The Bottom Line
Introduction and Pricing
Ryzen 5 has always had the unique job of bringing the latest AMD architecture to the masses, like most, but not all, building gaming and daily use systems will opt for the entry-level platform to get the most value. For this generation, that task falls on the shoulders of Ryzen 5 5600X.
The 5600X is a single CCX, Zen 3 part offering a 6 core 12 thread design with a 65w TDP. It's outfitted with 3MB L2 cache, 32MB L3, 24 PCIe 4.0 lanes, a base frequency of 3.7GHz, and a boost up to 4.6GHz.
You can read more on the AMD Zen 3 architecture in our Ryzen 9 5900X review here.
Pricing
Above, we have the launch day product stack for Zen 3. This includes the Ryzen 5 5600X 6C12T part at the mainstream $299 price point and Ryzen 7 5800X 8C16T in the mid-range $449 slot. Ryzen 9 5900X takes the flagship position behind only the Ryzen 9 5950X in the enthusiast slot; $549 and $799, respectively.
Packaging and Test System
Ryzen 5 5600X
Packaging offers the Ryzen logo centered, 5 in the bottom right, and 5000 series across the bottom.
The top of our boxes offered the model number with no additional information.
The back offers information about the processor in several languages.
CPUs were packaged in a locked plastic retainer, sticker alongside for your chassis.
A closer look at the 5600X, the model number is etched across the top, and down below, we have the diffused in USA and Taiwan for each fab, respectively.
The bottom of the CPU offers the 1331 pin arrangement designed for the AM4 socket.
The Ryzen 5 5600X is the only Zen 3 part to include a cooling solution.
Test System
- Motherboard: ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Hero Wi-Fi (buy from Amazon)
- GPU: ASUS TUF RTX 3080 10GB (buy from Amazon)
- RAM: Crucial Ballistix Max 2x8GB DDR4 3600 (buy from Amazon)
- Cooler: NZXT X73 (buy from Amazon)
- OS Storage: Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 500GB (buy from Amazon)
- Power Supply: Corsair RM750 (buy from Amazon)
- OS: Microsoft Windows 10 (buy from Amazon)
WPrime, Cinebench, RealBench and AIDA64
For this review, you won't find any results for the 10900K or 5900X included. This allows us to focus on the 5600X and its performance compared to both Intel Core i5 and i7 parts.
WPrime
WPrime is a leading multi-threaded benchmark. In our setup, we will manually set the number of cores for the CPU under test.
With that, we have the performance for the 5600X in WPrime at 79 seconds 1024M and 2.75 for 32M.
Cinebench
Cinebench is a long-standing render benchmark that has been heavily relied upon by both Intel and AMD to showcase their newest platforms during unveils. The benchmark has two tests, a single-core workload that will utilize one thread or 1T. There is also a multi-threaded test which uses all threads or nT of a tested CPU
The single thread for the 5600X comes in at 601, nearly 100 points over the 10600K and 84 points over the 10700k.
nT or 12 threads for the 5600X gives us a score of 6310. This is over 2500 points higher than the 10600k.
This is our test with Zen 3 straight up against Comet Lake from Intel, both normalized to 4GHz. This shows how much quicker clock for clock Zen 3 is, 102 points in Cinebench R20.
RealBench
Heavy Multitasking between the 5600X and 10600K is close, but the Ryzen does take the win by 5 seconds overall.
AIDA64
Tasks using AES will see a boost from the 5600X. 5600X scored 26K points higher in this test.
FP32 and 64-bit ray tracing edges to the 10600K in both scenarios.
Unigine and UL Benchmarks
Unigine Superposition
Superposition from Unigine is a DX12 based benchmark. We test with the 720p LOW preset as this removes all but the most basic GPU loading, with all of the FPS coming from the CPU.
With Superposition, the 5600X is a winner, reaching 337 FPS to the 260FPS with the 10600K.
PCMark 10
PCMark is a benchmark from UL and tests various workload types to represent typical workloads for a PC. Everything from video conferencing, image import, and editing, along with 3D rendering, are tested.
PCMark shows the 5600X not far behind the 5900X and 10900k.
VRMark Orange
VRMark taps 356 FPS with the 5600X, 44 FPS higher than the 10-6 or 10700K.
3DMark Timespy
3DMark Timespy CPU edges to the 10600K by 400 points.
3DMark Port Royal
Port Royal had all of the CPUs even at 53FPS.
3DMark Firestrike
Firestrike Physics/CPU gives the win to the 5600X by 3K points. Overall, a win as well, with a score of 31922.
Overclocking and Gaming
Gaming Performance
Tomb Raider shows pretty even results across the board, 4K at 100FPS, 1440p at 162-164FPS and 1080p between 185-187FPS.
Far Cry New Dawn shows a little more of the same; 4K at 103 FPS for the 5600X and 104 FPS for the 10600K. 1080p reaches 136 FPS for the 10600K and 144 FPS for the 5600X.
AC:Origins is our third game benchmark and shows 135FPS for the 5600X and 141 FPS for the 10600K.
I decided to get away from Ubisoft games and move into a more recent title with Flight Simulator. I used FRAPS to log frame rates over a 4-minute flight from Portland Intl USA towards a local airport called Skyport. This benchmark was run at 1080p on the High-end setting with auto-pilot engaged from start to finish.
As you can see from the chart above, all three CPUs are in the same range as the flight starts. Mid-cruise, the 5600X does pull away, reaching 75FPS.
Overclocking
Setting a maximum voltage of 1.32v, I was able to push the 5600X to 4.8GHz, memory stable at 4000MHz as well. It should be noted that we are still on a very early AGESA version, so as it matures, we may see better results.
Power, Thermals and Final Thoughts
Power Consumption
Power consumption at idle sits a touch under 300 watts for the 5600X. CPU load with Cinebench gives us just under 400 watts, and gaming with Tomb Raider peaks us at 570 watts.
Thermals
Thermals with our NZXT X73 reached 33c IDLE and 66c LOAD.
Final Thoughts
AMD's Ryzen 5 5600X will be a fantastic processor for many of you as it gives all of the everyday computing benefits of Zen 3 in workloads like image editing, encoding, and browsing. Additionally, it brings socket AM4 platform users up to speed in gaming, in most cases passing the 10600K and at times the 10700K as well!
What We Like
IPC Gains: Zen 3 across the board delivers amazing gains in IPC. Intel is on notice, and AMD isn't stopping here!
In Socket Upgrade: Like I said with the 5900X review, in socket upgrade is one of the most amazing features of Zen 3 for consumers allowing platforms back to X470 and B450 a path forward.
What Could Be Better
Price: I believe $299 is an acceptable MSRP for the Ryzen 5 5600X, but if AMD wants the nail in the coffin, users on a budget would love to see it under $250!
Performance |
95% |
Quality |
95% |
Features |
95% |
Value |
95% |
Overall |
95% |
AMD's Ryzen 5 5600X CPU offers gaming performance rivaling both of Intel's mid-range parts and IPC that's 20% higher in everyday tasks!
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