ChipFlip
A used Ryzen 5 3600 costs $21 right now. A used Ryzen 5 5600X costs $55.99. That's a $35 gap between two chips that share the same socket and the same core count, one generation apart.
What $35 actually buys you
Both chips run six cores and twelve threads. The 5600X clocks higher out of the box and moved to a newer process node, which shows up in single-thread performance more than anything else. For gaming specifically, that single-thread gain matters more than the spec sheet suggests, since most games still lean on a handful of fast cores rather than spreading load evenly across twelve threads.
The 3600 isn't a bad chip. It's an old one selling at a price that reflects how far the CPU market has moved past it, not a defect or a red flag on the listing.
Who should actually buy the 3600
Anyone building on a real budget, or anyone who already owns the board and just needs a working chip in it. $21 is close to disposable at this point. If the build is for basic desktop use, light gaming at lower settings, or a home server, the performance gap won't be felt in daily use.
Who should pay the extra $35
Builders who plan to game at higher settings or who want headroom for the next few years. The 5600X's clock speed advantage compounds over time as games lean harder on single-thread performance, and $35 is a small price for a build that ages better.
Bottom line
Know the job before you pick the chip. A $21 CPU that covers the actual use case beats a $56 CPU bought out of habit.