AMD Ryzen 5 3500X Processor Review

AMD’s Ryzen 5 3500X, a processor that AMD designed explicitly for the Chinese OEM and system integrator (SI) market, is here with us today for testing to determine whether or not it is capable of competing with the best central processing units (CPUs) for gaming or the best CPUs for desktop applications.

The Ryzen 5 3500X is the only model in AMD’s third-generation Ryzen product stack that does not support simultaneous multi-threading. This model’s six cores and threads set it apart from the other Ryzen products (SMT).

This processor, much like the Ryzen 9 3900 that we were able to test out, is not designed for sale to the general public. Instead, you will find this chip is in pre-built systems, where most customers will encounter it.

However, you won’t find these desktops competing with the most significant gaming PCs because they are exclusively available in China. Although however, AMD exclusively lists it as being available in China, and several resellers in Asia and India offer the chip for sale independently.

Ryzen 5 3500X

It is not simple to keep unique chips out of the hands of enthusiasts. If you are diligent and patient enough, you may acquire one through eBay for $190; however, numerous dealers also carry the CPU for $240. Even coupled with the Wraith Stealth cooler, these chips from the grey market were discovered by us.

The high number of cores and threads in AMD’s third-generation Ryzen series has made it a formidable competitor in the consumer market. The modular design opens the door to specialized techniques targeting different niches. As a result, eliminating the need for SMT is a simple strategy for competing with Intel in original equipment manufacturer (OEM) markets.

However, other factors, such as cost and availability of integrated graphics, is more likely to be decisive in winning over customers interested in placing large orders in bulk.

Due to its lack of an integrated graphics engine, the AMD Ryzen 5 3500X is only suitable for computers with a dedicated graphics card. That makes the upcoming Intel F-series processors, which don’t have integrated graphics, a direct competitor. The AMD Ryzen 5 3500X outperforms the Intel Core i5-9400F in gaming and productivity applications despite having similar cores and threads.

Again, that could be said of any of AMD’s other Ryzen 3000 series CPUs, including threading and providing significantly more performance. Current retail MD chips or the forthcoming Ryzen 3 series processors are probably the superior alternatives unless you’re searching for a unique collector’s item.

With its six-core design, the AMD Ryzen 5 3500X competes with the Intel Core i5-9400F. The Intel Core i5-9400F, however, has a base clock of 2.9 GHz and, as we mentioned in our study, can reach a maximum turbo frequency of 4.1 GHz. However, the Ryzen 5 3500X has a higher base frequency of 3.6 GHz.

Therefore, a boost speed of 4.1 GHz might help balance out Intel’s per-core advantage in multithreaded applications. Since this is the slowest boost frequency in the Ryzen 3000 series, we’ll discuss some special overclocking considerations in the sections below.

The AMD Ryzen 5 3500X, like the previous Ryzen 3000 processors, consists of a 7nm computing die and a 12nm I/O die. In addition, the computer breaks two deactivated physical cores. This combination of features, packaged in a 65W TDP envelope, makes the processor functionally equivalent to the 95W Ryzen 5 3600X while using only 65W.

Like the Ryzen 53600, the AMD Ryzen 53500X is a six-core processor, although it only has six threads instead of eight. The AMD Ryzen 5 3500X may benefit from its lack of threading for some tasks, such as gaming because previous research has shown that CPUs without hyper-threading performs better in some lightly-threaded workloads.

As with other Ryzen 3000 series CPUs, the AMD Ryzen 53500X supports the PCIe 4.0 interface, which offers twice the I/O bandwidth of the PCIe 3.0 interface used by Intel’s chips. The processor has the same thermal design power (TDP) of 65W as the Core i5-9400F; the two values aren’t directly comparable because Intel and AMD use different methods to calculate TDP.

The AMD Ryzen 5 3500X is, in terms of features, identical to other Ryzen 5 processors because it is based on the same Zen 2 design that
is carved into the same 7nm technology. The chip fits into socket AM4 motherboards that support dual-channel DDR4-3200 memory (depending on DIMM population) and come with a fully unlocked ratio multiplier so that the CPU and memory can be overclocked (support may vary by vendor).

You can either spend more on an X570 motherboard, which we don’t suggest for this type of chip, or you can forego PCIe 4.0 capability in favor of a cheaper B450 or X470 motherboard. AMD’s B460 product family, a PCIe 4.0-capable cost-effective alternative, will soon be available. The 3500X would flourish in an environment like that.

Features of AMD Ryzen 5 3500X

AMD’s Zen 2 architecture powers the Ryzen 5 3500x. Zen 2, AMD’s older CPU architecture, has impressive characteristics. For example, Zen 2 architecture uses 7 nm lithography, compared to 12nm for Zen+. In addition, AMD is boosting performance by squeezing more transistors into a smaller space.

Considering its performance, the AMD Ryzen 5 3500x is very power efficient. This CPU takes 65 watts at full load. Ryzen 5 3500x doesn’t require much energy, so your power supply will depend on your graphics card. With a 500-watt power supply or higher, you can run this CPU with various GPUs.

AMD Ryzen 5 3500x requires an AM4 motherboard. This is like other Ryzen processors. You won’t need to replace your motherboard if you have an older Ryzen CPU. However, switching from an Intel processor, you’ll need an AM4 motherboard. The AMD Ryzen 5 3500x supports up to 3200mhz DDR4 memory. In addition, this CPU supports dual-channel memory, so installing it will boost performance even more.

Overclocking and Testing of Computer Systems Ryzen 5 3500X

Overclocking is possible on all Ryzen 3000 SKUs from AMD, and the Ryzen 5 3500X is not an exception to this rule. For most of our overclocking testing, we have resorted to using AMD’s auto-overclocking software called Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO), which was introduced alongside the Ryzen 3000 series of processors.

This is because, in most cases, we cannot manually set an all-core to overclock, which is faster than the boost speed for a single core. We frequently find ourselves operating at a 200 to 300 MHz frequency lower than the single-core boost, which causes some performance degradation in applications with few concurrent threads.

Overclocking does not involve sacrificing performance, and the automatic PBO allows us to achieve the highest possible single-core and overall system performance levels.

However, this is where the AMD Ryzen 5 3500X stands apart from the competition. Even though our manual overclocks a single-core boost frequency of only 4.1 GHz, which is the lowest of the Ryzen 3000 stacks, we should be able to surpass the chip’s out-of-the-box specifications.

And that was precisely what it did. The AMD Ryzen 5 3500X behaves the same as every other Ryzen 300 processor that we’ve tested, so there were no surprises for us to discover. We achieved an all-core overclock of 4.2 GHz with 1.41V and changed our XMP profile to DDR4-3600 with minimum hassle.

The AMD Ryzen 5 3500X does not have threading, unlike the 3600X has the same number of cores but twice as many threads. This results in a reduction in the amount of power that the processor consumes. The Core i5-9400F from Intel still uses less energy than the Ryzen 5 3500X, despite reducing its power consumption.

The lower power consumption of the AMD Ryzen 5 3500X compared to the 3600X results in less heat generation; nonetheless, we could not detect any appreciable additional overclocking headroom as a direct development of this reduction. Additionally, as is customary, we are restricted by the limitations of the 7-nanometer manufacturing process.

In any event, now that all of the cores are operating at a frequency that is 100 MHz higher than the turbo frequency; let’s start with
the testing.

Is there a good return on investment with the AMD Ryzen 53500X?

This chart contrasts the performance of the AMD Ryzen 53500X with that of some of the most widely used processors over the past month.

Components that are inexpensive but provide a high return on investment have high performance (yellow) and low cost (green). When the gap between the yellow and green bars is lower, the price-to-performance ratio is better.

Is a graphics card necessary for Ryzen 5 3500X, or can I use it without one?

Because this processor does not have graphics, you must purchase a separate graphics card. The Ryzen 5 3500X features hardware virtualization, which significantly boosts the performance of virtual machines.

Is it suitable for gamers?

Ryzen 5 3500X is quite a decent CPU through which games can enjoy an excellent gaming experience. Even the CPU can run new upcoming games, but if you want a high-end gaming experience, you should choose some other CPU. We are saying this because Ryzen 5 3500X is a CPU made to provide decent gaming at a cost-effective price. So yes, Ryzen 5 3500X is a good CPU for gamers who will do mid-level gaming.