AMD Ryzen 5 3500 CPU Review: Best Mid-Tier CPU With Good Thermal Performance

3rd Gen AMD Ryzen 5 3500 Technical Specifications

• Number Of Cores: 6
• Number Of Threads: 6
• Base Clock Speed: 3.6GHz
• Boost Clock Speed: 4.1GHz
• Cache: 19MB
• Compatible Motherboard: Motherboard with AM4 Socket
• TDP: 65W
• PCIe Lanes: 24 PCIe 4.0 Lanes

Test PC Configuration

• Operating System: Windows 10 Home
• CPU: 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen 5 3500 6-Core
• GPU: AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT
• RAM: HyperX Fury 16GB (8GBx2) 2133MHZ DDR4
• Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus
• Motherboard: Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (Wi-Fi)
• Power Supply: Corsair VS650
• Thermal Solution: Stock AMD

 

3rd Gen AMD Ryzen 5 3500 General Features

The AMD Ryzen 5 3500 is the 3rd gen Ryzen CPU based on 7nm FinFET fabrication. Compared to Intel's counterpart, this CPU will be more efficient (consumes less power), which in return generates less heat.

Unlike the Ryzen 5 3600, the Ryzen 5 3500 does not support hyper-threading, so, this processor offers a total of six cores and six threads. It does offer 19MB of system cache, which is higher than most of the CPUs at this price range.

The CPU can be used on a motherboard with AM4 Socket and it supports dual-channel memory, so make sure that you get two RAM sticks to go with the PC build to get improved performance, especially if you deal with professional software. On paper, the 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen 5 3500 seems like a great CPU, thanks to the slightly higher base clock speeds, which makes it a great choice for a mid-tier gaming PC.

Keeping aside the general aspect of the 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen 5 3500, we ran a couple of benchmarks to test the performance and to compare it with its contemporaries. Do note that, these results are device-specific and the scores will vary from device to device, depending on the other components.

Geekbench 5 PC Benchmark For AMD Ryzen 5 3500

As per our testing, we noticed a single-core performance of 1137 points and a multi-core performance of 4656 points on Geekbench 5.

If we consider the single-core performance of the Ryzen 5 3500, it even surpasses the single-core performance of the Intel Core i5-8600, which is also a six-core processor but it costs almost double as of the Ryzen 5 3500. Similarly, it also outperforms some of the 6th and 7th Gen Intel Core i7 series of processors.

Coming to the multi-core performance, the Ryzen 5 3500 outperforms the processors like the Intel Core i7-7700K. However, some of the modern (9th Gen Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors) do outperform the Ryzen 5 3500 in the multi-core performance, as they have almost double threads compared to the Ryzen 5 3500.

The key takeaway from the Geekbench 5 benchmark is the fact that the Ryzen 5 3500 is an excellent processor when it comes to single-core CPU performance and even outperforms some of the processors from the competition that costs almost the double. However, when it comes to multi-core performance, the device does perform frequently but does fall short, compared to the modern CPUs from Intel.

The 3rd Gen Ryzen 5 3500 is for those, who care about single-core performance, and this will be a great choice for gamers, thanks to improved single-core performance.

Cinebench R20 Benchmark For AMD Ryzen 5 3500

Cinebench R20 gauges the raw-rendering performance of a CPU. The more time it takes to render, the slower is the processor. The 3rd Gen Ryzen 5 3500 scores 2446 points on Cinebench R20, surpassing processors like the Intel Core i7-7700K and it almost matches the performance of the Intel Xeon X5650 CPU.

Some processors with hyperthreading support will outperform the Ryzen 5 3500. However, for a processor, that just costs around Rs. 10,000, the CPU posts an excellent performance and you are considering this CPU if you are planning to build a PC primarily for 1080p video editing.

PCMark 10 Benchmark For AMD Ryzen 5 3500

PCMark 10 Benchmark is an extensive software that measures the overall performance of the PC, including the CPU computation capability. Our PC posted an overall score of 5763. This tool takes around 30 minutes to complete the testing, and we found out that it manages to keep the CPU clock speed at 4.0GHz (average).

This speaks a lot about the capability of the AMD Ryzen 5 3500. A good CPU should not only have higher clock speed, but it should be able to sustain that clock speed for a longer period.

The same goes for the CPU temperature and power consumption as well. Running a benchmark is tasking process for a CPU, and the AMD Ryzen 5 3500 maintained an average temperature and power consumption (80W). Depending on the CPU load, the power consumption did go fluctuate and it never exceeded 140W. This ensures that the CPU will not consume unnecessary power, and will help you to reduce your electricity bill.

3rd Gen AMD Ryzen 5 3500 Verdict

Throughout my usage, the 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen 5 3500 has impressed me with its raw performance and thermal efficiency. Besides these benchmarks, we also played a couple of games with the Radeon RX 5600 XT and we have no issues and most of the games were performing as expected.

Even if you are planning to build a PC for regular usage, the 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen 5 3500 is an excellent CPU that offers good day-to-day performance like browsing the web or using office software such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint or Excell.

The 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen 5 3500 is a great choice for those, who are planning to build a PC under Rs. 50,000 and does not want to compromise on the performance. In fact, one can build an identical PC to our test benchmark (with a different motherboard) under Rs. 50,000 without any issue. Overall, the 3rd Gen AMD Ryzen 5 3500 is a great mid-tier CPU that outperforms the competition, especially considering the pricing.