AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Review

The Ryzen 5 5600X is one of AMD's mid-range Desktop processors. It was released in 2020 with 6 cores and 12 threads. With base clock at 3.7GHz, max speed at 4.6GHz, and a 65W power rating. The Ryzen 5 5600X is based on the Vermeer 7nm family and is part of the Ryzen 5 series.

Ryzen 5 5600X is also the successor of AMD's last gen Ryzen 5 3600X processor that was based on the Zen 2 and 7nm process and was released in 2019.

In our mind, the best processors are the ones that deliver outstanding performance at a reasonable price point. And, the Ryzen 5 5600X absolutely nails this concept.

Increased IPC improvements, along with the massive turbo boost of 4.6GHz mean that even in single core performance – long a weak link of AMD’s processors – comes within reaching distance of rival chips.

One thing that the switch to 7nm silicon has allowed for however, is an increase in cache size. AMD is now describing its L3 and L2 cache in a combined spec of 8 x 512 kB and 32. But, because the 7nm CPU cores are contained within their own chiplets, AMD was able to pack much more in – with a whopping 8 x 512 kB and 32. This is a really big deal, as it allows for much faster performance, especially when you’re shooting for high framerates in 1080p games, and will be especially effective in old esports titles like Counter Strike: Global Offensive.

AMD's Zen 3 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.

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.

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, like the rest of AMD's Vermeer processors, is built on a 7nm manufacturing node – the smallest in a commercially available CPU. What this means for most people is lower power consumption and much improved performance at the same time.

What this all means is that the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 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 5600X.

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X is another impressive release from AMD and its 4 Generation of Ryzen 5 chips. With it, you’re getting 6-cores and 12-threads, with a boost clock of 4.6GHz. 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 $299 buck.

If you're mostly playing games on your PC, you will be happy buying either processor. Both proved to be solid options and are evenly matched with a slight advantage to the Intel chip if you don't tune up the Core i5 processor. The base performance we showed for the Ryzen 5 5600X can be achieved with $90 memory, while the Core i5-10600K will require $110 - $120 memory in order to enable the frame rates shown here. It’s not a big cost difference and right now with anything less than an RTX 2070 or Vega 64 you’ll more than likely become GPU limited.

Today we’ll be taking a closer look at the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 6-core desktop processor that was released in Oct 2020. AMD offers the Ryzen 5 5600X without integrated graphics. It runs $299 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 5600X processors is that the retail boxed models come with a CPU cooler. So, you can pick something like the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X up for $299 and don’t need to spend any extra money on CPU cooling.

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 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 65W TDP. You do not need to have an aftermarket cooling solution unless you want to.

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X seems to be a decent performing chip that is readily available for $299 at your favorite retailer. The main competition for this processor is the Core i5-10600K 6-Core unlocked desktop processor with Intel UHD Graphics 630 graphics ($262 shipped).

For a 6-core processor, AMD’s $299 flagship Ryzen 5 5600X 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 $262 6-core Intel Core i5-10600K.

With Ryzen 5, AMD continues to innovate on its new architecture and 7nm process. Like Ryzen 7, AMD has engineered Ryzen 5 to operate on a AM4 chipset with all the modern amenities of computing. This includes support for DDR4 RAM, the fastest NVMe SSDs and Thunderbolt 3 ports.

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 93% in our benchmarks.

Regardless of those external factors, the Ryzen 5 5600X 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 5600X clocks up to 4.6Ghz just as it promises on the box, and with AMD’s software you can take one of the cores all the way up to 4.7GHz. However, don’t expect to get much beyond that without seriously upgrading your cooling solution and manually tweaking voltages behind the operating system level.

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 5600X processors, which the company is making available as of Oct 2020.

Although the 65W-rated cooler doesn't feature a copper base or the LEDs found on AMD's higher-end thermal solutions, it does handle Ryzen 5's heat output deftly enough to facilitate XFR-triggered frequencies. This gives you an extra 200 MHz. We were even able to overclock the Ryzen 5 5600X to 4.8 GHz within a reasonable temperature range. The fan also blows down onto the motherboard, which provide additional cooling around the socket. If you need more bling, AMD recently announced that it now offers the LED-equipped cooler separately.

Like all other Vermeer chips, the Ryzen 5-series CPUs drop into any Socket AM4 motherboard. But most will find a home on boards equipped with the B450 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.