Can a Ryzen 3600 run Windows 11?

Yes, AMD’s Ryzen 5 3600 is compatible with Windows 11. A computer that is based on the Ryzen 5 3600 processor should be able to work with the Windows 11 operating system. Microsoft has published a list of AMD processors that support Windows 11. You can check the list of compatible AMD processors on the Microsoft website. As of March 2022, AMD’s Ryzen 5 3600 series processors are compatible with Windows 11 and will support the upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

What Ryzen 3600 processors are compatible with Windows 11?

The following four processors from the Ryzen 5 3600 series processor family are compatible with Windows 11:

  • Ryzen 5 3600
  • Ryzen 5 3600X
  • Ryzen 5 3600XT
  • Ryzen 5 3600 PRO

Computers based on these four processors are eligible for a natural upgrade from Windows 10 operating system to Windows 11 operating system. As part of the upgrade process, the Windows Update program on your computer should get an update notification for Windows 11. Once you get that notification, you would be able to upgrade Windows 10 to Windows 11 without any hassles or complications. There is no special processor or intervention that is needed to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 on your Ryzen 3600 based computer.

However, you need to check to see if the Ryzen 3600 is carrying the latest firmware. You will also need to check if Microsoft’s patch has been installed on the Ryzen 3600 based computers. We list both the requirements below.

It may be pertinent to mention over there that the Ryzen 3600 series processors ran into initial hiccups after attempting an upgrade to Windows 11. The chief complaints were around two issues:

  1. inability to upgrade to Windows 11.
  2. very slow system performance of Ryzen 3600 based computer after Windows 11 upgrade.

This warranted the introduction of patches by Microsoft and AMD to resolve underlying performance and compatibility issues between Ryzen 3600 and Windows 11.


What patches are needed for Ryzen 3600 to work with Windows 11?

Ryzen 3600 processors are compatible with Windows 11 and work well. However, some users of the Ryzen 3600 series processors have reported slower speed upon upgrading to Windows 11. The issue has been on account of latency on the L3 cache of the Ryzen 3600 series processors. To get around this issue, you need to make sure that the Windows build on your computer is OS Build 22000.282 or higher.

Alternatively, you can install the optional update KB5006746 on your Ryzen 3600 based computer. The update can be downloaded manually from the Microsoft Update Catalog page here. This update was released on 21st October 2021. If you have already installed the updates for October 2021 and subsequent security or monthly rollup updates on Windows 11, no further action is needed to resolve issues on Ryzen 3600 series processor-based computer. In other words, if you have been installing security and monthly rollup updates on Windows 11 based computers, no further action is needed to resolve performance issues on Ryzen 5 3600 series processors.

Apart from the patch rolled out by Microsoft, you will need to update the chipset firmware on the Ryzen 5 3600 series processors. The firmware can be downloaded from the AMD page mentioned here. It can be installed on Windows 11 computer using the instructions given on this page on the AMD website. Upon installation of this chipset firmware, the firmware on your computer will be upgraded to version 3.10.08.506.

Once you have installed the firmware on the Ryzen 3600 series processor-based computer, the issue of slow or degraded performance of Windows 11 on Ryzen processors is resolved. No further action is needed on Ryzen 3600 series computers after this implementation.


Can I downgrade from Windows 11 to Windows 10 on Ryzen 3600?

Yes, you can choose to downgrade from Windows 11 to Windows 10 on a Ryzen 3600 based computer. By default, you get 10 days to go back from Windows 11 to Windows 10. During the upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11, Microsoft stores the previous installation files on your computer. These files are kept intact for a 10 day period. When you use the ‘Go Back’ option through the control panel, it allows you to revert to the previous operating system on your computer. In our case, this would mean going back from Windows 11 to Windows 10.

There are ways to extend this 10 day default period to a longer period. If you wish to revert to Windows 10 from Windows 11 outside the 10 day period, you will need to follow the instructions given in this document.

To check the compatibility of the Ryzen 5 3600 series processors with the Windows 11 operating system, please check the Microsoft website here.


Processor Upgrade options for Ryzen 5 3600

If you continue to experience stuttering on a Ryzen 5 3600 processor-based computer, you may have limited options to get Windows 11 and Ryzen 5 3600 to work seamlessly. Post update of AMD firmware, Windows 11, and Ryzen 5 3600 series processors should work normally. In the event you wish for a better gaming experience, consider upgrading the Ryzen 5 3600 processor to the Ryzen 5900X or the Ryzen 5950X series processor. These two processors are some of the best processors from the Ryzen family. It is ideally suited for enhanced gaming experience, better graphics editing, and video encoding.

Ryzen 5900X and Ryzen 5950X processors are fully compatible with Windows 11 based computers. Understandably, upgrading from Ryzen 5 3600 series processors to either Ryzen 5900X or Ryzen 5 5950X processors would cost some money. I can say, this would cost some substantial money. But, you would have an altogether different experience on the computer based on Ryzen 5900X or Ryzen 5950X processors.


Summary

Ryzen 5 3600 series processors support Windows 11 deployment and are compatible with the latest operating system of Microsoft. For performance reasons, however, you should upgrade the chipset on your Ryzen 5 3600 series computers to version 3.10.08.506 or higher. This will allow the Ryzen 3600 processors to perform well with Windows 11 operating system.

You may also be interested in reading more content relevant to Windows 11:

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Rajesh Dhawan

Rajesh Dhawan is a technology professional who loves to blog about smart wearables, Cloud computing and Microsoft technologies. He loves to break complex problems into manageable chunks of meaningful information.