AMD is finally returning to the budget scene with the announcement of six new ‘mainstream’ chips: three based on Zen 2 architecture and the other three using the latest Zen 3.
They’ll range from quad-core to octa-core, and one includes built-in Radeon graphics. All are under $200 (around £150), bar the Ryzen 7 5700X which will cost $299 (around £230).
They’ll go on sale starting on 4 April 2022. UK prices have not yet been officially announced.
You can see their main features and prices in this handy table.
Model | Architecture | Cores / Threads | Boost / Base (GHz) | Total Cache (MB) | TDP (Watts) | PCIE Support | Price (USD) |
Ryzen 7 5700X | Zen 3 | 8 / 16 | Up to 4.6 / 3.4 | 36 | 65W | Gen 4 | $299 |
Ryzen 5 5600 | Zen 3 | 6 / 12 | Up to 4.4 / 3.5 | 35 | 65W | Gen 4 | $199 |
Ryzen 5 5500 | Zen 3 | 6 / 12 | Up to 4.2 / 3.6 | 19 | 65W | Gen 3 | $159 |
Ryzen 5 4600G with Radeon graphics | Zen 2 | 6 / 12 | Up to 4.2 / 3.7 | 11 | 65W | Gen 3 | $154 |
Ryzen 5 4500 | Zen 2 | 6 / 12 | Up to 4.1 / 3.6 | 11 | 65W | Gen 3 | $129 |
Ryzen 3 4100 | Zen 2 | 4 / 8 | Up to 4.0 / 3.8 | 6 | 65W | Gen 3 | $99 |
Ryzen 7 5800X3D price & release date
Announced at CES 2022, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D now has a price and a release date. It goes on sale on 20 April and will cost $449 – around £345.
AMD says it’s the world’s fastest gaming CPU, which also happens to be the first consumer CPU with vertically stacked L3 cache. Adding this extra 3D V-Cache memory makes it 15% faster than the Ryzen 9 5900X.
BIOS updates for 300-series motherboards
Initially, AMD said that Zen 3 chips wouldn’t work on 300 or 400-series motherboards, but as part of its spring announcement, it says it has been working for months on adding support and has now provided version 1207 to its motherboard partners.
What this means is that any of the seven new chips – including the 5800X3D – can be dropped into an X370 or B350 board (that’s had the update) and they will work. Seeing support for motherboards coming up to six years old is great to see.
The updates should be made available on manufacturers’ websites around April or May 2022, so keep an eye on the download page for your board.
Here’s which boards need the update for which processors (the coloured bars represent existing support):
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Author: Jim Martin, Executive Editor
Jim has been testing and reviewing products for over 20 years. His main beats include VPN services and antivirus. He also covers smart home tech, mesh Wi-Fi and electric bikes.