AMD to Sell Ryzen 5 5600X3D Chip Exclusively Through Micro Center

In a surprise move, AMD will sell a desktop gaming processor exclusively through Micro Center. 

The US electronics retailer will sell the newly announced Ryzen 5 5600X3D, a lower-spec variant of the Ryzen 7 5800X3D that AMD launched last year using its 3D V-Cache technology. Micro Center will start selling the limited-edition processor on July 7 for $229.99, or about $50 less than the current price for the 5800X3D. 

“Designed with an impressive base clock speed of 3.3GHz and a boosted speed of up to 4.4GHz, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D processor delivers amazing speed and responsiveness, ensuring seamless gameplay even in the most demanding scenarios,” Micro Center says.

The product is good news for owners of AM4 motherboards. AMD has been moving to the AM5 standard for the company’s latest Ryzen 7000 chips, including the 7000X3D series. But last year, CEO Lisa Su nevertheless said(Opens in a new window) her company planned on supporting the AM4 platform for years to come. It looks like the 5600X3D is one of the results. 

The chip features 6 cores and 12 threads, down from the 8 cores and 16 threads in the 5800X3D. But the product still features the same 96MB of L3 cache, with only slightly lower clock speeds compared to the 3.4GHz/4.5GHz for the 5800X3D. 

In addition, this is the most affordable AMD desktop chip with the 3D V-Cache memory, although the 5800X3D also dropped in cost significantly over the past year. The 5800X3D initially launched for $449, but it can now be found for around $280(Opens in a new window). 

The new chip also promises to drive traffic to Micro Center, which specializes in store-based sales. On the downside, Micro Center only has locations(Opens in a new window) in 17 states and won’t sell the chip online. So tough luck if you live elsewhere. Stay tuned for our review of the 5600X3D.