Ryzen 5 3600 + RTX 3080: Killer Combo or Not?

Today we're taking a look dorsum at AMD'south value king, the Ryzen 5 3600, but this time with the GeForce RTX 3080. We've already seen how this Ampere flagship GPU performs using a Ryzen ix 3950X or Core i9-10900K, and surely they come close at 1440p, but those CPUs cost in excess of $500.

Though arguably CPU pricing should be a non-result when entertaining the thought of spending $700 on a graphics card, maybe information technology's not such a far-fetched scenario. Subsequently all, if you tin can save $300+ on the CPU, that'south $300 or so you tin spend on a faster graphics carte. Or alternatively, if yous already own an R5 3600, you're no doubt interested in how it handles the RTX 3080.

In this article, we'll await at performance in 15 games running at 1080p, 1440p and 4K with the Ryzen 5 3600 in a stock configuration using 32GB of DDR4-3200 CL14 memory. As well we'll overclock the CPU, running at four.four GHz and then adding a manually-tuned retention 4.4 GHz configuration also, though keeping the DDR4-3200 memory equally we've found this works quite well.

Yous could shoot higher with DDR4-3800 retentiveness, but in that location's no guarantee it volition be stable with a 1900 MHz FCLK. Anyway, the point is to give you a rough idea of what's possible, every bit always overclocking mileage will vary depending on motherboard, retention and CPU quality.

Exercise note the Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-10900K have been included in the graphs every bit a reference point only and have non been overclocked. This isn't a CPU vs. CPU type of content, rather nosotros're want to run into how close the Ryzen five 3600 can become to delivering $500+ CPU performance in games.With that, let'southward jump into the benchmark graphs…

Benchmarks

Death Stranding isn't a bully title for 3rd-gen Ryzen processors, performance isn't terrible, but nosotros did find that the 3950X was well down on the 10900K at 1080p, and 7% slower at 1440p. Admittedly the 1440p margin was small, only we're seeing an even bigger drop off with the 6-cadre Ryzen processor.

The 3600 was 13% slower than the 3950X and 18% slower than the 10900K, so that's a broad enough margin despite the fact that we're still seeing ~140 fps on average.

Overclocking the 3600 didn't help, nor did manually tuning the retentiveness timings, but for those interested in gaming at 4K, the difference between these processors is very small and certainly won't exist noticed.

Flight Simulator 2020 is another rough championship for third-gen Ryzen processors. However, because it but heavily taxes a single thread, the 3950X doesn't enjoy a performance advantage when compared to the much cheaper 3600, then you're looking at identical operation.

Overclocking does help to boost performance at 1080p and 1440p by 13%, simply at 4K you're looking at identical performance across the lath every bit the game becomes primarily GPU express.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider has proven to be an excellent showcase title for Ryzen with the 3950X matching and even slightly edging ahead of the 10900K.

AMD's strong operation doesn't stalk from a core count advantage though, as nosotros see the Ryzen 5 3600 evangelize the same level of performance. For this test, which was initially designed to measure GPU operation, we're using the built-in criterion which isn't as enervating on the CPU. All the same, fifty-fifty in our in-game testing the R5 3600 isn't a corking bargain slower than the 3950X.

Control is ever limited by GPU performance, every bit a result we're seeing little to no difference between the CPUs tested, fifty-fifty at 1080p. Y'all're likely to see a similar level of performance in Control with a 7th-gen dual-core processor from Intel.

The Ryzen 5 3600 trails by a small margin at 1080p in Rainbow Half dozen Siege, though nosotros are talking nigh frame rates upward around 400 fps. At 1440p we run into no existent difference in performance between any of the tested configurations and, of course, the aforementioned is also true at 4K.

Moving on to F1 2020, hither we see through overclocking it'southward possible to get the 3600 to almost match the 3950X, though that'southward at to the lowest degree 13% slower than the 10900K. For those gaming at a more realistic resolution for the RTX 3080, we run into very little difference at 1440p, stock the 3600 was just 6% slower than the 10900K and again by the time we achieve 4K there is virtually no difference between any of the configurations tested.

Gears five is one of the worst titles for the Ryzen 9 3950X in our test suite equally here the 10900K is much faster at 1080p and 1440p. The Ryzen 5 3600 doesn't fare much worse than the 3950X and tin can exist tuned upward to lucifer its stock performance. Once nosotros hit 4K we're seeing comparable performance with even the 109000K, and then for those wanting to target higher resolutions, the 3600 is much less of an consequence here.

As seen previously in our 3950X vs. 10900K benchmark feature, Metro Exodus similar Gears 5 is a worst case scenario for tertiary-gen Ryzen. There is no denying that the Intel processor is worlds faster at 1080p and 1440p, that'south just an unfortunate reality for AMD's Zen ii based Ryzen processors. Performance from the Ryzen 5 3600 is still solid at the lower resolutions, but you lot're non getting anywhere virtually the most out of the RTX 3080. So information technology's not until nosotros hit 4K that the game becomes predominantly GPU spring.

The R5 3600 performs very well in Horizon Zero Dawn, at least when looking at 1440p and above. Nosotros encounter that stock, it was just 10% slower than the 10900K at 1440p while it matched it at 4K. And so a solid outcome overall.

Performance is comparable in Assassin's Creed Odyssey and hither the R5 3600 tin be tuned upwards to deliver stock 10900K-like performance, so that's impressive. A lot of games are going to exist more GPU limited than CPU limited with the 3600/RTX 3080 combo, and so this is a good example of what you can typically wait to meet.

Nosotros're seeing performance that'due south by and large GPU bound in World War Z as the 3600 matched the much more expensive processors at 4K and 1440p while it was also comparable at 1080p.

Resident Evil 3 is another game that isn't particularly sensitive to CPU performance, bold you take a half decent CPU. Hither we're seeing the Ryzen 5 3600 trailing the 10900K past just an viii% margin at 1080p with that margin closing to simply shy of 4% at 1440p and then no difference is seen at 4K.

Doom Eternal is yet another game where CPU performance isn't all that important, once again assuming you have a relatively modern CPU with at least 8 threads. The Ryzen 5 3600 was ~7% slower than the 10900K and 3950X at 1440p, just it was possible to maximize the operation of the RTX 3080 with a bones overclock and for those gaming at 4K, no overclock is required to go the most out of the 3080.

Information technology's a similar story when testing with Wolfenstein: Youngblood. Here the stock 3600 was 12% slower than the 10900K at 1080p, merely we see that margin erode entirely at 1440p and 4K.

Final upwardly nosotros accept Hitman two which is 1 of those titles similar Gears five and Metro Exodus that don't run that well on Ryzen processors. Worse nonetheless we're seeing a large difference betwixt the 3950X and 3600 that can't be made upward for through overclocking or tuned retentivity which is interesting.

Performance at 1440p isn't great relative to the 10900K, though it remains highly playable, but we're not getting most out of the RTX 3080. By the time nosotros accomplish 4K there's no performance difference betwixt any of the CPUs tested.

Performance Summary

Overall it looks like the Ryzen 5 3600 has fared well, oft not leaving a great bargain of performance on the table at 1440p and nothing at 4K. The 1080p data we feel is more for science than information technology is practical utilize instance, merely apparently for those seeking maximum operation at 1080p, an Intel processor is the way to go, at least for now. Permit's have a wait at the average fps data cross the fifteen game sample...

Starting with the 1080p data, nosotros run into that stock the R5 3600 was on average 15% slower than the 10900K and frankly given the price that'south a good result for AMD's budget 6-cadre offering. It's besides of import to note that the 3600 delivered smooth, perfectly playable performance in all of these games. Those willing to overclock the 3600 can reduce that margin to 9%. Of course, you can overclock the 10900K as well, only that's non the point here.

Equally expected, the margin shrinks considerably at 1440p and now the R5 3600 was on average 8% slower than the 10900K and here we're budgeted the indicate where in the vast majority of games y'all won't be able to tell the divergence between these two CPUs with an RTX 3080. Moreover, overclocking the 3600 reduced the margin to just 4%.

Then finally, if you lot're targeting ultrawide resolutions or 4K, the CPU won't really matter as nosotros saw very few examples where the 3600 was more than than 1-2 fps slower than the 10900K.

What Nosotros Learned

Today's results will give you a clear understanding as to why we've regarded the Ryzen 5 3600 as the best value CPU on the marketplace since launch. With half-dozen cores and 12 threads, information technology has enough resources to power through the latest and most demanding PC games for just $200. For the price, it simply outclasses everything else in that segment, not to mention, for a good portion of its life you could snag one for $175, with prices dropping equally low every bit $160 at one betoken.

Nosotros had seen before that the R5 3600 comes close to getting the almost out of the RTX 2080 Ti at 1440p without whatsoever manual tuning, so the RTX 3080 results weren't terribly surprising, but it was nice to confirm our suspicions with some actual testing.

It's kind of interesting to think that if you have effectually $ane,000 to spend on an upgrade, you could go an R5 3600 with a B550 motherboard and an RTX 3080 for about that amount, bold you could find an RTX 3080 on auction. This combo would run across yous maximizing the operation of the RTX 3080 at 1440p and above, whereas alternatively if you wanted that extra bit of operation, the next best value choice would be the Cadre i5-10600K, overclocked for maximum functioning.

One time you gene in a decent Z490 motherboard and a libation to support the overclock, yous're looking at having to spend around $300 more. Not insane, simply the Intel upgrade selection would stop upward costing ~30% more, and you won't see those kinds of gains with few exceptions.

Having said all of that, the Ryzen 5 3600 is a better pairing for a graphics card costing $500 or less. Perhaps the Ryzen 5 CPU will be better accompanied by a GeForce RTX 3070, though nosotros're expecting those margins to be similar to what was seen with the RTX 2080 Ti.