I'm finally upgrading my old intel laptop because it basically catches fire when I try to render 4K projects for my freelance clients. I'm based in Chicago and looking to stay under $200 for the CPU alone since my total budget is pretty tight. I saw some folks online saying the Ryzen 5 5600 is plenty but then others say for professional stuff you absolutely need 8 cores like the 5700X or even a 5800X to avoid laggy timelines. I'm kinda stuck because some benchmarks say single core is king for scrubbing but the multi-core seems better for exports and I dont want to wait hours... what's actually the best budget AMD pick for pro video work right now?
Honestly, I've been super happy with the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X 8-Core 3.4GHz Processor. It usually sits right around $170 and hits that sweet spot for 4K work.
Regarding what #1 said, I'm so satisfied with my AMD Ryzen 7 5700X 8-Core 16-Thread Processor. Pro tip: check Micro Center open-box deals to save even more cash!