The Best Motherboards for AMD Ryzen 5 3600

Even though AMD recently released new Ryzen 5000 series CPUs, they are still quite expensive and hard to get due to numerous supply shortages. Thus, it is no surprise that AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is still the best budget gaming CPU you can get right now. Being able to offer extraordinary single-core and multi-core performance, the Ryzen 5 3600 completely obliterates its competitors when it comes to price-to-performance ratio. Besides being an extremely good CPU for gaming, it is also well-suited for productivity work, so getting one is a no-brainer if you are a mainstream PC user or gamer.

Read more: Best B550 Motherboards for AMD Ryzen CPUs

With a TDP of only 65 W, the Ryzen 5 3600 is an extremely capable desktop processor. Featuring six physical cores and twelve threads, the Ryzen 5 3600 is well-suited for building a high-end gaming PC with a modest budget. The CPU itself comes with a very efficient cooler, and it doesn’t require an expensive motherboard to show its full potential. Like other AMD CPUs, the Ryzen 5 3600 does like to run with very fast memory modules at its side, so we recommend buying memory sticks that work at frequencies of at least 3,200 MHz (for example Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB DDR4-3200).

Last but not least, to fully experience the power of Ryzen 5 3600, we recommend getting a motherboard with support for PCIe 4.0 bus data interface. Although this CPU will work perfectly fine with motherboards that feature PCIe 3.0 bus interface, getting a board with PCIe 4.0 bus will let you experience much faster data transfer speeds, as well as improve overall system performance and performance of certain high-end graphics cards such as Radeon RX 5700 XT or GeForce RTX 3080. In the following sections, we’ll explore the best motherboards for AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU that are currently available on the market. Scroll down to read more.

Best Overall: Gigabyte X570 AORUS Elite Wi-Fi

Gigabyte X570 AORUS Elite Wi-Fi is a perfect all-around motherboard for AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU. Featuring 12+2 phases digital VRM solution, this motherboard is very suitable for overclocking system components, and can handle RAM memory working at frequencies of up to 4,733 MHz. The X570 AORUS Elite Wi-Fi also comes with support for PCIe 4.0 bus interface, which is great for squeezing out the maximum from AMD’s Ryzen processors and Radeon graphics cards.

Speaking of its other features, this motherboard also comes with two M.2 PCIe 4.0 slots for SSDs, six SATA3 connectors for HDDs, as well as with two PCIe x16 slots (one supports PCIe 4.0 interface), and two PCIe 4.0 x1 slots. The board is also equipped with Intel Gigabit LAN, which is a bit disappointing, an on-board Wi-Fi module, and a Bluetooth module. Although this motherboard features 10 USB ports on its rear panel, none of them are USB Type-C ports, and there is also no DisplayPort connector. Nevertheless, the Gigabyte X570 AORUS Elite Wi-Fi is a great high-end motherboard that features attractive design coupled with RGB lighting, and a wide variety of features.

Best Budget: ASRock B450M Steel Legend

Although it offers no support for PCIe 4.0 bus interface, the ASRock B450M Steel Legend is a great budget DIY-friendly motherboard for AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU. This board comes with a very decent 6 power phase VRM design, and it features premium 60A power chokes. It is compatible with all Ryzen 3000 Series and Ryzen 2000 Series CPUs straight-out-of-the-box, which is great for first-time PC builders.

The B450M Steel Legends comes with two PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 slots, as well as with two M.2 NVMe SSD slots, and four SATA3 connectors. There is no on-board Wi-Fi module on this motherboard, but there is a one-gigabit Realtek LAN chip. Although it wasn’t designed for overclocking, this board can handle RAM modules running at frequencies of up to 3,533 MHz, and can address up to 64GB of memory. On its rear panel you can find six USB 3.1 ports, from which one of them is a USB Type-C port. Even though it is considered to be an entry-level motherboard for Ryzen 5 3600 CPU, the B450M Steel Legend also features an RGB lighting scheme, which is a nice addition to the already great package.

Best Micro-ATX: MSI B550M PRO-VDH WiFi

The MSI B550M PRO-VDH WiFi is probably one of the best micro-ATX motherboards that work well with AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU. Despite its size, and rather low price, this board is packed with great features. The B550M PRO-VDH comes with support for PCIe 4.0 bus interface, and it even supports latest Ryzen 5000 series CPUs that have recently hit the market.

The MSI B550M PRO-VDH WiFi comes with only one PCIe 4.0 x16 slot in which you can install your GPU, and with two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. This board is also equipped with two M.2 slots, and four SATA3 connectors, and there is also 1 GbE LAN, and an on-board Wi-Fi 802.11ac module with Bluetooth 4.2. Due to its size, this board features only four USB 3.2 Gen1 ports, and has no USB Type-C connector. There is also no RGB lighting. Although some users reported problems when installing latest Ryzen 5000 Series CPUs into this motherboard, the Ryzen 3000 Series CPUs work perfectly fine with the B550M PRO-VDH. Thanks to its 4+2+1 Duet Rail power system, this board is great for performing mild overclocking operations, as it can support DDR4 RAM speeds of up to 4,400 MHz.

Best Mid-Range ATX: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX

The MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX is a robust and reliable mid-range standard ATX motherboard that supports Ryzen 5 3600 processor. Unlike other motherboards of the same type, the TOMAHAWK MAX can boast with heavy plated heatsinks that ensure system components are running cool, and its PCI-E steel armor is here to protect VGA cards against bending and EMI.

Although this board doesn’t support PCIe 4.0 bus interface, nor the latest AMD Ryzen 5000 Series CPUs, it does come with two PCIe x16 slots which enable you to install two Radeon graphics cards in CrossFire configuration. The TOMAHAWK MAX is also equipped with one M.2 SSD slot, and six SATA3 connectors. There is also three additional PCIe 2.0 x1 slots which let you install various add-on PCIe cards, while on-board gigabit LAN is here to provide you Internet access. Featuring smart design and wide layout, this motherboard is very DIY-friendly, and it also lets you overclock your RAM to speeds of up to 4,133 MHz. On its rear panel you’ll find a multitude of USB ports, while on its PCB you’ll find a very useful BIOS flash button. Although it doesn’t feature too impressive specs, the TOMAHAWK MAX is a very sturdy and reliable motherboard that is capable of serving as a good platform to your Ryzen 5 3600 CPU.

Conclusion

Depending on your budget and preferences, we are sure that some of the motherboards listed above will satisfy your needs. Although motherboards featuring the X570 chipset are the best for Ryzen 5 3600 CPU, motherboards that have B450 chipset will provide more than enough features for most mainstream users. We hope our buying guide helped you in search of the information you were looking for. If you still feel confused, and need advice about buying, feel free to post comment below. We will try to help you.

Read more

• Best Ryzen CPUs for Gaming in 2020
• Best B550 Motherboards for AMD Ryzen CPUs
• The Best AMD Gaming PC Build Under $1500 in 2020