The Ryzen 5 1600x is a great six-core processor from AMD. It's a good choice for gamers and anyone who wants to run demanding applications. It can handle most of what you throw at it, and it can even beat Intel's Core i7 7700K in some tests.
It's a 64-bit hexa-core desktop microprocessor built using the Zen architecture on a 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.6 GHz and can boost up to 4 GHz (with XFR). It also supports up to 16 GiB of dual-channel DDR4-2666 ECC memory. It has a 95W TDP and comes with a Wraith Max air cooler, though if you wanted to upgrade you could add a liquid-cooling system.
More cores can improve performance in some workloads. For example, more threads can increase web browser performance by enabling multiple browser tabs to load simultaneously. Increased clock speeds can also help improve performance in games that are CPU-intensive.
Depending on how multi-core use evolves, this chip will still be good for a few years down the road. It uses the AM4 socket that AMD has promised to support through 2020. It has a lot of PCIe lanes, 24 in total, to give you good flexibility for adding graphics cards, SSDs and other devices. The OS supported by this chip is Windows 10. There are drivers available for older operating systems, but it's not recommended because they will probably cause the CPU to run hotter and slow down.