On a budget the clear choice is intel, with an 11400f coming in within 10 percent of the 5600x in gaming for $125 less. The 3600 and 3600x are downright bad value at 200 dollars, with both of them getting outperformed by either the 10400f from staples for $141 or the 11400f for $175 with a B560 motherboard.

I like amd, but it really comes down to your budget and goals. If you want a balanced system for $1000 check out newegg's prebuilts. That's the only way you're getting a decent cpu and a gpu that isn't awful(1660S, iirc, which is serviceable until you can upgrade) on a budget. Watch gamersnexus review of ABS and you'll see they're considerably better than most prebuilt shops.
 
If you want to wind up with a higher end system and are willing to suffer a little, then the 10700k might be your huckleberry. It's a strong chip with built in graphics, and you can get it really cheap right now from newegg or amazon. You would be running without a proper gpu until you can save up enough to grab the one that's right for your games(valorant, RDR2, and MSFS have very different requirements), so that could be a little rough in the short term.

This is my first AMD rig and I couldn't be more delighted.  I went the 5950X route...and the machine has plenty of power to take me forward for some time.  Using my 2080 TI for graphics...for the GPU market is a straight up joke.  The stock of AMD processors is better than it was...Prices getting more and more competitive as well.

its intel all the way still.  amd just hasn't caught up yet in my opinion

Amd go amd

 
Intel

Ryzen 5000 series CPUs are in stock at Newegg
 
https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=100007671%208000%204131%204841%20601359163
 
Also...if you have a Microcenter near you...they have had stock for quite awhile now.  5600X might be perfect for you

I built my rig back in Feb. and the AMD ryzen 5 3600 was selling for 199 dollars now its wow you can get now for 179.99 from best buy

I went Intel for my most recent CPU update. My 11600k can't overclock at all which is a bummer but it's much faster than my old 4790k

rjohnson11
Intel's next gen processor will probably release in November. However that also means buying a new motherboard as well along with a new compatible cooler or AIO/CPU cooler adapter bracket for your existing cooler. 

 
....and the hyper expensive, dreadfully slow timings DDR5 ram too .
 

if you really have a very tight budget
1600af may be a good choice for you
it can handle most AAA game with almost full load
1600af performance is similar to 2600 ryzen5

For anyone doing a build ‘today’, I’d suggest waiting for a motherboard/processor combo closer to black friday/cyber monday or the holiday season. Patience will probably save you a fair bit of $

awesome thanks for the responses guys 

I think that they are currently too close to rule one out. Especially with the fluctuating prices and availability. Just look at the reviews during the time you are speccing your machine and pick the one with the best price/performance at that moment (that you can actually buy).