Product test

Ryzen 5 5600X: The new budget gaming CPU?

5.11.2020

Translation: machine translated

The Ryzen 5 5600X is the smallest model in the Ryzen 5000 series. However, it has no need to hide from its larger siblings and the competition, as it packs more power than any entry-level CPU before it.

I named the Ryzen 5 3600X as the best all-rounder CPU. The successor therefore has big shoes to fill. The Ryzen 5 5600X masters this challenge with flying colours. It really steps up its game in the key areas, namely gaming.

The processor in detail

If you are interested in the Zen 3 architecture in detail, click on the article below. I have summarised everything important there.

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Here are the features of the chip compared to the competition and the indirect predecessor 3600XT in detail:

Processor	Microarchitecture / manufacturing process	Cores / Threads	Base / boost clock (GHz)	TDP (Watt)	L3 cache (MB)	PCIe Lanes	Memory Support	Price (as of 05.10.2020)	Price per thread (as of 05.10.2020)
Ryzen 5 5600X	Zen 3 / 7 nm	6 / 12	3,7 / 4,6	65	32	24 PCIe 4.0	Dual-channel DDR4-3200	299	24,90
Ryzen 5 3600XT	Zen 2 / 7 nm	6 / 12	3,8 / 4,5	65	32	16 PCIe 4.0	Dual-channel DDR4-3200	232	19,35
Core i5-10600K	Comet Lake / 14nm++	6 / 12	4,1 / 4,8	125	12	16 PCIe 3.0	Dual-channel DDR4-2666	252	21

In contrast to the high-end Ryzen 9 5950X and 5900X models, the processor has competition from Intel: The Ryzen 5 5600X has to compete with the Intel i5-10600K, as both have six cores and twelve threads. Unfortunately, I don't have any data on its actual predecessor, the Ryzen 5 3600X. You'll have to make do with the refresh of the processor, the Ryzen 5 3600XT.

Compared to the 3600XT, the 5600X has a 100 MHz higher boost clock. At 3.6 GHz, the base clock is 100 MHz lower than the 5600XT. That doesn't sound like much, but thanks to the innovations of the Zen 3 architecture, there is still a leap in performance with the same consumption. The 5600X is the only processor in the Ryzen 5000 series line-up that comes with a cooler - the Wraith Stealth.

Test setup and method

I used the following components for the review:

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X (AM4, 3.70 GHz, 6 -Core)

Processors

CHF124.–

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X

AM4, 3.70 GHz, 6 -Core

Motherboards

ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Formula

AM4, AMD X570, ATX

Graphics card

KFA2 GeForce RTX 2080 Super Ex

8 GB

Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB (2 x 8GB, 3200 MHz, DDR4-RAM, DIMM)

RAM

CHF95.90

Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB

2 x 8GB, 3200 MHz, DDR4-RAM, DIMM

CPU coolers

CHF107.–

Noctua NH-U12A

158 mm

SSD

Corsair MP600

1000 GB, M.2 2280

Power Supply PC

Used

CHF104.–

Corsair RM850 *2019*

850 W

I activate XMP in the BIOS. Otherwise I leave everything on default - except under the subtitle "Overclocking". I use AGESA V2 1.1.0.0 for the BIOS and version 2.10.13.408 is installed for the chipset driver. Windows 10 is running version 2004.

The testing method is based on my graphics card reviews. Here is an overview of the various benchmarks:

Cinebench R20
CPU-Z Benchmark
Blender
Handbrake
7-Zip
Photoshop
PCMark 10
Fire Strike / Fire Strike Ultra
Time Spy / Time Spy Extreme
Games: "Assassin's Creed Odyssey", "Civilisation VI: Gathering Storm", "Deus Ex: Mankind Divided", "Far Cry 5", "Gears 5", "Red Dead Redemption 2", "Strange Brigade" and "Shadow of the Tomb Raider"

I run all benchmarks three times and take the best result in each case.

Overclocking and Cinebench R20

As always with CPU reviews, I am aware that the overclocking potential with the Noctua air cooler is limited. I could probably achieve higher clock frequencies with an AIO. However, since most people still cool their CPUs with air, the test with air cooling is more meaningful. I'm also not a professional overclocker. If you have an AIO or custom water cooling, you can achieve better temperatures. Nevertheless, the overclocking potential of the Ryzen 5 5600X is impressive for an AMD processor. I manage to overclock the six cores to 4.7 GHz without the CPU getting too hot.

As a reference, I run the Cinebench R20 benchmark. With stock settings, the Ryzen 5 5600X achieves a multi-core score of 4306, with the processor heating up to 63° Celsius and running at 4.4 GHz on all cores. This keeps it four degrees cooler than the competitor from Intel, which gets up to 67° Celsius on stock in Cinebench R20. The 3600XT got up to 75° Celsius. The jump in the single core is large: 595 points. The 3600XT achieved 521, which corresponds to an increase of 14 per cent. For the multi core, it was even 17 per cent more.

With a voltage of 1.35 volts, I manage to overclock the 5600X to 4.7 GHz on all cores. The system runs stably. I did manage to boot Windows at 4.8 GHz, but the system kept crashing. With this clock frequency, I achieve a multi-core score of 4654 in Cinebench, 8 per cent more than in stock mode. The CPU gets 83° Celsius warm in the process.

CPU-Z

In the CPU-Z benchmark, the performance increase of the 5600X compared to the 5600XT is 18 per cent in single core and 14 per cent in multi core. The competition from Intel also clearly beats the AMD CPU: by 15 per cent in single core and 21 per cent in multi core.

7-Zip

In the integrated benchmark of 7-Zip - I choose the standard "Dictionary size" of 32 MB - the difference to the 3600XT is also big: the 5600X manages over 18,000 instructions per second (MIPS) more, which corresponds to a whopping 21 per cent more. AMD leaves the competition from Intel behind with 32 per cent more - and with the same number of cores.

Blender bmw27

The performance increase in Blender compared to the 3600XT is not quite as great. The new AMD processor renders the benchmark scene 14 seconds faster than its predecessor. This corresponds to around six per cent. Compared to the Intel, the 5900X is 16 seconds faster.

Handbrake

In the Handbrake test, the performance advantage of the 5600X over the 3600XT is eight per cent. The 5600X encodes the 88-second, 645 MB 4K trailer from "The Dark Knight Rises" 12 seconds faster than its Intel competitor using Handbrake's "Fast 1080p30" presets.

Photoshop

Different workloads are performed in the Photoshop benchmark from Puget Systems. You can find more detailed information here. At the end, the benchmark calculates a score based on a reference workstation. This achieves 1000 points. The small difference to the reference workstation, which is equipped with older components, can be explained by the RAM: The workstation has 64 GB of RAM installed and the testbench only has 16, so you should ignore the result of the reference workstation. Much more important are the results of the individual processors on my testbench.

In the benchmark, the 5600X performs around 21 per cent better than the 3600XT and around 20 per cent better than the 10600K. That is a considerable leap in performance.

PCMark 10

At five per cent, the near-generational leap in PCMark 10 is significantly smaller. The benchmark tests various scenarios such as the loading time of apps, efficiency in spreadsheets, browsing or photo and video editing. It calculates a score from this. Compared to the 10600K, the test CPU is nine per cent ahead.

Fire Strike, Fire Strike Ultra, Time Spy and Time Spy Ultra

The synthetic game benchmarks provide a first look at the performance in games. I have omitted the overall score, which is calculated from the results of the graphics card and CPU. This is because the GPU score is very inconsistent. I had differences of over 1000 points here.

In two Fire Strike benchmarks, the new AMD CPU easily blows away the competition from Intel. AMD also wins the race in the Time Spy benchmarks, but the difference is small. Across the four benchmarks, the 5600X is around 19 per cent ahead of the other two CPUs.

The games

In addition to the average FPS, I also provide the frame time in percentiles for the games, namely 99 and 99.9. The measured values of the percentiles are frame times measured in milliseconds. In other words, the time intervals from picture to picture or frame to frame. The purpose of the percentile values is to ignore isolated outliers. 99 percentile means that 99 per cent of all measured values are faster than the specified measured value. If a value in the graphic is 95 FPS, 99 per cent are running at a higher frame rate than 95 FPS. Exactly one per cent, on the other hand, runs slower than 95 FPS. The same applies to the 99.9 percentile. For better comparability, the result is converted from frametimes in milliseconds to the traditional FPS value.

As you can see, the Ryzen 5 5600X performs better in certain games and worse in others than the 10600K. The only big difference is in "Strange Brigade". The game generally runs worse with AMD processors than with Intel processors. I therefore exclude it from the presentation of the average FPS. However, the game shows that Intel is still favoured by certain games.

In 1080p resolution, AMD is two FPS ahead of Intel with the 5600X. In 2160p resolution, AMD and Intel are in lockstep and in 1440p resolution, Intel is one FPS ahead.

Compared to the 3600XT, a lot has changed, especially in Full HD: Twelve per cent more FPS there. In 1440p and 2160p, it's still six per cent more.

Conclusion: The secret gaming king has to share its place

In my review of the Intel i5-10600K, I described the processor as the secret gaming king. AMD is now following suit with the Ryzen 5 5600X. The previous underdog has successfully stormed Intel's last bastion, gaming.

In applications, the 5600X is between 5 and 21 per cent faster than the 3600XT. Compared to the Intel CPU, it is even up to 32 per cent. The 5600X outperforms the competition from Intel across the board. When it comes to entry-level CPUs, there can therefore be no other choice than AMD at the moment - apart from the price.

At 299 francs, the processor costs 20 francs more than its predecessor, the 3600X, when it was released. The CPU is the most expensive of all Ryzen 5000 series processors at digitec. Expressed in per cent: the 5600X is 7 per cent more expensive. In terms of the increase in performance, however, the price is justified and the 5600X is the only one to come with a cooler. AMD can now also afford to charge a little more for the processors in the smaller models. Nevertheless, the surcharge is steep compared to the i5-10600K: the AMD processor costs 19 per cent more. Is it really worth it? If you are only interested in gaming, the i5 is probably the better choice for the budget-conscious. But if you use other applications, the 5600X is worth the extra cost. And since the 5600X is more efficient, the surcharge should evaporate over time. A topsy-turvy world: Suddenly Intel has the more beginner-friendly price and no longer AMD.

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Kevin Hofer

Senior Editor

kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.ch

From big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.

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