AMD’s Ryzen CPUs have been scarce over the last few months after a rapid rise in popularity and demand dried up available inventory. If you've been trying to get your hands on one then we have great news – not only are they readily available across most of the global retailers we checked, many sites have also applied a generous discount to the most of the Zen 3 line-up.
A report conducted by Overclock3D that focused on the UK market reveals that coveted products like the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X have dropped from £530 ($730 / AU$990) to £450 ($620 / AU$840).
VideoCardz reports that the same CPU actually got a bit more expensive in the US market, sitting at around $590-610 from the initial launch RRP of $549, but the rest of the Ryzen 5000 series is, on average, 12% cheaper in the US, 18% in the UK and 16% in EU.
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Red Ryzen hot deals
Overclock3D also pulled some pricing examples from Amazon, but it's important to remember that a conversion from the UK pricing doesn't necessarily reflect the MSRP of other regions.
- AMD Ryzen 5 5600X – Launch price £290 (around $400 / AU$540) – Current Price £246 (around $340 / AU$460)
- AMD Ryzen 7 5800X – Launch Price £429 (around $595 / AU$800) – Current Price £355 (around $490 / AU$660)
- AMD Ryzen 9 5900X – Launch price £530 (around $730 / AU$990) – Current Price £450 (around $620 / AU$840)
- AMD Ryzen 9 5950X – Launch price £750 (around $1,030 / AU$1,340) – Current Price £719 (around $990 / AU$1,340)
It's likely that an announcement is coming from both Team Red and Team Blue within the next few months to officially introduce the next generation of CPU architecture, so is it worth snapping up a deal on the current gen offerings? We certainly think so.
It's completely unnecessary to upgrade your CPU for every generation released (unless you have some serious cash to burn), so if you've been looking for an opportunity to grab a good deal then the available stock and lower prices we're seeing are as good a time as any.
With an ongoing chip shortage, it's also a gamble if the current generation of Intel and AMD CPUs will see stock levels and prices remain appealing to consumers, especially with production planned (and likely prioritized) for new architecture. There's a good chance that prices will fall further after the release of Alder Lake and the Zen 3 refresh, but the current market is anyone's guess so we could also find ourselves looking at hiked prices again in the coming months.
Analysis: Should you switch to AMD?
With the Alder Lake processors on the horizon, (and leaks suggesting great promise in terms of the performance) upcoming hardware could be a lifeline for Team Blue against AMD. Even with the above discounts, Intel processors are a more affordable option right now for many and previous reports have shown that the market share between both companies is starting to balance out.
The Zen 4 Ryzen CPUs aren't expected until towards the end of 2022 and Intel has previously cited supply issues, which leaves plenty of time for folk to snap up these cheaper AMD deals, and for further reductions to be made.
Ultimately, the processor brand you choose is either going to be down to personal preference on optimizations, or whichever product best suites your budget and existing system.
If you're unsure, you can check out our guide on AMD vs Intel to see which team you should be siding with, but remember - both companies have their respective pros and cons.
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