AMD just refreshed its Zen 2 stack with a handful of higher-clocked "XT" chips, but the best value offerings still lie within the original Zen 2 models. One of those is the Ryzen 5 3600. It's the best CPU for gaming if you're on the hunt for a reliable mid-range CPU, and it's on sale for a new low today.
Over on Amazon, you can snag the 3600 for $159.98. That's well below its $199 list price, and though it hasn't been selling for that, this is the cheapest it's ever been. This deal even undercuts Micro Center by a penny, which typically has the lowest prices on CPUs, albeit for in-store purchases only.
The 3600 wields 6 cores and 12 threads, with a 3.6GHz base clock and up to a 4.2GHz max boost clock. It's also equipped with 32MB of L3 cache and 3MB of L2 cache, and has a 65W TDP.
What that all translates into is a capable slice of silicon for a mid-tier gaming PC. If you're rocking a top o' the line GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, you'd be better off buying a higher end chip. But for midrange GPUs like the Radeon RX 5700, the 3600 is a solid match.
It also boasts the benefits of AMD's latest generation architecture and platform support. Namely, PCIe 4.0 support, when paired with an X570 or B550 motherboard (the latter of which is an ideal mate for this chip). Sure, Zen 3 is on the horizon, but at this price, you're like to have buyer's remorse when the newer stuff arrives later this year.
