The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a desktop processor with 6 cores, launched in July 2019, at an MSRP of $199. It is part of the Ryzen 5 lineup, using the Zen 2 (Matisse) architecture with Socket AM4. Thanks to AMD Simultaneous Multithreading (SMT) the core-count is effectively doubled, to 12 threads. Ryzen 5 3600 has 32 MB of L3 cache and operates at 3.6 GHz by default, but can boost up to 4.2 GHz, depending on the workload. AMD is making the Ryzen 5 3600 on a 7 nm production node using 3,800 million transistors. The silicon die of the chip is not fabricated at AMD, but at the foundry of TSMC. You may freely adjust the unlocked multiplier on Ryzen 5 3600, which simplifies overclocking greatly, as you can easily dial in any overclocking frequency.
With a TDP of 65 W, the Ryzen 5 3600 consumes typical power levels for a modern PC. AMD’s processor supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel interface. The highest officially supported memory speed is 3200 MT/s, but with overclocking (and the right memory modules) you can go even higher. For communication with other components in the machine, Ryzen 5 3600 uses a PCI-Express Gen 4 connection. This processor does not have integrated graphics, you will need a separate graphics card. Inside the box you will not only find the processor, but also a Wraith Stealth cooler.