AMD Ryzen 5 9600X CPU Review - Mainstream Zen 5 Tested

TweakTown's Rating: 91%

The Bottom Line

Zen 5 is here, and the entry-level AMD Ryzen 5 9600X CPU is a winner. The architectural overhaul and improved efficiency deliver impressive single-core performance, so much so that gaming with the Ryzen 5 9600X is almost identical to gaming with the Ryzen 9 7950X.

Pros

• + Gaming performance rivals the previous gen Zen 4 flagship
• + New Zen 5 architecture delivers
• + Super-efficient CPU package at 65W
• + Excellent single-core performance
• + $279 USD is a great introductory price

Cons

• - Lower core and thread count compared to other models
• - Rendering and other high-impact multi-core performance suffers

Should you buy it?

AvoidConsiderShortlistBuy

Buy at Amazon

Buy at Newegg

Introduction

Editor Note: Our usual TweakTown CPU reviewer, Tyler, is currently in the hospital and has been unable to test and review this CPU. Therefore, we don't have the usual array of CPUs to compare against. We thank you for your understanding.

A slight delay and a restructured launch see the Ryzen 9000 Series and AMD's new Zen 5 architecture debut with two out of four models - the Ryzen 7 9700X and the Ryzen 5 9600X. Those interested in the deep-dive benchmark data and comparisons for the entire launch line-up, specifically for the new flagship Ryzen 9 9950X, will have to wait another week. However, that doesn't mean that what you get with this review of the "entry-level" Ryzen 5 9600X is half or a fraction of the story. No, even with six cores and 12 threads, it presents an exciting look at the future of Ryzen.

40

AMD formally announced and introduced its latest range of desktop processors at Computex 2024, where we learned about the company's goals for the new CPU line-up and architecture. Yes, it was an announcement all about hyping up a new product launch. Still, with an overhauled Zen 5 core that focuses on performance and efficiency, there's much more to the story than the easy-to-digest double-digit "up to 16% IPC improvement" claims.

Faster productivity and gaming performance compared to the previous Ryzen 7000 Series generation and the competition (namely Intel's 14th Gen Core products) are always lovely to see - and arguably expected. But with impressive under-the-hood changes to the architecture that go beyond moving to a more advanced TSMC node, Zen 5 is a game-changer. If performance is king, then efficiency is queen.

40

Efficiency is often overlooked in enthusiast hardware, especially in the CPU and GPU spaces. However, considering recent controversies surrounding Intel's voltage and stability issues with power-hungry 13th and 14th Gen processors, seeing Zen 5 effectively do more with less (deliver performance gains while using less power) feels revelatory.

It would be impossible to review the new Ryzen 5 9600X in 2024 without acknowledging the current climate and how - timing-wise - AMD is positioned to make a real impact with its latest generation of Ryzen products. The Ryzen 5 9600X, priced at $279 USD, is an impressive CPU for single-core performance and efficient gaming. Let's jump in.

AMD Ryzen 5 9600X

	Today	Yesterday	7 days ago	30 days ago
	$279.00	$279.00	$279.00	$279.00	Buy
	$279.00	$279.00	$279.00	$279.00	Buy
* Prices last scanned on 9/17/2024 at 10:26 am CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission from any sales.

Ryzen 9000 Series and The Zen 5 Generation

AMD's next-generation Zen 5 architecture is here, debuting with the new Granite Ridge desktop processor line-up, otherwise known as the Ryzen 9000 Series - kicking off with the latest flagship Ryzen 9 9950X, the Ryzen 9 9900X, the Ryzen 7 9700X, and the Ryzen 5 9600X. Make no mistake: all four are what you'd call 'high-performance' CPUs, with the Ryzen 5 again serving as the entry-level option. If you want the quick elevator pitch on what the new Zen 5 architecture brings to the table compared to the previous-gen Zen 4 (as seen in the Ryzen 7000 Series), the short answer is performance and efficiency. Translation: Zen 5 can do a lot more with less.

40

Zen 5 and the new Ryzen 9000 Series have been designed to deliver an impressive 16% improvement in Instruction Per Clock (IPC) performance, a double-digit gain that is impressive in itself. However, Zen 5 isn't merely an incremental update on a more robust and efficient node; AMD describes it as a substantial leap forward for Ryzen, with several fundamental changes and improvements to the underlying architecture. In fact, AMD has gone so far as to call Zen 5 a "ground-up redesign of the Zen architecture."

At a glance, the Ryzen 9000 Series specs look similar to the Ryzen 7000 Series in core and thread counts and frequencies. One way to improve performance is to add more cores and threads, boost frequencies, and put more power into each CPU core. So, with less power (outside of the flagship Ryzen 9 9950X, which features the same 170W power rating as the previous-gen's 7950X) and seemingly the same specs, you might be wondering how AMD has managed to increase performance by a 'significant' amount. Well, once you take a microscope to the new Ryzen 9000 Series, you'll discover that the new Zen 5 Core differs from what has come before.

40

One key change that improves latency and performance comes from optimizing branch prediction accuracy, a critical component in CPU and microprocessor design. Zen 5 features a more advanced branch prediction system that supports dual decode pipes with less latency, improved accuracy, and throughput. As the name suggests, branch prediction is all about guessing or predicting the outcome of an operation. Modern CPUs are all about parallel processing and ensuring that no cycles are wasted by having the CPU sit there doing nothing.

Branch prediction helps a CPU accurately guess where to fetch the next instruction while the current instruction is still being processed. Of course, this can lead to two outcomes - a correct prediction or an incorrect one. With increased throughput in the L1 instruction cache and op-cache, the new Ryzen 9000 Series can perform more work during each clock cycle - including its predictions. This leads to better performance and power efficiency, with more accurate and overall predictions - a win-win.

40

With improved predictions and increased bandwidth, AMD has improved the Zen 5 scheduler compared to Zen 4. The Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) count has been increased and is more unified and larger. Regarding bandwidth specifically, the new 12-way L1 Cache is now 48Kb in size, a 50% increase over Zen 4's 8-way 32Kb. L2 bandwidth has also doubled, with AMD pulling this off without increasing latency.

The final major overhaul comes in the math department - the land of floating points - with Zen 5 supporting the native AVX-512 instruction set with a full 512-bit data path. This is complex stuff, and it is another impressive improvement compared to Zen 4, which supported AVX-512 in a more cumbersome fashion. This will be handy for AI and more complex workloads, where the upgrades here should lead to sizeable performance gains compared to Zen 4.

40

However, with all that has changed, some aspects remain the same - literally. Zen 5 and the Ryzen 9000 Series use the same AM5 socket as the Ryzen 700 Series, so AMD's new chips are compatible with existing AM5 motherboards. Even though the CCDs, or Core Complex Dies, are built using the newer TSMC 4nm node, all Ryzen 9000 Series CPUs feature the same I/O die used with Zen 4 - including the same integrated RDNA 2 graphics with two Compute Units (CUs) for basic display functionality.

However, later this year, AMD will release an updated AM5 chipset in the form of X870 and X870E. So then, what will motherboards using this new chipset bring to the table? USB 4.0 will be included as standard on all these boards, alongside PCIe Gen5 for graphics and storage. Secondly, AMD's expanded EXPO memory overclocking will allow faster DDR5 speeds, and kits like DDR5-8000 will become the go-to for PC enthusiasts putting together high-end Ryzen 9000 Series builds.

Specs and Test System

Specifications

Here, we can see how the specs and hardware stack up for the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X compared to the previous generation AMD Ryzen 5 7600X, alongside the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X.

40

With the same core and thread count and similar boost clock speeds, the big at-a-glance difference between the Ryzen 5 9600X and the Ryzen 5 7600X arrives with the TDP power rating. 65W compared to 105W is a 38% decrease, a massive difference you don't usually see. The other notable difference is the lower base clock frequency in the newer Ryzen 5 96600X. This decision looks to have been made to bolster the Ryzen 9000 Series, which is significantly more efficient than the previous generation.

It's an interesting decision on AMD's part because it could have used the efficiency gains and Zen 5 Core rework to push the same or more power with higher frequencies. More power equals more performance, which isn't linear, so the final specs were probably finalized to ensure that the overall performance increase was in line with the efficiency, something that directly translated to power usage, temperatures, and quieter overall performance.

40

The Ryzen 9000 Series supports AMD's one-click Curve Optimizer overclocking, as found in its Ryzen Master app - which can be applied per Core, per CCD, or CPU. Increasing voltages and frequencies to boost performance is a part of the Zen 5 desktop line-up, so the option is there for those looking to scale back some efficiency for additional performance. The Ryzen 9000 Series also supports AMD's brand-new Curve Shaper, a more advanced overclocking tool with deeper control over temperatures, frequencies, and voltage curves. Currently, this is only available at the motherboard BIOS level, with Ryzen Master support coming sometime soon.

• CPU Name: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X
• Series: Ryzen 9000 Series
• Form Factor/Instruction Set: Desktop, x86-64
• Code Name: Granite Ridge
• Architecture: Zen 5
• Cores/Threads: 6/12
• Clock Speeds: Max. Boost Clock: Up to 5.4 GHz, Base Clock: 3.9 GHz
• L1 Cache: 480 KB
• L2 Cache: 6 MB
• L3 Cache: 32 MB
• TDP: 65W
• Processor Technology: TSMC 4nm FinFET
• CPU Socket: AM5
• Graphics: AMD Radeon Graphics (RDNA 2), 2 CUs, 2200 MHz

Kosta's Test System

40

• Motherboard: ASUS ROG CROSSHAIR X670E HERO
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Founders Edition
• Cooler: ASUS ROG RYUO III 360 ARGB
• RAM: 32GB (2 x 16GB) Corsair DOMINATOR TITANIUM RGB DDR5 DRAM 6000MT/s
• SSD: Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus-G M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD 4TB, Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus Plus M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD 8TB
• Power Supply: ASUS TUF Gaming 1000W Gold
• Case: Corsair 5000D AIRFLOW Tempered Glass Mid-Tower ATX PC Case
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 64-bit

Benchmarks - Productivity

40

The CPU sits at the heart of the modern desktop computer and is involved in everything from controlling various devices to multitasking to and from documents to browsers and even networking compression and encoding. By that same token, synthetic and carefully constructed productivity benchmarks sit at the heart of a CPU like this. Here's a breakdown of the benchmarks used and what they're all about.

• Blender 4.2.0: Blender is a free and open-source suite for 3D modeling that covers the entire pipeline right through to animation and rendering. The dedicated Blender benchmark, Version 4.2.0, renders three complex Pixar-like scenes (Monster, Junkshop, and Classroom) with full path-traced lighting. The Blender benchmark Score refers to how quickly a CPU or GPU can render these preset scenes.
• Cinebench R23: Cinebench R23 is a benchmark that tests how quickly a CPU can render a 3D ray-traced scene, broken up into single and multi-core tests. As Cinebench R23 puts a CPU's multiple cores and threads to good use, it's a good indicator of overall performance and can showcase even minor changes to clock speeds or other system changes.
• 7-Zip: 7-Zip is a popular file compression and decompression program that includes an integrated benchmark feature. Testing compression and decompression using all available CPU cores is a great way to gauge 'instructions per second' performance.
• Geekbench 6: A cross-platform benchmark that measures and scores single and multi-core CPU performance with several broad tests using real-world data designed to mimic actual scenarios like video editing, database processing, machine learning, and more. The quicker these workloads and tasks are completed, the higher the score.
• Corona 10: A rendering benchmark based on the Corona 10 rendering core. A ray-tracing specific test that runs for a fixed duration that measures how many 'rays-per-second' the CPU can process across all cores and threads.
• PCMark 10 Extended: A thorough test of an entire system, from CPU to GPU to memory, Covering everything from browsing to video conferencing to 3D rendering and even gaming, PCMark 10 Extended is as much a stability and bottleneck test for an entire system as it is a gauge for overall performance and capabilities.

Benchmark Results - Blender and Cinebench R23

40

Blender is a rendering benchmark for creative workloads, taking advantage of core and thread counts and frequencies. In this case, 3D modeling is one of those tasks that will push a CPU up to the 100% usage threshold, and for the Ryzen 5 9600X, that means being limited by its 6 Core/12 Thread configuration.

Across all three Blender scenes, the Ryzen 5 9600X is 19% slower than the Ryzen 7 9700X. This is because the 9600X features 25% fewer Cores and Threads (the 9700X has 8 and 16 Threads). Compared to the previous generation flagship, the Ryzen 9 7950X, we see the limitations of the 9600X as a mainstream CPU used primarily for rendering.

Cinebench R23 is another rendering benchmark; however, it offers two tests - one that purely tests single-core performance and one that tests multi-core performance. Here, we see the impressive single-core performance of the Ryzen 5 9600X, which returned a score 7.5% higher than the Ryzen 9 7950X - a fantastic feat. And one that highlights the architectural overhaul Zen 5 brings to the table. And with the lower overall power draw compared to the previous-gen's Ryzen 5 7600X, you're looking at a massive generational leap forward.

Multi-core performance again suffers, with the Ryzen 5 9600X score 17.3% lower than the Ryzen 7 9700X score. This shows that the mid-range option is notably faster for rendering and other workloads that use multiple cores.

Benchmark Results - 7-Zip and Geekbench

40

Although a fast CPU for compressing and decompressing large files (we're thankfully beyond the point where unzipping something could take several minutes), the Ryzen 5 9600X presents only a marginal improvement over the previous generation's Ryzen 5 7600X. Although we didn't have this CPU on hand for this review, we were able to go through historical data and secondary sources to gauge performance. There's not much separating CPUs with similar core counts for compression and decompression. Here, the Ryzen 5 9600X is roughly 20% slower than the Ryzen 7 9700X.

Geekbench 6 is a great benchmark because it simulates real-world productivity scenarios. Like with Cinebench R23, the Single Core Score shows the Ryzen 5 9600X, outclassing the previous generation flagship, the Ryzen 9 7950X. Even more impressive is that the Multi-Core Score is only 26% behind the Ryzen 9 7950X, highlighting that the new Zen 5 architecture is impressive and scales incredibly well in its most efficient form.

Benchmark Results - Corona 10 and PCMark 10 Extended

40

Corona 10 is another rendering benchmark, this time seeing how many rays the CPU can process within a minute correctly. Entirely core dependant, the Ryzen 5 9600X's overall score here is 17% lower than the Ryzen 7 9700X - once again highlighting that the mainstream Ryzen 5 9600X is not designed for high-impact workloads better suited to high-end CPUs.

40

PCMark 10 Extended from UL Solutions is a great benchmark because it's wide-ranging and covers many things. The overall score isn't simply reliant on what the CPU can do, but also the GPU and memory-in this case, a GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Founders Edition and 32GB of DDR5-6000 memory. It can handle video conferencing, web browsing, multitasking between different applications, and firing up a game when you have a spare minute. The results here show that with the same GPU and memory, there's not much separating the Ryzen 5 9600X, Ryzen 7 9700X, and Ryzen 9 7950X when it comes to everyday PC use. It also shows that the 65W 9600X (or 9700X) is an excellent choice for performance and efficiency.

Benchmarks - Gaming

The GPU is arguably the most critical component for measuring overall PC gaming performance. However, as the CPU handles all scheduling and low-level tasks, it can also play a role, which is more visible when gaming at lower resolutions.

CPU latency, cache, and bandwidth can often factor into gaming performance, which is one of the reasons AMD's X3D range of processors is widely viewed as 'for gaming.' CPUs also render and handle physics, AI, and other elements. For this review, we benchmarked the following titles at 1080p.

• Assassin's Creed Mirage: High-quality in-game settings using the benchmark tool to render a complex city scene.
• Cyberpunk 2077: High-quality in-game settings using the benchmark tool to render characters and various indoor and outdoor environments in a large open world.
• F1 22: High-quality settings while benchmarking one lap of the Bahrain track in daylight in this fast-paced racing game.
• Horizon Zero Dawn: High-quality settings using the benchmark tool to render a city environment in Sony's popular open-world action-adventure game.
• Returnal: High-quality settings using the in-game benchmark tool to render particles, lighting, debris, reflections, and various other effects in this sci-fi shooter.
• Total War Warhammer III: High-quality settings and the in-game Battle benchmark used to render a complex large-scale battle between two armies.

Benchmark Results - Gaming and Averages

40

This is a surprising but also unsurprising result; the Ryzen 5 9600X, with its $279 MSRP, delivers roughly the same gaming performance as the previous generation's flagship, the Ryzen 9 7950X, with its $699 MSRP. Most modern games still don't fully utilize or capitalize on a CPU featuring multiple cores and threads, with the most significant gains coming from single-core performance and overall latency. The Zen 5 architectural improvements can deliver a gaming performance similar to the Ryzen 9 7950X, using less power. This makes the Ryzen 5 7600X and the Ryzen 7 9700X great options for PC gamers. Here's a closer look at the individual gaming benchmark results.

Temperature and Power Efficiency

Improving efficiency was one of AMD's goals with Zen 5, which is great because the Ryzen 7000 Series was criticized for running hot and drawing a lot of power when it debuted a few years ago. Zen 5 has been in development for years, but its efficiency gains feel extra special, and on point, in 2024 thanks to what's happening in the Intel camp - which has seen power usage across the 13th and 14th Gen Core CPUs rise dramatically. 65W for this level of performance makes the Ryzen 5 9600X a winner because it means that your system will run cooler, quieter, and potentially more stable.

40

Stress testing with AIDA64Extreme and confirming readings and sensor information with HWiNFO 64 is not the same as heavily using a CPU for several months. Still, in a closed case with the ASUS ROG RYUO III 360 ARGB air cooler running for 30 minutes and then 1 hour - the Ryzen 5 9600X's peak temperature reading only hit 67 Degrees. With an idle temperature of 38 Degrees and a power draw of only 26W, this is an excellent showing for the mainstream Ryzen 5 9600X - cementing as a CPU you'd gladly slap into a compact gaming build.

Final Thoughts

The Ryzen 5 9600X is a great all-rounder, with excellent single-core performance that outclasses the previous generation Zen 4 flagship in multiple benchmark scenarios. With improved efficiency and a lower price point than the Ryzen 5 7600X, it's a win-win and something budget-conscious gamers or builders should consider. The Zen 5 architectural improvements are impressive because they push AMD's CPU tech forward regarding performance, capabilities, and efficiency.

40

Enthusiasts will undoubtedly be more interested in the new flagship Ryzen 9 9950X or the Ryzen 9 9900X, especially if they're heavy users who render, encode, and perform other tasks daily. However, as the PCMark 10 Extended test shows, for those of us who browse, game, multitask, and fire up the odd productivity app here and there, the same 6 Core and 12 Thread configuration of the Ryzen 5 9600X isn't the Achilles Heel that some were thinking it might be. Although not included in our benchmark results (stay tuned for future reviews), the results show that AMD's Intel Core 14600K competitor is more affordable, performant, and efficient. And with the dark clouds surrounding all things Intel, the choice is pretty straightforward.

In the end, if you're a PC gamer, there is one that might make you reconsider holding off on purchasing the Ryzen 5 9600X: the arrival of the Ryzen 9000 X3D chips later this year. Pricing aside, if Zen 5's architectural improvements and overhaul translate to what makes X3D great for gaming workloads, we could be on the cusp of a literal game-changer. In the meantime, though, for the under $300 USD CPU crowd, the Ryzen 5 9600X is a force of nature.