The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is now just $186.97 on Amazon for Black Friday. We compared this Zen 4-based CPU a few months ago to the Intel Core i5-14400, and found it provided a substantial performance while being $100 more expensive. But now it's just $186.97, which is 37% off its retail price.
The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is a six-core, 12-thread 5nm CPU with a clock speed of 4.7 GHz, which can be upped to 5.3 GHz with max boost enabled. It supports up to 128GB DDR5-5200 memory over two channels, features PCIe 5.0 interfaces, and has integrated graphics with clock speeds of up to 2,200 MHz. The Ryzen 7000 series has hardware acceleration for AVX-512 workloads, which is important for heavy-duty tasks. This is an unlocked CPU, which means you can overclock with AMD's own Ryzen Master utility.
The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is on the lower end of our CPU hierarchy. But it is a cost-effective option to consider, especially for gamers who are putting more money in graphics cards and power supplies.
The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is a better option than the Intel Core i5-14400. The latter exchanged blows with the Intel Core i5-13600K, which supports DDR4-3200 and DDR5-5600 and is currently on sale for $210 for Black Friday. You'll need to keep in mind the motherboard and RAM you're pairing with your CPU — AMD allows overclocking on its motherboard chipsets (aside from the A-series chipsets). If you choose to overclock, you'll also need to factor in the cost of the CPU cooler, but if you're upgrading your CPU, motherboard, and RAM, you've may already have a compatible CPU cooler.
The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X might be a great deal for you, especially at 37% off.
