Best gaming processor for AM4. Since upgrading to AM5 is quite expensive, I wanted to inject some more performance into my current platform so I can keep it going for a couple of more years. This has done that and then some. My specs are: Gigabyte Aorus X570 Pro, 32GB Corsair Vengeance SL RGB Ram, Various M2 PCIe3 drives, beQuiet Straight Power 1000W power supply, XFX RX 6700 XT. I swapped my Ryzen 5 3600 out for this processor and it's amazing. I play at 1440p 144hz and so far I've tested only a couple of games I play regularly:
-CS2 max settings went from 60-170 fps to 120-320 fps
-PUBG mixed settings went from 40-140 to a constant 144(i limit the fps to 144) with the lowest 120.

I would 100% recommend it as for the price there are not a lot of things that can yield such a performance boost. I would recommend a good cooler, I am using it with an Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280mm AIO cooler and temperatures have not gone over 40°.

Everyone knows good sides of this chip, but few thinghs need to be considered before You buy.

- This is locked CPU - blocked PBO, Curve optimization and VCORE (at least on most MB)
- CPU is generating a lot of heat - Proper cooling solution is requied, Vcore and PBO cannot be optimized (for undervoltage) in BIOS. For reference: Noctua NH-U12A is my personal recommendation as air cooling tower. Or any 240+ mm AIO.
- Not best as "productive CPU"
- 7800X 3D is a lot better option if building new platform (MB+RAM+CPU). With similar price.

If You updating from Ryzen 3xxx or older, mostly for games, and MB supporting it, this CPU is best option, Updating Ryzen 5800X (non 3d) or better, sometimes can do oposite results due to slower clocks of this chip.
I updated from Ryzen 5600X - and results are positive.

As far as overall gaming is concerned this is currently tied for best chip on the market at a much more reasonable price than Intels 12900KS. It will also be far less finicky about everything else in the system, so getting that performance will be a lot more reliable. If building entirely from scratch, the 5800X3D does carry a price premium relative to a DDR4-based 12700 system which games almost as well. Although that isnt considering if the 12700 *might* also need more premium cooling (possibly also MB) to perform up to review benchmarks. Architecturally its only difference from base 12900s is four fewer efficiency cores and mildly reduced cache. Its remarkable that Intel offers so much given how much less they charge for 12700s, but for exactly that reason thermal and power draw concerns are what I would look into more if I were considering one myself. If youre looking for a production-first chip on AM4 you will be better served with a 5900X or 5950X, which happen to still be extremely powerful gaming chips anyway. Now if your first priority is to say you spent the most to tie the best regardless of whether its the best for the games you actually play go get a 12900KS, and just remember it cant be the K or KF (as those are slower), you cant skimp anywhere on your MB, you will NEED more expensive memory, a bigger power supply, better cooling etc etc just to draw even. 12900s can draw two or even three hundred watts just on the CPU which means a LOT of thermal dissipation to avoid thermal throttlinghigh-quality water cooling is almost obligatory at that point. Its also why you would NEED to get a top-flight MB that can reliably put that kind of juice into it. May as well wait to fuss with early adoption issues on AM5. At least that will be a much higher-performing platform. But if the primary motivation is to game right now, especially if like me you dont happen to care for RTS-type games which appears to be where Alder Lake does best, the 5800X3D is currently the best gaming chip you can buy. And it drops into any AM4 board that has an available BIOS update for it. In that situation this chip is a no-brainer.

Brought my 2019 computer to current standards of performance. I had a 3700X before, performance gains are massive after upgrade to 5800X3D, in games like Cyberpunk it got rid of stutters and gave me massive fps boost. Respect for AMD for supporting old chipsets for so long. It runs very hot, make sure to have a strong CPU cooling, and even then, it will be pretty hot so you just have to get used to it (I have a NH-D15).

I bought it for roughly 300 CHF, I see it's 569 CHF now - at this price point I'm not sure if it's worth it though. I would go for the 5700X3D instead (3 times cheaper).