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Test Notes
Test results annotated with "PBO" reflect performance with AMD's auto-overclocking Precision Boost Overdrive feature activated. As noted in the charts, we tested the overclocked Ryzen 5 3600 with two cooling solutions, the Corsair H115i watercooler and the bundled Wraith Stealth cooler. The overclocked previous-gen Ryzen 5 2600X offers roughly the same performance as an overclocked Ryzen 5 2600, so consider this model as a stand-in for its cheaper counterpart.
VRMark, 3DMark
We aren't big fans of using synthetic benchmarks to measure performance, but 3DMark's DX11 and DX12 CPU tests provide useful insight into the amount of horsepower available to game engines.
The DX11 and DX12 CPU test results expose the full-threaded heft of the Ryzen 3000 series processors, so there are no surprises. You'll notice that, even after overclocking, the Ryzen 5 3600 just barely matches the stock 3600X's performance, and it looses by a decent margin to the overclocked 3600X. It is clear that AMD's binning makes more of a difference with the Ryzen 3000 processors.
That said, even at stock settings, the Ryzen 5 3600 offers enough threaded horsepower to rival even the agile overclocked Core i5-9600K. The more cost-comparable 6C/6T Core i5-9400F can't contend with the 3600's twelve threads.
We compare the Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) auto-overclocking with the bundled Wraith Stealth and the beefier Corsair H115i cooler, which unlocks 2% and 1.5% more performance in the DX12 and DX11 tests, respectively.
The VRMark test benefits heavily from per-core performance, and the Ryzen 3000 processors have made great strides compared to the first- and second-gen models. The Ryzen 5 3600 beats the Core i5-9400F by ~15 FPS, while tuning with a capable cooler gives us ~5 more FPS.
Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation
Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation is a computationally intense title that scales well with thread count, but clock speeds and per-core performance play a big role. The Core i5-9400F falls behind the 3600 by 7.2 FPS and the $262 i5-9600K by 5.5 FPS. We typically expect Intel processors to take the lead after overclocking; they are much more capable in that regard than AMD's processors. But the tuned twelve-threaded Ryzen 5 3600 scores within 0.1 FPS, which is essentially a tie.
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