The AM4 platform seems to be an eternal platform as AMD launches yet another Zen 3 processor for the entry-level market.
The "F" variants in the pre-AM5 lineups don't make sense since the mainstream Zen 1 to Zen 3 processors don't feature an iGPU. Still, AMD silently launched Ryzen 5 "5600F", which is a Zen 3 CPU without any integrated graphics. It's interesting since the Ryzen 5 5600 doesn't have an iGPU as well. So, it really seems like AMD has a lot of leftover silicon to make more Zen 3 CPUs to continue this several-year-old series.
As spotted by @momomo_us, the Ryzen 5 5600F is now live on AMD's official website, revealing its specifications in detail. As you would expect, it brings the same 6-core/12-thread configuration as the Ryzen 5 5600, but the core clocks are significantly lower than the latter. Compared to the 3.5 GHz/4.4 GHz base/boost clock of the Ryzen 5600, the Ryzen 5 5600F brings just 3.0 GHz/4.0 GHz of base/boost clock. This is a drastic downgrade, which looks similar to what we saw earlier today on the new Ryzen 7000 processors, aka Ryzen 5 7400F and Ryzen 7400.
Thankfully, AMD didn't nerf the L3 cache, and the 5600F still gets the 32 MB cache size, which is incredibly important for gaming and select workloads. Unlike the Ryzen 5 5500, the 5600F could be a better option, but the Ryzen 5500 is already ahead with higher base and boost clocks. As far as its availability is concerned, it's released for the APJ region (Asia Pacific and Japan), and won't be released worldwide, at least for now.
The price is unknown, but we think it will be a sub-$100 CPU, considering the Ryzen 5 5500 is already available at a sub-$80 price tag, and the Ryzen 5600 is available for around $100 at stores like Newegg. It's mind-boggling to see how diverse has the Ryzen 5000 lineup has become, and there isn't any other Ryzen lineup that has more CPUs than Zen 3. We have the regular non-X editions, X editions, XT editions, G editions (APUs), GT editions, X3D editions, and now the F edition.
I have lost count how many times I thought AMD would just end producing more Zen 3 CPUs, but now it appears that it just won't end.