The Ryzen 5 7600X3D is a Micro Center exclusive, just like its predecessor, the Ryzen 5 5600X3D. However, the Ryzen 5 7600X3D will now also be available in Germany, through Mindfactory.

What is wrong with the picture is that the Ryzen 5 7600X3D has a $300 price tag. That's quite a sum for a six-core CPU, especially considering the Ryzen 7 7800X3D isn't much pricier. The 7800X3D costs $400 in stores but seems to be in short supply. On Amazon, it used to be $350, but it's sold out. Over on Newegg, it's a jaw-dropping $600.

The Ryzen 5 7600X3D is a clear downgrade from the 7800X3D. It features six cores, 12 threads, a maximum boost clock of 4.7GHz, and 96MB of L3 cache, with a modest TDP of 65 watts.

In contrast, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, hailed as the best gaming CPU right now, has two more cores and boosts up to 5GHz, albeit with nearly double the TDP — 65W versus 120W.

On paper, the Ryzen 5 7600X3D might seem like a decent entry-level gaming platform. The extra 3D V-Cache should help, and the X3D version boasts an additional 64MB of L3 cache compared to its non-X3D counterpart.

Micro Center's benchmarks show the CPU can handle gaming, but third-party tests will provide a clearer picture.

In Micro Center's benchmarks, the Ryzen 5 7600X3D performed within two per centof the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. Some games, like Total War: Warhammer III, saw the 7800X3D outperform the new Micro Center exclusive by up to seven per cent. These aren't massive gains, so the two CPUs appear pretty similar.

Note that these results were achieved with the new Windows Update, which boosts the performance of many Ryzen CPUs by up to 10 per cent.

It is unclear what is happening with the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. The Ryzen 5 7600X3D might be a passable replacement at a lower price point, but six-core CPUs aren't ideal for everyone. Plus, it's not much of a replacement if it's a Micro Center exclusive.