Every PC needs a good CPU, whether for gaming or other purposes. AMD is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary as a company, and as part of the festivities, Newegg is selling the Ryzen 5 2600 at a discounted price of just $149.99. That includes a $15 instant rebate (code: EMCTYWT23), dropping the price from the current sale price of $164.99. That's the lowest price we've seen on this particular CPU, which normally sells for around $165 (never mind the $200 MSRP).
Not only do you get a great CPU, but you also get game codes for The Division 2 Gold and World War Z. Purchased separately, those would cost nearly as much as the CPU. Assuming you don't already own the games and that you're thinking of buying them, naturally.
The Ryzen 5 2600 is effectively AMD's 'budget' 2nd generation CPU part, and it includes a Wraith Stealth cooler. It's a 6-core/12-thread 65W part clocked at 3.4-3.9GHz, and in testing I was able to hit 4.1GHz on all six cores. That's basically the same overclock as the more expensive 2600X, though you'll probably want a better cooler. Even with the Wraith Stealth, 4.0GHz overclocks are possible.
Overall performance from the Ryzen 5 2600 is excellent, especially considering the price. It's a bit slower than Intel's Core i5-8400 in games, but that's only if you're using a very fast graphics card at 1080p. With a midrange GPU, performance will basically be the same for games, and in non-gaming workloads—particularly multithreaded tests—the 2600 is 15 percent faster on average than a Core i5. And it costs less and overclocks.
Of course, part of the reason we're seeing so many AMD CPU and graphics card deals right now is that the next generation Ryzen 3000 and Navi GPUs are right around the corner. The good news is that AM4 motherboards will support the newer CPUs if you decide to upgrade later. In the meantime, the 2600 remains an excellent choice for your next build.
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