tl; dr - Sickly good processor, but how many cores do you really need? Have only had Intel processors since I started building computers in 2008. My journey has been E8400 => Q9550 => 3570k => 7600k and now I cross the border to the AMD camp. The reason is, of course, that the new generation of AMD processors performs objectively better in performance tests. Thought a lot about how many cores and threads I really need, and I actually came to the conclusion that 5600x would probably be just excellent enough for me, but it still had to be 5900x with some kind of shaky rationalization that I might still want to perform video editing or stream in the future. That will probably not be the case, at least not to any great extent. In the end, it is probably mostly for the feeling to for once have the best that is offered to buy as it got to be 5900x =) (comments about 5950x are kindly avoided). The processor is heavenly good. Has not done much benchmarks, but it seems to render video 3-4 times faster than 7600k in Davinci Resolve 16. Plays mostly DCS and the performance in 1440p was marginally better, with the same graphics card. DCS is, as I understand it, extremely bad at using multi-wire capacity. Cool with a Be Quiet! Dark Rock 4 Pro that cools it to 72 degrees in Prime95. It seems that some simple things maximize a core that then gets hot, and it causes the fan to go at high speed for just a few seconds. It does not bother me, I have had a Corsair Hydro, and realize that I have missed the gentle fan sound of a processor fan that varies in intensity. So all in all, it probably comes down to how many cores you think you need. If you are not very clear that you use applications that benefit greatly from multi-threading, you can easily choose a 5600k. If you want to play games, put the difference on a better graphics card - it is guaranteed to make a difference.

The expectations from me were quite low as it is almost only single core performance that is improved from 3900X according to reviews. But it performs better than expected (perhaps when reviewers choose 2x8 GB RAM instead of 2x16 or 4x8 which improves performance because there are several ranges of memory ready to be addressed). Highly recommend spending extra on good memories. The improved performance in single core is very noticeable in browsers and audio editing (which are single-threaded) and it is really fast in multicore as well.

Clicked F5 at 15.00 on the release day and got it yesterday after a month of waiting. A wonderful CPU that really meets expectations. Finally something that feels like a real boost after Intel's water trampling with xxx Lake and 14nm for five years ... The comments below from my list for the construction: https://classic.prisjakt.nu/list.php?l=4039051&view=l List for my high-end construction with Ryxen 5900X December 2020. Very satisfied with the construction. Everything on the list except Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut as cooling paste and my old RTX 2080 as GPU so far. Also has my old Sound BlasterX AE-5 in it so can not tell me about the sound of the motherboard. I run the memory with XMP profile - 3600 Mhz and 16-16-16-36 with 1.35v. And yes - memory is dual rank which is important to get full performance if you run two memory modules. If you run single rank, you can run four instead, but this increases the risk of instability. Everything else on Auto in Bios. Completely stable with Prime95 at full burn and good temperatures. Average 65 degrees in Prime after a few hours, some very short spike up to 79 degrees which is perfectly OK with the 5000 series which is more heat resistant than previous Zen. Feels like it's mostly at 60 degrees. When you just sit and surf, the CPU is below 40 degrees and all the fans are pretty much off. Tossed Phantek's fans and drove only with the 4 Noctua that are in the list. Drive with three of them in the front and one as an exhaust fan in the back. Keep in mind that you have to go into Gigabte's SIW or Biosen to set up 'Easy Fan 5' so that the fans do not turn too much. Has put the three in the front to go towards the system temp and the exhaust fan to go towards the VRM temp which works well. The CPU fans of course against CPU temp. By default, everyone runs on CPU temp and Ryzen nails quite quickly with short heat increases that make all fans wind up properly if you go to a page with shitty javascript for 1 second. Quite annoying and it crashes right down anyway ... The Samsung 980 Pro that sits as a system disk really gives over 7000 in read and 5200 in write ... The Intel 665P which is bulk storage with 2TB also works well. Nice that both are M2 and 'disappear' on the motherboard. In Cinebench R23 I get 21695 in multi with an avg temp of 62 degrees. Max 65. All cores stabilize after a while at just under 4.4 Ghz when running the test. In R23 single core I get 1626 and then the CPU running at 4.94 Ghz is below the test. And die temp avg at 56 degrees. Max 60 degrees. And then I have not overclocked the CPU so AMD lets the turbo run harder than the spec 4.8 Ghz if it does not overheat, which has been noted by many. Really happy with the chassis, the whole construction and of course the performance :) The only comment is that there is not much space between the first fan on the CPU cooler and the memory to be able to close the door. But it goes just without squeezing;)