AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Review

The Ryzen 5 2600X is one of AMD's mid-range Desktop processors. It was released in 2018 with 6 cores and 12 threads. With base clock at 3.6GHz, max speed at 4.2GHz, and a 95W power rating. The Ryzen 5 2600X is based on the Pinnacle Ridge 12nm family and is part of the Ryzen 5 series.

Ryzen 5 2600X is also the successor of AMD's last gen Ryzen 5 1600X processor that was based on the Zen and 14nm process and was released in 2017.

In our mind, the best processors are the ones that deliver outstanding performance at a reasonable price point. And, the Ryzen 5 2600X absolutely nails this concept.

Now, we're asking ourselves whether or not the AMD Ryzen 5 2600X finally dethrones the Core i5-8600K as the de facto ruler of the mainstream processors. Ultimately, it depends: the Ryzen 5 2600X doesn't reach the same single-core performance as Intel, but we're starting to see more games adopt multi-threaded CPUs, so that doesn't matter as much.

AMD Ryzen 5 2nd Generation, and the Zen+ architecture itself, is notable because it leads 12nm processors to the mainstream for the first time. But, there’s a lot more going on under the hood than just a smaller manufacturing node.

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X really shows what it’s made of when it comes to multi-threaded workloads. For instance, in both Geekbench and Cinebench R15, the 6-core processor scored a whopping 22745 and 1380, respectively. Compared to the Core i5-8600K, which scores 20638 and 1040 in the same tests, it’s a night and day difference. For about the same price point, the Ryzen 5 2600X is faster than the Core i5-8600K in multi-threaded loads.

AMD's Zen+ series has landed, upping the ante with Intel in its high-stakes game for desktop PC market dominance with a well-rounded lineup of new chips that push mainstream platforms to higher core counts and more raw compute than we've ever seen. As a result, Intel's commanding presence in the enthusiast space is threatened in a way we haven't seen in over a decade.

That something is the Ryzen 5 2600X. AMD cranks the TDP dial up to 95W on this 6-core 12-thread chip, making it the high-performance counterpart to the 65W Ryzen 5 2500X, which is basically the same 12nm chip built with the Zen+ microarchitecture, but with a lower TDP rating. That chip came away from our first look at the Zen+ series with an Editor's Choice award, going toe-to-toe with Intel's Core i5-8600K, so it's fair to say we have high hopes for the higher-performance model. AMD still hasn't sampled the chip to the press, so we bought one at retail to put it under the microscope.

The Ryzen 5 2600X takes the basic ingredients of the Zen+ microarchitecture, which brings an average of 15% more instructions per cycle (IPC) throughput, and 12nm process and melds them into a high-performance chip that is impressive across our test suite, especially when we factor in the competitive pricing, backward compatibility with most AM4 socket motherboards, unlocked overclocking features, and bundled cooler.

As we've seen, gaming remains an advantage for Intel, so if squeezing out every last frame is all you care about, Intel's processors are a good choice. Much of that performance advantage will be less noticeable when gaming at higher resolutions, or if you pair the processors with a lesser graphics card.

But, like most humans, if you do things other than gaming, the Ryzen 5 2600X offers a better mixture of performance in single- and multi-threaded applications. The Ryzen 5 2600X offers twice the threads of the price-comparable Core i5-8600K, and it wields them to great effect in threaded workloads. As such, rendering and encoding remain a strong suit of the Ryzen 5 chips, and AMD's improvements to AVX throughput have yielded impressive results.

Value seekers who aren't afraid to press the Precision Boost Overdrive button and have sufficient cooling should look to the Ryzen 5 2500X for roughly equivalent performance to the Ryzen 5 2600X, particularly if gaming factors heavily into the buying decision. That could save you money, reinforcing our decision to give the Ryzen 5 2500X an Editor's Choice award.

Out of the box, the Ryzen 5 2600X is a better all-arounder than the Core i5-8600K and offers incrementally higher performance than its downstream counterpart. The bundled cooler reduces platform costs, and a wide array of motherboards offers plenty of choices for builders.

AMD Ryzen 5 2 Generation is finally here, and the AMD Ryzen 5 2600X might just be the poster child for what this generation of processors has in store for consumers. Sure, it might have stuck with the 6-core, 12-thread setup, which it inherited from its predecessor, the Ryzen 5 1600X. However, with the new 12nm manufacturing process, it delivers a far better performance at lower power consumption.

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X was rolled out on Apr 2018 for $229, which puts it in the same general price range as the last-generation Ryzen 5 1600X. This means that at least we're not seeing any considerable price jumps from generation to generation.

It gets more interesting, however, when you compare the Ryzen 5 2600X to its main competitor. The Intel Core i5-8600K is available for $257, an 6-core processor with no hyperthreading, which means that the Ryzen 5 2600X offers twice the processing threads at a lower price tag. Intel is still king when it comes to single-core performance, but when it comes to multi-core ones, the AMD Ryzen 5 2600X is the absolute beast.

This decision to 12nm has brought a beefy 15% boost to IPC (instructions per clock) performance. Effectively, compared to a Ryzen 5 1-Generation processor at the same clock speed, you will get a straight 15% increase in performance. That’s not big enough to be evident in day-to-day workloads, but it does still mean something.

What this all means is that the AMD Ryzen 5 2600X is an absolute beast when it comes to multi-threaded workloads, especially at this price point. If you're counting on doing some video editing or compiling one hell of an Excel spreadsheet, you're going to see firsthand a performance boost with the Ryzen 5 2600X.

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X is another impressive release from AMD and its 2 Generation of Ryzen 5 chips. With it, you’re getting 6-cores and 12-threads, with a boost clock of 4.2GHz. It may not be the strongest contender ever made on paper, but when you see and feel the actual performance gains it offers, you’re certainly getting a lot of bang for your $229 buck.

Today we’ll be taking a closer look at the AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 6-core desktop processor that was released in Apr 2018. AMD offers the Ryzen 5 2600X without integrated graphics. It runs $229 shipped and is ideal for those that plan on using it a system with a dedicated graphics card.

One of the nice things about the AMD Ryzen 5 2600X processors is that the retail boxed models come with a CPU cooler. So, you can pick something like the AMD Ryzen 5 2600X up for $229 and don’t need to spend any extra money on CPU cooling.

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X retail boxed processor comes with the traditional ‘pancake’ CPU cooler. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done on this processor which is rated at 95W TDP. You do not need to have an aftermarket cooling solution unless you want to.

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X seems to be a decent performing chip that is readily available for $229 at your favorite retailer. The main competition for this processor is the Core i5-8600K 6-Core unlocked desktop processor with Intel UHD Graphics 630 graphics ($257 shipped).

For a 6-core processor, AMD’s $229 flagship Ryzen 5 2600X processor seems downright cheap. On paper, the cost of those 0 extra cores is almost an afterthought when you stack it up against its direct competitor, the $257 6-core Intel Core i5-8600K.

Now the biggest question is can AMD’s Ryzen 5 processor play games? The answer is simply yes as it got a respectable gaming score of 83% in our benchmarks.

Regardless of those external factors, the Ryzen 5 2600X proves it has the chops to be your main gaming system and a just as effective media creation platform – two things that are becoming intrinsically connected in this age of live-streaming, eSports and uploading gameplay videos.

The Ryzen 5 2600X clocks up to 4.2Ghz just as it promises on the box, and with AMD’s software you can take one of the cores all the way up to 4.3GHz. However, don’t expect to get much beyond that without seriously upgrading your cooling solution and manually tweaking voltages behind the operating system level.

If you’ve been looking for an affordable, powerhouse CPU that both works and parties hard, this is it.

Fresh from a successful roll-out of mainstream Ryzen 5 CPUs, AMD's attack on Intel now extends down into the mid-range with its Ryzen 5 2600X processors, which the company is making available as of Apr 2018.

Like all other Pinnacle Ridge chips, the Ryzen 5-series CPUs drop into any Socket AM4 motherboard. But most will find a home on boards equipped with the A320 chipset, which has provisions for overclocking and offers plenty of connectivity options. Unlike Intel, AMD plans to utilize its current socket until 2023, so upgrading to future models shouldn't require a new motherboard.