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The 5500 is a massive trap compared to a trusty old 3600.
For anyone looking at this deal, keep these two massive downgrades in mind:
- Half the L3 Cache: The 3600 has 32MB of L3 cache, while the 5500 only has 16MB. Games absolutely crave cache, so cutting it in half completely wipes out any generational architecture architectural gains.
- Locked to PCIe 3.0: The 3600 fully supports PCIe 4.0, but the 5500 is strictly locked to PCIe 3.0. If you plan to pair this with a modern budget GPU that uses limited PCIe lanes (like an RX 6600 or RTX 4060) or want a fast Gen 4 NVMe SSD, the 5500 is going to actively bottleneck your bandwidth.
The 5500 is literally just a mobile laptop chip (the 5600G) with the integrated graphics disabled. AMD gutted the cache and the PCIe lanes just to fit it into a laptop power envelope. If you already have a 3600, this is a side-grade at best, and a platform downgrade at worst. Stick with the 3600.I still have a 1060 and a decent backlog so its limitations vs the 3600 are fine with me.
The 5500 is a massive trap compared to a trusty old 3600.
For anyone looking at this deal, keep these two massive downgrades in mind:
- Half the L3 Cache: The 3600 has 32MB of L3 cache, while the 5500 only has 16MB. Games absolutely crave cache, so cutting it in half completely wipes out any generational architecture architectural gains.
- Locked to PCIe 3.0: The 3600 fully supports PCIe 4.0, but the 5500 is strictly locked to PCIe 3.0. If you plan to pair this with a modern budget GPU that uses limited PCIe lanes (like an RX 6600 or RTX 4060) or want a fast Gen 4 NVMe SSD, the 5500 is going to actively bottleneck your bandwidth.
The 5500 is literally just a mobile laptop chip (the 5600G) with the integrated graphics disabled. AMD gutted the cache and the PCIe lanes just to fit it into a laptop power envelope. If you already have a 3600, this is a side-grade at best, and a platform downgrade at worst. Stick with the 3600.I see your comment on the cache as backwards. Yeah games do like it, but the generational uplift of the 5500 compensates for the difference. You're arguing the cup is half empty. I'm arguing it's half full. If you're buying new I think the 5500 is generally better here.
The pcie gen lane is most likely irrelevant as well. Yes there are numerical differences but in the real world you'll unlikely ever notice any. If your gpu has at least 8gb of vram you're good here.
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The 5500 is a massive trap compared to a trusty old 3600.
For anyone looking at this deal, keep these two massive downgrades in mind:
- Half the L3 Cache: The 3600 has 32MB of L3 cache, while the 5500 only has 16MB. Games absolutely crave cache, so cutting it in half completely wipes out any generational architecture architectural gains.
- Locked to PCIe 3.0: The 3600 fully supports PCIe 4.0, but the 5500 is strictly locked to PCIe 3.0. If you plan to pair this with a modern budget GPU that uses limited PCIe lanes (like an RX 6600 or RTX 4060) or want a fast Gen 4 NVMe SSD, the 5500 is going to actively bottleneck your bandwidth.
The 5500 is literally just a mobile laptop chip (the 5600G) with the integrated graphics disabled. AMD gutted the cache and the PCIe lanes just to fit it into a laptop power envelope. If you already have a 3600, this is a side-grade at best, and a platform downgrade at worst. Stick with the 3600.I do have the 5500 that I bought new from Micro Center for $70. I sold my 2600 for $30 and the difference I see on the 4060 was really noticeable.
- Half the L3 Cache: The 3600 has 32MB of L3 cache, while the 5500 only has 16MB. Games absolutely crave cache, so cutting it in half completely wipes out any generational architecture architectural gains.
- Locked to PCIe 3.0: The 3600 fully supports PCIe 4.0, but the 5500 is strictly locked to PCIe 3.0. If you plan to pair this with a modern budget GPU that uses limited PCIe lanes (like an RX 6600 or RTX 4060) or want a fast Gen 4 NVMe SSD, the 5500 is going to actively bottleneck your bandwidth.
The 5500 is literally just a mobile laptop chip (the 5600G) with the integrated graphics disabled. AMD gutted the cache and the PCIe lanes just to fit it into a laptop power envelope. If you already have a 3600, this is a side-grade at best, and a platform downgrade at worst. Stick with the 3600.aftger coupon code "BTS2555"
"Limited Offer"
https://www.newegg.com/amd-ryzen-...6819113737
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