AMD Ryzen 5 3600X vs Intel Core i5-9600K: What is the difference?
62points
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
61points
Intel Core i5-9600K
3600XT
vs
64 facts in comparison
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Intel Core i5-9600K
Why is AMD Ryzen 5 3600X better than Intel Core i5-9600K?
- 534MHz higher ram speed?
3200MHzvs2666MHz - 6 more CPU threads?
12vs6 - 7nm smaller semiconductor size?
7nmvs14nm - 1.5MB bigger L2 cache?
3MBvs1.5MB - 1.68x higher PassMark result?
18325vs10878 - 23MB bigger L3 cache?
32MBvs9MB - 1 newer version of PCI Express (PCIe)?
4vs3 - 0.25MB/core more L2 cache per core?
0.5MB/corevs0.25MB/core
Why is Intel Core i5-9600K better than AMD Ryzen 5 3600X?
- 5°C higher maximum operating temperature?
100°Cvs95°C - Has integrated graphics?
- Has NX bit?
Which are the most popular comparisons?
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
vs
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
Intel Core i5-9600K
vs
Intel Core i7-8700K
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
vs
AMD Ryzen 5 5500
Intel Core i5-9600K
vs
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
vs
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Intel Core i5-9600K
vs
Intel Core i7-7700K
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
vs
AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Intel Core i5-9600K
vs
Intel Core i7-9700K
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
vs
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
Intel Core i5-9600K
vs
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
vs
AMD Ryzen 5 5500U
Intel Core i5-9600K
vs
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
vs
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
Intel Core i5-9600K
vs
Intel Core i5-9400F
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
vs
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
Intel Core i5-9600K
vs
AMD Ryzen 3 3200G
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
vs
AMD Ryzen 5 4500U
Intel Core i5-9600K
vs
Intel Core i7-6700
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
vs
Intel Core i5-10400
Price comparison
Cheap alternatives
User reviews
Overall Rating
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
2 User reviews
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
9. 0/10
2 User reviews
Intel Core i5-9600K
1 User reviews
Intel Core i5-9600K
10.0/10
1 User reviews
Features
Value for money
10.0/10
2 votes
10.0/10
1 votes
Gaming
9.5/10
2 votes
10.0/10
1 votes
Performance
9.0/10
2 votes
10.0/10
1 votes
Reliability
9.5/10
2 votes
10.0/10
1 votes
Energy efficiency
9.5/10
2 votes
8.0/10
1 votes
Performance
1.CPU speed
6 x 3.8GHz
6 x 3.7GHz
The CPU speed indicates how many processing cycles per second can be executed by a CPU, considering all of its cores (processing units). It is calculated by adding the clock rates of each core or, in the case of multi-core processors employing different microarchitectures, of each group of cores.
2.CPU threads
More threads result in faster performance and better multitasking.
3.turbo clock speed
4.4GHz
4.6GHz
When the CPU is running below its limitations, it can boost to a higher clock speed in order to give increased performance.
4.Has an unlocked multiplier
✔AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
✔Intel Core i5-9600K
Some processors come with an unlocked multiplier which makes them easy to overclock, allowing you to gain increased performance in games and other apps.
5.L2 cache
A larger L2 cache results in faster CPU and system-wide performance.
6.L3 cache
A larger L3 cache results in faster CPU and system-wide performance.
7.L1 cache
A larger L1 cache results in faster CPU and system-wide performance.
8.
L2 core
0.5MB/core
0.25MB/core
More data can be stored in the L2 cache for access by each core of the CPU.
9.L3 core
5.33MB/core
1.5MB/core
More data can be stored in the L3 cache for access by each core of the CPU.
Memory
1.RAM speed
3200MHz
2666MHz
It can support faster memory, which will give quicker system performance.
2.maximum memory bandwidth
47.68GB/s
41.6GB/s
This is the maximum rate that data can be read from or stored into memory.
3.DDR memory version
DDR (Double Data Rate) memory is the most common type of RAM. Newer versions of DDR memory support higher maximum speeds and are more energy-efficient.
4.memory channels
More memory channels increases the speed of data transfer between the memory and the CPU.
5.maximum memory amount
The maximum amount of memory (RAM) supported.
6.bus transfer rate
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (AMD Ryzen 5 3600X)
The bus is responsible for transferring data between different components of a computer or device.
7.Supports ECC memory
✔AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
✖Intel Core i5-9600K
Error-correcting code memory can detect and correct data corruption. It is used when is it essential to avoid corruption, such as scientific computing or when running a server.
8.eMMC version
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (AMD Ryzen 5 3600X)
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i5-9600K)
A higher version of eMMC allows faster memory interfaces, having a positive effect on the performance of a device. For example, when transferring files from your computer to the internal storage over USB.
9.bus speed
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (AMD Ryzen 5 3600X)
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i5-9600K)
The bus is responsible for transferring data between different components of a computer or device.
Benchmarks
1.PassMark result
This benchmark measures the performance of the CPU using multiple threads.
2.PassMark result (single)
This benchmark measures the performance of the CPU using a single thread.
3.Geekbench 5 result (multi)
Geekbench 5 is a cross-platform benchmark that measures a processor’s multi-core performance. (Source: Primate Labs, 2022)
4.Cinebench R20 (multi) result
Cinebench R20 is a benchmark tool that measures a CPU’s multi-core performance by rendering a 3D scene.
5.
Cinebench R20 (single) result
Cinebench R20 is a benchmark tool that measures a CPU’s single-core performance by rendering a 3D scene.
6.Geekbench 5 result (single)
Geekbench 5 is a cross-platform benchmark that measures a processor’s single-core performance. (Source: Primate Labs, 2022)
7.Blender (bmw27) result
235.9seconds
303.7seconds
The Blender (bmw27) benchmark measures the performance of a processor by rendering a 3D scene. More powerful processors can render the scene in less time.
8.Blender (classroom) result
709seconds
980.5seconds
The Blender (classroom) benchmark measures the performance of a processor by rendering a 3D scene. More powerful processors can render the scene in less time.
9.performance per watt
This means the CPU is more efficient, giving a greater amount of performance for each watt of power used.
Features
1.uses multithreading
✔AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
✖Intel Core i5-9600K
Multithreading technology (such as Intel’s Hyperthreading or AMD’s Simultaneous Multithreading) provides increased performance by splitting each of the processor’s physical cores into virtual cores, also known as threads. This way, each core can run two instruction streams at once.
2.Has AES
✔AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
✔Intel Core i5-9600K
AES is used to speed up encryption and decryption.
3.Has AVX
✔AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
✔Intel Core i5-9600K
AVX is used to help speed up calculations in multimedia, scientific and financial apps, as well as improving Linux RAID software performance.
4.SSE version
SSE is used to speed up multimedia tasks such as editing an image or adjusting audio volume. Each new version contains new instructions and improvements.
5.Has F16C
✔AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
✔Intel Core i5-9600K
F16C is used to speed up tasks such as adjusting the contrast of an image or adjusting volume.
6.bits executed at a time
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (AMD Ryzen 5 3600X)
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i5-9600K)
NEON provides acceleration for media processing, such as listening to MP3s.
7.Has MMX
✔AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
✔Intel Core i5-9600K
MMX is used to speed up tasks such as adjusting the contrast of an image or adjusting volume.
8.Has TrustZone
✖AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
✖Intel Core i5-9600K
A technology integrated into the processor to secure the device for use with features such as mobile payments and streaming video using digital rights management (DRM).
9.
front-end width
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (AMD Ryzen 5 3600X)
Unknown. Help us by suggesting a value. (Intel Core i5-9600K)
The CPU can decode more instructions per clock (IPC), meaning that the CPU performs better
Price comparison
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Which are the best CPUs?
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X vs Core i5 9600K review
For years now, the advice for PC gamers pondering a new build has gone something like this: Spend as much as you can on your graphics card, then pick up the cheapest CPU, motherboard and RAM you can find that won’t handicap your GPU too badly. For most people, that means picking up a mid-range chip in the $200 to $300 range. The CPU we’re testing today falls squarely in the centre of this competitive category: the $249 Ryzen 5 3600X, a six-core, twelve-thread chip based on the 7nm process.
Third-gen Ryzen has proven to be a huge step forward for AMD in our reviews of the $329 Ryzen 7 3700X and $499 Ryzen 9 3900X, so we’re expecting a lot here — whether it’s Intel or AMD, moving from six cores to an octo-core monster has typically delivered only an incremental rise in gaming performance, so you should be able to save a lot of money here with only a minimal hit to gaming prowess.
To see if this theory holds up, we’ll be stacking up the Ryzen 5 3600X not only against its immediate competitor — the Core i5 9600K — but also the higher end offerings from both Intel and AMD.
Before we get into the results, it’s worth briefly covering what the Ryzen 5 3600X brings to the table. This is a Zen 2 design, like the Ryzen 3700X and 3900X, but this processor includes only one partially-enabled chiplet with six cores and twelve threads enabled out of the eight cores and sixteen threads in the fully-enabled design. That’s two cores fewer than the 3700X at the same rated boost clock, so heavily multi-threaded performance — tasks like video rendering or scientific computing — could be noticeably worse but more usual tasks like PC gaming operate with very similar performance levels. You may notice that the 3600X has a higher TDP (95W vs 65W) than the 3700X, making it less power-efficient but potentially minimising the performance differential. You can see the full 3rd-gen Ryzen stack in the table below:
The Ryzen 5 3600X uses the same AM4 socket as prior Zen-based offerings, and should work with the vast majority of older motherboards (with just a BIOS update in place).
| Ryzen 9 3900X | Ryzen 7 3700X | Ryzen 5 3600X | Core i9 9900K | Core i7 9700K | Core i5 9600K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cores/Threads | 12/24 | 8/16 | 6/12 | 8/16 | 8/8 | 6/6 |
| Single-Core Turbo | 4.6GHz | 4.4GHz | 4.4GHz | 5.0GHz | 4.9GHz | 4.6GHz |
| Max All-Core Turbo | 4.1GHz | 4.3GHz | 4.3GHz | 4.7GHz | 4.6GHz | 4.3GHz |
| Cache | 70MB | 36MB | 35MB | 18MB | 14MB | 11MB |
| TDP | 105W | 65W | 95W | 95W | 95W | 95W |
Compared to the previous Zen and Zen+ architectures found in the first and second generation Ryzen designs, Zen 2 makes some pretty big changes. First, the actual processing takes place in chiplets fabricated on a 7nm process, which allows for greater performance while using less power and generating less heat than than previous-gen 12nm designs.
I/O is handled on its own die using that older 12nm process, as this is easier to produce and the advantages of 7nm are less impactful here. Despite its plus points, the chiplet design does incur a performance penalty when it comes to memory access times, so AMD has doubled the size of the L3 cache to compensate for this. On a deeper level, Zen 2 also includes a more efficient branch predictor and better AVX instruction handling, a weakness of past Zen architectures. All things considered, AMD promises substantially better single-core and multi-core performance, which should make the 3600X and other third-gen Ryzen designs more competitive in more scenarios than their predecessors.
We could chunter on about micro-architectures all day, but perhaps it’s best to move towards the meat and drink of our topic: our actual performance testing. To give a balanced look at the 3600X, we’ve run this chip against its closest Intel competitor in nearly a dozen recent titles at 1080p, 1440p and 4K.
For this, we used a new Windows 10 installation (with the relevant security and AMD scheduler patches installed) on fast NVMe storage — specifically, the Gigabyte Aorus 2TB NVMe drive provided to us for X570 testing by AMD, which works quite happily on both PCIe 4.0 and PCIe 3.0 expansion slots.
Our primary AMD benchmarking was performed on the entry-level £180 MSI MPG X570 Gaming Plus, with supplementary testing on a high-end motherboard, the £450 Prestige X570 Creation, with both boards loaned to us by MSI. The Gaming Plus is the cheapest MSI option for the X570 platform, with the Creation board targeting overclockers and content creators interested in using multiple PCIe 4.0 devices. As well as stronger power delivery and extreme memory overclocking capabilities up to and beyond 4600MHz, the Creation board includes a full complement of PCIe 4.0 lanes and a bundled PCIe 4.0 add-on card that allows for two extra M.2 drives to be connected in RAID. Meanwhile, second-gen Ryzen was tested on an £380 ASUS ROG Crosshair 8 and the Core processors were tested on an £480 ASUS ROG Maximus XI Extreme.
The Ryzen 3600X and other Ryzen processors were cooled by AMD’s Wraith Prism cooler, a slightly better version of the Wraith Spire that comes bundled with the 3600X. On the Intel side of things, a Gaming Storm Castle 240mm AiO was used. Our setup was rounded out with GSkill Trident Z Royal 3600MHz CL16 RAM provided by AMD, a reliable 850W Gaming Storm PSU and an open-air test bench.
The test system uses a MSI MPG X570 Gaming Plus with the out-of-the-box cooler paired with bling-heavy GSkill Trident Z 3600MHz DDR4.
Before we get into game testing, it’s worth looking at how the 3600X and 9600K compare to each other and their more expensive competitors in content creation — tasks like video rendering, transcoding and more. For this, we opted to use the popular Cinebench R20 application, which replicates a rendering job in industrial-grade video software Cinema 4D.
The results are interesting to say the least, with the Ryzen 5 3600X boasting nearly identical single-core performance to the Ryzen 7 3700X, and only a touch behind the 3900X.
The 3600X even beats out the 9600K by a substantial margin and more-or-less equals the 9700K in the single-core run. We see a similar trend in the multi-core results, with the 3600X boasting a 42 per cent increase over the 9600K and nearly equalling the 9700K. However, the higher core counts of the bigger Ryzen processors result in vastly higher scores, suggesting the 3600X is considerably slower when it comes to content creation tasks.
One common task for video producers is transcoding, converting a digital video file from one format into another. A popular choice for this task is Handbrake, and it forms the basis of our next test. Here, a source file is encoded using the Production Standard preset and CRF 18 quality setting using two different encoders — x264 (h.264) and x265 (HEVC) — with the average frame-rate recorded and power usage measured.
The Handbrake results here are in line with the Cinebench scores, with the 3600X being 33 per cent faster than the 9600K in the h.
264 test and 25 per cent faster in the HEVC test. However, the 3600X does consume more power to achieve these scores, with a result of 149W measured at the wall compared to 132W for the Intel system — a 13 per cent increase in power usage.
| Ryzen 9 3900X | Ryzen 7 3700X | Ryzen 5 3600X | Ryzen 7 2700X | Core i9 9900K | Core i7 9700K | Core i5 9600K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cinebench R20 1T | 514 | 494 | 490 | 408 | 520 | 486 | 450 |
| Cinebench R20 MT | 7032 | 4730 | 3705 | 3865 | 5090 | 3759 | 2603 |
| Handbrake h.264 | 51.80fps | 35.05fps | 27.54fps | 27.31fps | 37.87fps | 28.77fps | 20.70fps |
| Handbrake HEVC | 20.29fps | 14.67fps | 11.81fps | 10.04fps | 16.22fps | 13.12fps | 9. 46fps |
| HEVC Power Consumption | 228W | 152W | 149W | 224W | 266W | 171W | 132W |
With content creation out of the way, it’s time to turn our attention to our real passion and the bulk of this review: gaming performance. After all, Ryzen has always done well in content creation tasks versus their Core counterparts thanks to their higher core and thread counts, but can the advantages of the 7nm Ryzen 3000-series translate into better gaming performance too?
To find out, we sought out repeatable game scenarios to best show the differences between the 3600X and its competitors. Finding these scenes wasn’t too much of a challenge — we collectively play a lot of games, after all — but then we needed to capture our test footage to feed them into our bespoke benchmarking system. This is where we ran into some issues, as when you’re CPU-limited, any processes running in the background or other hiccups can manifest directly in game in frame drops or stutter, whereas in GPU-limited scenarios these occurrences are normally minimal.
Even with a perfect run, different sections of the same scene can show AMD ahead of Intel and vice versa, so it is worth digging deeper into our context-based performance analyses.
We tested each game (with one exception) at 1080p, 1440p and 2160p, using the fastest consumer GPU on the market, the RTX 2080 Ti. The 1080p benchmarks ought to be useful for anyone considering a high refresh rate monitor, but this is the most CPU-limited scenario so stutter is more likely. 1440p is the current sweet spot for resolution versus frame-rate, where a mid-range to high-end system can achieve 60 to 120fps in most titles and CPU-induced stutter is ameliorated. Finally, 4K is the least CPU-bound and generally most balanced scenario, but some games still exhibit small differences between different processors so it’s worth seeing the results.
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X analysis
- Introduction, hardware breakdown, test system [This Page]
- Gaming benchmarks: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Battlefield 5, Far Cry 5
- Gaming benchmarks: Crysis 3, Metro Exodus, Kingdom Come Deliverance, The Witcher 3
- Gaming benchmarks: Ryzen vs Core — memory bandwidth analysis
- Ryzen 5 3600X: the Digital Foundry verdict
Intel Core i5 9600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600X: performance comparison
VS
Intel Core i5 9600K
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
We compared two 6-core desktop CPUs: the 3.
7 GHz Intel Core i5 9600K against the 3.8 GHz AMD Ryzen 5 3600X. On this page, you’ll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.
- Review
- Differences
- Performance
- Specs
- Comments
Review
General overview and comparison of the processors
Single-Core Performance
Performance in single-threaded apps and benchmarks
Core i5 9600K
65
Ryzen 5 3600X
68
Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
Core i5 9600K
33
Ryzen 5 3600X
48
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of electricity consumption
Core i5 9600K
46
Ryzen 5 3600X
58
NanoReview Final Score
Generic CPU rating
Core i5 9600K
48
Ryzen 5 3600X
59
Key Differences
What are the key differences between 3600X and 9600K
Advantages of Intel Core i5 9600K
- Includes an integrated GPU Intel UHD Graphics 630
- 5% higher Turbo Boost frequency (4.
6 GHz vs 4.4 GHz)
Advantages of AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
- Has 23 MB larger L3 cache size
- More modern manufacturing process – 7 versus 14 nanometers
- Newer PCI Express version – 4.0
- Newer — released 9-months later
- Around 6.08 GB/s (15%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
- 10% faster in a single-core Geekbench v5 test — 1325 vs 1203 points
Benchmarks
Comparing the performance of CPUs in benchmarks
Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)
Core i5 9600K
1196
Ryzen 5 3600X
+11%
1325
Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)
Core i5 9600K
6624
Ryzen 5 3600X
+44%
9556
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Core i5 9600K
+4%
2794
Ryzen 5 3600X
2674
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
Core i5 9600K
10883
Ryzen 5 3600X
+69%
18411
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Core i5 9600K
1214
Ryzen 5 3600X
+9%
1327
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
Core i5 9600K
5707
Ryzen 5 3600X
+30%
7417
▶️ Submit your Cinebench R23 result
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This does not affect our assessment methodology.
Specifications
Full technical specification of Intel Core i5 9600K and AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
General
| Vendor | Intel | AMD |
| Released | October 8, 2018 | July 7, 2019 |
| Type | Desktop | Desktop |
| instruction set | x86-64 | x86-64 |
| Codename | Coffee Lake | Zen 2 |
| Model number | i5-9600K | — |
| Socket | LGA-1151 | AM4 |
| Integrated GPU | UHD Graphics 630 | No |
Performance
| Cores | 6 | 6 |
| Threads | 6 | 12 |
| Base Frequency | 3. 7 GHz |
3.8 GHz |
| Turbo Boost Frequency | 4.6 GHz | 4.4 GHz |
| Bus frequency | 100 MHz | 100 MHz |
| Multiplier | 37x | 38x |
| Bus Bandwidth | 8 GT/s | — |
| L1 Cache | 64K (per core) | 64K (per core) |
| L2 Cache | 256K (per core) | 512K (per core) |
| L3 Cache | 9MB (shared) | 32MB (shared) |
| Unlocked Multiplier | Yes | Yes |
| Transistors | — | 3.8 billions |
| Fabrication process | 14 nm | 7 nm |
| TDP | 95 W | 95 W |
Max. temperature |
100°C | 95°C |
| Integrated Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 630 | — |
| GPU Base Clock | 350 MHz | — |
| GPU Boost Clock | 1150 MHz | — |
| Shading Units | 192 | — |
| TMUs | 24 | — |
| ROPs | 3 | — |
| Execution Units | 24 | — |
| TGP | 15 W | — |
| Max. Resolution | 4096×2304 — 60 Hz | — |
iGPU FLOPS
Core i5 9600K
0.38 TFLOPS
Ryzen 5 3600X
n/a
Memory support
| Memory types | DDR4-2666 | DDR4-3200 |
| Memory Size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Max. |
2 | 2 |
| Max. Memory Bandwidth | 41.6 GB/s | 47.68 GB/s |
| ECC Support | No | Yes |
| Official site | Intel Core i5 9600K official page | AMD Ryzen 5 3600X official page |
| PCI Express Version | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| PCI Express Lanes | 16 | 16 |
| Extended instructions | SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX-2 | — |
Cast your vote
Choose between two processors
Core i5 9600K
16 (27.6%)
Ryzen 5 3600X
42 (72.4%)
Total votes: 58
ompetitors
1.
Intel Core i5 9600K or i5 12600K
2.
Intel Core i5 9600K or i5 12400
3.
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X or Ryzen 5 5600X
4.
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X or Ryzen 5 5600G
5.
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X or Intel Core i5 12400
6.
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X or Intel Core i5 12400F
7.
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X or Ryzen 7 5700X
8.
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X or Ryzen 5 5500
9.
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X or Ryzen 7 5800X3D
What’s The Best 6-Core Processor?
When I reviewed AMD’s
2nd generation six-core Ryzen CPUs last year (see Ryzen 5 2600 and 2600X), it was fairly clear that AMD was on to a winner. Building on the already great value Ryzen 5 1600X, they offered better performance across the board and the Ryzen 5 2600 went on to Outsell Every Other Desktop CPU according to online retailers.
Antony Leather
It had particularly good multi-threaded performance for the cash, making it a superb allrounder, although for the game-obsessed, Intel
still outstripped it in a few titles. As we saw in my 3rd Gen Ryzen reviews of the Ryzen 9 3900X and Ryzen 7 3700X, though, AMD has closed this gap further still and in most games there’s now little to no difference, meaning that even for a gaming PC, things are now a close call.
If you don’t need a monster 8-core or 12-core system, though, AMD has several cheaper options when it comes to 3rd Gen Ryzen and today I’ll be taking a look at the Ryzen 5 3600X — a $239 6-core CPU that retails for similar cash to Intel’s Core i5-9600K and directly comparing the two. Both CPUs are overclockable, however the AMD chip also offers Simultaneous Multi-Threading, so it has 12 threads to the Intel CPU’s 6 threads, while it can boost up to 4.4GHz on a single core and I observed all-core boosts in multi-threaded workloads of up to 4.1GHz.
| Cores/Threads | Base/Boost Freq | Total Cache | TDP (Watts) | Included cooler | SEP (USD) | Availability | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryzen 9 3950X | 16/32 | 3. |
72MB | 105W | Wraith Prism RGB | $749 | September |
| Ryzen 9 3900X | 12/24 | 3.8GHz/4.6GHz | 70MB | 105W | Wraith Prism RGB | $499 | July 7, 2019 |
| Ryzen 7 3800X | 8/16 | 3.9GHz/4.5GHz | 36MB | 105W | Wraith Prism RGB | $399 | July 7, 2019 |
| Ryzen 7 3700X | 8/16 | 3.6GHz/4.4GHz | 36MB | 65W | Wraith Prism RGB | $329 | July 7, 2019 |
| Ryzen 5 3600X | 6/12 | 3.8GHz/4.4GHz | 35MB | 95W | Wraith Spire | $249 | July 7, 2019 |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 6/12 | 3.6GHz/4.2GHz | 35MB | 65W | Wraith Stealth | $199 | July 7, 2019 |
Target audience
With a significantly lower price tag compared to the Ryzen 7 3700X, the Ryzen 5 3600X is aimed at gamers as well as those that might dabble in multi-threaded content creation workloads. The 8 and 12-core Ryzen CPUs will offer much more grunt in the latter, but you’ll be paying $80-100 for the privilege. The Ryzen 5 3600X sits in the same territory as its predecessors, though, offering good value and great all-round performance — at least that’s what we hope. Let’s take a look a the performance numbers.
Test system
Antony Leather
I’ve rebuilt my test systems so they use cutting-edge components and also fully up to date versions of Windows 10 with the May 1903 update along with all the various security patches — both from motherboard manufacturers and Microsoft as these are known to have impacted on performance making any data obtained prior to these updates incomparable and unrepresentative.
I should also point out that I’ve used 3466MHz memory with all my systems now as this was guaranteed to work with older AMD CPUs allowing my results to be directly comparable with the new ones. You may see slightly better performance using faster memory, but you’ll be unlikely to get that working on 1st Gen Ryzen CPUs.
Overclocking: I managed to overclock the Ryzen 5 3600X to 4.25GHz despite pushing the vcore to 1.425V — the maximum I use with AMD CPUs. Other CPU overclocks include: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X: 4.3GHz, AMD Ryzen 7 3700X: 4.3GHz, AMD Ryzen 7 1800X: 4GHz, AMD Ryzen 7 2700X: 4.2GHz, AMD Threadripper 2920X: 4.2GHz, Intel Core i9-9900K: 5GHz, Intel Core i7-9700K: 5.1GHz, Intel Core i5-9600K: 5GHz, Intel Core i7-8700K: 5GHz.
Common components: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3466MHz memory, Nvidia RTX 2070 Super, Samsung 970 Evo 2TB M.2 SSD, EK Waterblocks EK-MLC Phoenix liquid cooler, Corsair RM850i PSU
AMD systems
Socket AM4: MSI X470 Gaming Pro Carbon AC (Ryzen 7 1800X), Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master (2nd and 3rd Gen Ryzen)
Socket TR4: MSI MEG X399 Creation (Threadripper 2920X)
Intel systems:
LGA1151: MSI MEG Z390 Ace
LGA2066: Asus ROG Strix X299-E Gaming
Gaming Benchmarks
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
ANTONY LEATHER
I use the built-in benchmark here as it provides an in-depth look at performance, but it does use a 95th percentile rather than the 99th percentile I use in my other game tests so bare that in mind. As with its more expensive siblings, we’re looking at huge gains for the Ryzen 5 3600X compared to the Ryzen 5 2600X, with the 95th percentile hitting 101fps compared to just 79fps for the older CPU. As the overclocked frequency is lower than the single-core boost (4.25GHz compared to 4.4GHz), the overclocked result is actually slightly slower and you’ll see that in a number of other tests too.
Compared to the Core i5-9600K, the two CPUs were a match for one another at stock speed despite this game offering a fairly wide range of results — great news for AMD. However, you can add much more substantial overclock to the Intel CPU, which saw that 95th percentile hit 115fps.
Far Cry 5
ANTONY LEATHER
Far Cry 5 also saw a wide range of results and it was no surprise to see the older AMD CPUs at the bottom of the graph. This is a game that loves high frequencies so AMD is maybe at a disadvantage here, but the Ryzen 5 3600X still managed to hit a decent 91fps minimum percentile — again roughly equal to the Core i5-9600K and massive 22fps higher than the Ryzen 5 2600X with the same memory. It’s a similar result to Tomb Raider, where you’ll need to overclock your Intel CPU to see any advantage and that advantage will be smaller at lower frame rates with something less potent than the RTX 2070 Super I used here, or indeed at higher resolutions where the CPU is generally under less load.
Dota 2
ANTONY LEATHER
We’re dabbling in high frame rate territory here with Dota 2 and this is still one area that AMD is a little behind the competition, at least in this title, settings and with this hardware. The Ryzen 5 3600X was still a huge amount faster than the Ryzen 5 3600X with a 99th percentile of 93fps versus 80fps, but the Intel Core i5-9600K managed 100fps.
Content creation benchmarks
Adobe Premiere Pro
ANTONY LEATHER
With my 4K project export in Premiere Pro, the AMD CPU starts to edge into its forte — multi-threaded workloads. It’s stock speed time of 231 seconds even managed to outstrip the Intel Core i7-9700K and came withing a couple of seconds of matching the Ryzen 7 1800X, despite the latter sporting 2 more cores and 4 more threads. The Core i5-9600K, meanwhile took 50 seconds longer to complete this relatively short export and couldn’t get near the AMD CPU once overclocked either. If you need a $200 CPU for Premiere work, AMD is extremely strong.
Cinebench R20
ANTONY LEATHER
ANTONY LEATHER
Cinebench is both a real-world application and a great indicator of single and multi-threaded performance. The former has traditionally been an issue for Ryzen CPUs, but no longer, with the Ryzen 5 3600X hitting a score of 501 — faster than the stock speed Core i5-9600K and a massive 76 points higher than the Ryzen 5 2600X.
The multi-threaded test revealed yet more AMD dominance, with the Ryzen 5 3600X again offering similar performance to the Core i7-9700K and even when overclocked the latter wasn’t much faster. Incredibly this $240 CPU was faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X, Core i7-8700K and also offers a huge benefit over the Core i5-9600K.
HandBrake
ANTONY LEATHER
The multi-threaded prowess continued in HandBrake with the 4K video encode second only to the faster 8-core CPUs on test with the Ryzen 5 3600X oustripping the Core i5-9600K by a massive margin as well as bettering the more expensive Core i7-9700K until I overclocked it. Only the Core i9-9900K offered significantly more performance while in the AMD camp, the Ryzen 7 3700X is potentially worth the extra cash if you spend a lot of time doing these kinds of workloads.
PC Mark 10 Image Editing
ANTONY LEATHER
The multi-threaded Image editing test likes lots of cores and threads so it wasn’t a surprise to see AMD do well here and perform similarly to other tests where all its cores and threads are put to good use. It was a match for a number of older 8-core CPUs and offered a massive 1100-point lead over the Core i5-9600K.
Power Consumption
ANTONY LEATHER
The final test is power consumption, specifically load power draw of the system as a whole from the wall. AMD’s prowess here thanks to its 7nm manufacturing process is very evident with the Ryzen 5 3600X drawing less power than the Core i5-9600K despite it offering 6 extra threads and battering it in multi-threaded workloads. Meanwhile, the new CPU drew 50W less from the wall than its predecessor in an identical system — good job AMD.
Conclusion
It’s got to the point now that we’re essentially seeing parity between Intel and AMD in games. Sure there are one or two titles at specific settings — most notably at lower resolutions and high frame rates — where Intel does have a lead, but this is often only if you overclock comparable CPUs — in this case, the Core i5-9600K. If you’re aiming at stock speed, then even at 1080p and with a powerful GPU, the two were matched in two out of the three game tests here and only as we approach 100fps is there a noticeable difference where there was a 7fps drop in the 99th percentile in Dota 2. The only exceptions would be in titles such as this and if you’re overclocking your CPU, in which case Intel can be a better bet in some titles so long as you’re reaching for 5GHz.
Antony Leather
The problem for Intel is that as soon as you touch on multi-threaded workloads, AMD sends a devastating uppercut its way. The Ryzen 5 3600X was utterly dominant in every single multi-threaded test and reaffirms the dominance of its predecessors as one of the best all-rounders out there. As such, if you dabble in the odd bit of rendering or content creation when you’re not gaming, there’s now a very clear choice, which is, of course, AMD. For those that dabble more regularly, it’s even more clear cut, and only a few very specific scenarios warrant opting for Intel. In the fight of the Ryzen 5 3600X and Core i5-9600K, the AMD CPU wins and by a big margin overall.
Intel Core i5-9600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600X vs 3600
Similar to the Core i7-9700K vs Ryzen 7 3700X post, this will part of our legacy content for those readers who can’t find Intel’s newer 10th Gen desktop processors in local markets, or simply don’t want to pay extra. In this post, we compare the Core i5-9600K against AMD’s Ryzen 5 3600X and the 3600.
| Core i5-9600K | Ryzen 5 3600 | Ryzen 5 3600X | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cores/Threads | 6/6 | 6/12 | 6/12 |
| Base Clock | 3.7GHz | 3.6GHz | 3.8GHz |
| Boost Clock | 4.6GHz | 4.2GHz | 4.4GHz |
| L3 Cache | 9MB | 32MB | 32MB |
| Process | 14nm | 7nm | 7nm |
| Memory | DDR4-2666 MHz | DDR4-3200MHz | DDR4-3200MHz |
| TDP | 95W | 65W | 95W |
| Price | $239 | $159 | $199 |
The Ryzen 5 3600X is basically an overclocked 3600. The core/thread count is the same, and the TDP limit has been raised to allow for a higher boost clock. The Core i5-9600K has the same core count as the Ryzen 5 siblings but lacks hyperthreading. However, at the same time, its higher core clock is favored by gaming workloads. The Ryzen chips have a much larger L3 cache to make up for the latency drop induced by the Infinity Fabric. As Intel’s offerings leverage a monolithic design, that sort of cache memory isn’t needed.
Testbench
- Motherboard: ASRock Taichi X570/ MSI Z370 Aorus Gaming Ultra
- GPU: ASUS GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
- RAM: Trident Z Royal 16GB @ 3600MHz
Gaming Benchmarks: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 vs 3600X vs Core i5-9600K
At 1080p ultra, the Core i5-9600K and the Ryzen 5 3600X perform mostly on par with one another. The 3600 is slightly slower (>5%) but in newer DX12 based titles, the AMD CPUs have an advantage.
In older DX11 games, the Intel chip generally leads by a small margin.
At 1080p ultra, the Core i5-9600K and the Ryzen 5 3600X perform mostly on par with one another. The 3600 is slightly slower (>5%) but in newer DX12 based titles, the AMD CPUs have an advantage. In older DX11 games, the Intel chip generally leads by a small margin.
In Ashes of the Singularity (CPU Test), the Core i5 lags behind both the Ryzen 5 3600 & the 3600X. This can be attributed to the lower CPU overhead that comes with well-optimized DX12 & Vulkan titles. Ashes benefits from as many as 18 cores. That’s one of the reasons it scales well even with HEDT parts like the Core i9-9980XE.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider, on the other hand, sees the Core i5-9600K sandwiched between the Ryzen 5 3600 and the 3600X. The latter leads by a small margin while the former is slower by the same amount.
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X vs 3700X vs 3900X Gaming Performance Benchmarks: Averages, 1% and 0.
1% Lows
Intel Core i9-9900K vs Core i7-9700K: Do you Really Need a Core i9 for Gaming?
Content Creation and Productivity
Adobe Premiere Pro is the program of choice for the majority of mainstream content creators, and here both the Ryzen 5 3600 as well as the 3600X haughtily beat the Core i5-9600K. Rendering benchmarks like Indigo and Cinebench are AMD’s home turf. The 9600K doesn’t stand a chance there.
7-zip is one of the few applications that leverage as many as 64 threads. You can use a Threadripper chip and it’ll still scale well. It benefits from SMT, higher core counts as well as faster clocks, and is a good way to measure the performance of multi-core CPUs. Naturally, the Ryzen 5 parts dominate here too.
Kraken on the other gives an idea of the chips’ browsing performance. Although this benchmark is largely inconsequential for desktop CPUs of this level, it’s still included in most benchmarks as a formality. Once again, the Matisse chips proclaim their superiority here and the 9600K is defeated by a fat margin.
Conclusion: Ryzen all the way!
The 3rd Gen Ryzen 5 CPUs basically murder the Core i5-9600K in productivity and content creation related workloads. When it comes to gaming, the 9600K manages to edge past the 3600 but loses to the 3600X in newer Direct12 titles.
The 3rd Gen Ryzen 5 CPUs basically murder the Core i5-9600K in productivity and content creation related workloads. When it comes to gaming, the 9600K manages to edge past the 3600 but loses to the 3600X in newer Direct12 titles. The two Ryzen chips are mostly on par with each other. The 3600X with its higher boost clock is suited for gaming-centric workloads. People looking to build a gaming PC, be it for 1080p 144Hz or 4K 60Hz, ought to opt for it. It performs on par with the 3700X in most games while beating even the Core i7-9700K in other workloads.
Related Articles
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X vs Intel Core i5-9600K
Summary
-
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
129%
-
Intel Core i5-9600K
100%
Relative performance
-
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
117%
-
Intel Core i5-9600K
100%
Relative performance
-
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
141%
-
Intel Core i5-9600K
100%
Relative performance
Reasons to consider AMD Ryzen 5 3600X |
| 17% higher single threaded performance. |
| Much higher multi threaded performance (around 41% higher). This allows for higher performance in professional applications like encoding or heavy multitasking. |
| Around 29% higher average synthetic performance. |
Reasons to consider Intel Core i5-9600K |
| Has an integrated GPU, which allows to run the system without a dedicated graphics card, unlike the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X. |
Gaming
HWBench recommends AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Based on game and synthetic benchmarks, and theoretical specifications.
Productivity
HWBench recommends AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Based on productivity benchmarks, overall multithreaded performance and theoretical specifications.
Features
| AMD Ryzen 5 3600X | Intel Core i5-9600K | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MMX | ||||
| SSE | ||||
| SSE2 | ||||
| SSE3 | ||||
| SSSE3 | ||||
| SSE4A | ||||
| SSE4. |
||||
| SSE4.2 | ||||
| AES | ||||
| AVX | ||||
| AVX2 | ||||
| BMI1 | ||||
| BMI2 | ||||
| SHA | ||||
| F16C | ||||
| FMA3 | ||||
| AMD64 | ||||
| EVP | ||||
| AMD-V | ||||
| SMAP | ||||
| SMEP | ||||
| SMT | ||||
| Precision Boost 2 | ||||
| XFR 2 | ||||
| EIST | ||||
| Intel 64 | ||||
| XD bit | ||||
| VT-x | ||||
| VT-d | ||||
| AES-NI | ||||
| TSX | ||||
| TXT | ||||
| CLMUL | ||||
| Boost 2. |
||||
Architecture
| AMD Ryzen 5 3600X | Intel Core i5-9600K | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | AMD Zen 2 | vs | Intel_Coffelake | |
| Market | Desktop | vs | Desktop | |
| Memory Support | DDR4 | vs | DDR4 | |
| Codename | Zen 2 | vs | Coffee Lake | |
| Release Date | Mar 2019 | vs | Sep 2018 |
Cores
| AMD Ryzen 5 3600X | Intel Core i5-9600K | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cores | 6 | vs | 6 | |
| Threads | 12 | vs | 6 | |
| SMPs | 1 | vs | 1 | |
| Integrated Graphics | No | vs | UHD Graphics 630 |
Cache
| AMD Ryzen 5 3600X | Intel Core i5-9600K | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| L1 Cache | 96K (per core) | vs | 64 KB (per core) | |
| L2 Cache | 512K (per core) | vs | 256 KB (per core) | |
| L3 Cache | 16MB (shared) | vs | 9216 KB (shared) |
Physical
| AMD Ryzen 5 3600X | Intel Core i5-9600K | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socket | AMD Socket AM4 | vs | Intel Socket 1151 | |
| Max Case Temp | unknown | vs | 72°C | |
| Package | vs | FC-LGA1151 | ||
| Die Size | unknown | vs | unknown | |
| Process | 7 nm | vs | 14 nm |
Performance
| AMD Ryzen 5 3600X | Intel Core i5-9600K | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cpu Frequency | 4000 MHz | vs | 3700 MHz | |
| Turbo Clock | 4800 MHz | vs | 4500 MHz | |
| Base Clock | 100 MHz | vs | 100 MHz | |
| Voltage | variable | vs | variable | |
| TDP | 95 W | vs | 95 W |
-
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
5376 points
-
Intel Core i5-9600K
5400 points
Points — higher is better
-
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
32793 points
-
Intel Core i5-9600K
26640 points
Points — higher is better
-
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X (simulated)
225.
07
-
Intel Core i5-9600K (simulated)
191.25
points — higher is better
-
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X (simulated)
1750.83
-
Intel Core i5-9600K (simulated)
1240.82
points — higher is better
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X vs Intel Core i5-9600K: What is the difference?
62 BALLLA
AMD Ryzen 5 3600x
61 Ballla
Intel Core i5-9600k
3600XT
VS
64 Facts compared to
AMD RYZEN 5 3600X
9000 INTEL CORE INTEL CORE INTEL CORE INTEL CORE AM Is 3600X better than Intel Core i5-9600K?
- 534MHz higher RAM speed?
3200MHz vs 2666MHz - 6 more CPU threads?
12 vs 6 - Smaller 7nm semiconductors?
7nm vs 14nm - 1.5MB more L2 cache?
3MB vs 1.5MB - 1.68x higher PassMark score?
18325 vs 10878 - 23MB more L3 cache?
32MB vs 9MB - 1 newer PCI Express (PCIe) version?
4 vs 3 - 0.
25MB/core more L2 cache per core?
0.5MB/core vs 0.25MB/core
- 5°C higher than maximum operating temperature?
100°C vs 95°C - Has integrated graphics?
- Has NX bit?
What are the most popular comparisons?
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
vs
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
Intel Core i5-9600K
vs
Intel Core i7-8700K
AMD Ryzen 5 3600x
VS
AMD Ryzen 5 5500
Intel Core i5-9600K
VS
AMD Ryzen 9 3900x
AMD Ryzen 5 3600x 9000 VSE 5 3600
Intel Core i5-9600k
VS
Intel Core i7-7700K
AMD Ryzen 5 3600x
VS
AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Intel Core I5-9600K
9000) 9700K
AMD RYZEN 5 3600X
VS
AMD RYZEN 7 5800X
Intel Core i5-9600k
VS
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
AMD Ryzen 5 3600x
AMD RYZEN 5000004, AMD Ryzen 5500, AMD Ry i5-9600k
VS
AMD Ryzen 5 5600x
AMD Ryzen 5 3600x
VS
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
Intel Core I5-9600K
Intel Coren Coreen ATEL ATEL ATEL I5-9000 AM
VS
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
Intel Core i5-9600k
VS
AMD Ryzen 3 3200G
AMD Ryzen 5 3600x
VS
AMD Ryzen 5 4500U
Intel I 9000. STEL 9000 INTEL INTEL INTEL IS
Intel Core i7-6700
AMD RYZEN 5 3600X
VS
Intel Core i5-10400
Comers
cheaper
Users
Callery rating
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 30003
2 reviews of users
AMD Ryzen 5 3600x
/10
2 Reviews of users
Intel Core i5-9600K
1 Reviews of Users
Intel Core i5-9600k 9000
1 Reviews of users
Functions
Price and quality ratio
10.0 /10
2 VOTES
10.0 /10
1 VOTES
Games
Games
0003
9.5 /10
2 Votes
10.0 /10
1 Votes
performance
/10
2 VOTES
10.0 /10 9000 /VOTES
9.5 /10
2 Votes
10.0 /10
1 Votes
Energy efficiency
9.5 /10
9000 2 VOTES
9000 9000 8.0 8.0 9 9.0 /10
1 votes
Performance
1. CPU speed
6 x 3.8GHz
6 x 3.7GHz
). It is calculated by adding the clock speeds of each core or, in the case of multi-core processors, each group of cores.
2nd processor thread
More threads result in better performance and better multitasking.
3.speed turbo clock
4.4GHz
4.6GHz
When the processor is running below its limits, it can jump to a higher clock speed to increase performance.
4. Unlocked
✔AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
✔Intel Core i5-9600K
Some processors come with an unlocked multiplier and can be easily overclocked for better performance in games and other applications.
5.L2 cache
More L2 scratchpad memory results in faster results in CPU and system performance tuning.
6.L3 cache
More L3 scratchpad memory results in faster results in CPU and system performance tuning.
7.L1 cache
More L1 cache results in faster results in CPU and system performance tuning.
8.core L2
0.5MB/core
0.25MB/core
More data can be stored in L2 scratchpad for access by each processor core.
9.core L3
5.33MB/core
1.5MB/core
More data can be stored in L3 scratchpad memory to access each processor core.
Memory
1.RAM speed
3200MHz
2666MHz
Can support faster memory which speeds up system performance.
2.max memory bandwidth
47.68GB/s
41.6GB/s
This is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored in memory.
3. DDR version
DDR (Dynamic Dynamic Random Access Memory Double Data Rate) is the most common type of RAM. New versions of DDR memory support higher maximum speeds and are more energy efficient.
4.Memory channels
More memory channels increase the speed of data transfer between memory and processor.
5.maximum memory capacity
Maximum memory capacity (RAM).
6.bus baud rate
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Ryzen 5 3600X)
The bus is responsible for transferring data between various components of a computer or device.
7.Supports memory troubleshooting code
✔AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
✖Intel Core i5-9600K
Memory error recovery code can detect and repair data corruption. It is used when necessary to avoid distortion, such as in scientific computing or when starting a server.
8.eMMC version
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Ryzen 5 3600X)
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i5-9600K)
The newer version of eMMC — built-in flash memory card — speeds up the memory interface, has a positive effect on device performance, for example, when transferring files from a computer to internal memory via USB.
9.bus frequency
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Ryzen 5 3600X)
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i5-9600K)
The bus is responsible for transferring data between various components of a computer or device
Geotagging
1. PassMark result
This test measures processor performance using multi-threading.
2. PassMark result (single)
This test measures processor performance using a thread of execution.
3.Geekbench 5 result (multi-core)
Geekbench 5 is a cross-platform benchmark that measures the performance of a multi-core processor. (Source: Primate Labs,2022)
4.Cinebench R20 result (multi-core)
Cinebench R20 is a test that measures the performance of a multi-core processor by rendering a 3D scene.
5.Result Cinebench R20 (single core)
Cinebench R20 is a test to evaluate the performance of a single core processor when rendering a 3D scene.
6.Geekbench 5 result (single core)
Geekbench 5 is a cross-platform test that measures the single core performance of a processor. (Source: Primate Labs, 2022)
7.Blender test result (bmw27)
235.9seconds
303.7seconds
The Blender test (bmw27) measures CPU performance by rendering a 3D scene. More powerful processors can render a scene in a shorter time.
8.Blender result (classroom)
709seconds
980.5seconds
The Blender (classroom) benchmark measures CPU performance by rendering a 3D scene. More powerful processors can render a scene in a shorter time.
9.performance per watt
This means that the processor is more efficient, giving more performance per watt of power used.
Features
1.uses multi-threading
✔AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
✖Intel Core i5-9600K
Multithreading technology (such as Intel’s Hyperthreading or AMD’s Simultaneous Multithreading) provides better performance by dividing each physical processor core into logical cores, also known as threads. Thus, each core can run two instruction streams at the same time.
2. Has AES
✔AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
✔Intel Core i5-9600K
AES is used to speed up encryption and decryption.
3. Has AVX
✔AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
✔Intel Core i5-9600K
AVX is used to help speed up calculations in multimedia, scientific and financial applications, and to improve the performance of the Linux RAID program.
4.Version SSE
SSE is used to speed up multimedia tasks such as editing images or adjusting audio volume. Each new version contains new instructions and improvements.
5. Has F16C
✔AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
✔Intel Core i5-9600K
F16C is used to speed up tasks such as image contrast adjustment or volume control.
6 bits transmitted at the same time
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Ryzen 5 3600X)
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i5-9600K)
NEON provides faster media processing such as MP3 listening.
7. Has MMX
✔AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
✔Intel Core i5-9600K
MMX is used to speed up tasks such as adjusting image contrast or adjusting volume.
8.Has TrustZone
✖AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
✖Intel Core i5-9600K
Technology is integrated into the processor to ensure device security when using features such as mobile payments and streaming video using Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology ).
9.interface width
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Ryzen 5 3600X)
Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i5-9600K)
The processor can decode more instructions per clock (IPC), which means that the processor performs better
Price comparison
Cancel
Which CPUs are better?
Intel Core i5 9600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600X:
performance comparison
VS
Intel Core i5 9600K
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Which is better: Intel Core i5 9600K at 3.7 GHz (with Turbo Boost up to 4.6) or AMD Ryzen 5 3600X at 3.8 GHz (with Turbo Core up to 4.4)? To find out, read our comparative testing of these 6-core desktop processors in popular benchmarks, games and heavy applications.
- Overview
- Differences
- Performance
- Features
- Comments
Overview
Overview and comparison of the main metrics from NanoReview
Single -flow performance
Rating in tests using one core
Core I5 9600K
65
Ryzen 5 3600x
68
Multi -flow performance
Tests in benchmars where all nucleus
Core Core Core 9000 33
Ryzen 5 3600X
48
Energy efficiency
Efficiency of energy consumption chip
Core i5 9600k
46
Ryzen 5 3600x
9000
Key differences
What are the main differences between 3600X and 9600K
Reasons to choose Intel Core i5 9600K
- Integrated graphics accelerator Intel UHD Graphics 630
- 5% higher frequency in Turbo Boost (4.
6 GHz vs. 4.4 GHz)
Reasons to choose AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
- Has 23 MB more L3 cache
- More modern process technology — 7 vs. 14 nanometers
- New PCI Express 4.0 standard
- Rival3 902 months later than 902 6.08 GB/s (15%) higher maximum memory bandwidth
- 10% faster in single core Geekbench v5 — 1325 and 1203 points
Benchmark tests
Compare the results of processor tests in benchmarks
Cinebench R23 (single core)
Core i5 9600K
1196
Ryzen 5 3600X
+11%
1325
Cinebench R23 (multi-core)
Core i5 9600K
6624
Ryzen 5 3600X
+44%
9556
Passmark CPU (single core)
Core i5 9600K
+4%
2794
Ryzen 5 3600X
2674
Passmark CPU (multi-core)
Core i5 9600K
900 R4 10883
+69%
18411
Geekbench 5 (single core)
Core i5 9600K
1214
Ryzen 5 3600X
+9%
1327
Geekbench 5 (multi-core)
Core i5 9600K
5707
Ryzen 5 3600X
+30%
7417
▶️ Add your score to Cinebench R23
Specifications
List of full specifications for Intel Core i5 9600K and AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
General information
| Manufacturer | Intel | AMD |
| Release date | October 8, 2018 | July 7, 2019 |
| Type | Desktop | Desktop |
| Instruction set architecture | x86-64 | x86-64 |
| Codename | Coffee Lake | Zen 2 |
| Model number | i5-9600K | — |
| Socket | LGA-1151 | AM4 |
| Integrated graphics | UHD Graphics 630 | No |
Performance
| Cores | 6 | 6 |
| Number of threads | 6 | 12 |
| Frequency | 3. |
3.8 GHz |
| Max. frequency in Turbo Boost | 4.6 GHz | 4.4 GHz |
| Bus frequency | 100 MHz | 100 MHz |
| Multiplier | 37x | 38x |
| Tire speed | 8 GT/s | — |
| Level 1 cache | 64KB (per core) | 64KB (per core) |
| Level 2 cache | 256KB (per core) | 512KB (per core) |
| Level 3 cache | 9MB (shared) | 32MB (shared) |
| Unlocked multiplier | Yes | Yes |
Power consumption
| Number of transistors | — | 3.8 billion |
| Process | 14 nanometers | 7 nanometers |
| Power Demand (TDP) | 95 W | 95 W |
| Critical temperature | 100°C | 95°C |
| Integrated graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 630 | — |
| GPU frequency | 350 MHz | — |
| Boost GPU frequency | 1150 MHz | — |
| Shader blocks | 192 | — |
| TMUs | 24 | — |
| ROPs | 3 | — |
| Computer units | 24 | — |
| TGP | 15W | — |
| Max. |
4096×2304 — 60Hz | — |
iGPU FLOPS
Core i5 9600K
0.38 teraflops
Ryzen 5 3600X
n/a
Memory support
| DDR4-2666 | DDR4-3200 | |
| Max. size | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Number of channels | 2 | 2 |
| Max. throughput | 41.6 GB/s | 47.68 GB/s |
| ECC support | No | Yes |
Other
| Official site | Site Intel Core i5 9600K | AMD Ryzen 5 3600X |
| PCI Express version | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| Max. PCI Express lanes | 16 | 16 |
| Extended instructions | SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX-2 | — |
Poll
What processor do you think is the best?
Core i5 9600K
16 (27. 6%)
Ryzen 5 3600X
42 (72.4%)
Total votes: 58
Competitors
1.
Intel Core i5 9600K and i5 12600K
2.
Intel Core i5 9600K and i5 12400
3.
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X and Ryzen 5 5600X
4.
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X and Ryzen 5 5600G
5.
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X and Intel Core i5 12400
6.
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X and Intel Core i5 12400F
7.
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X and Ryzen 7 5700X
8.
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X and Ryzen 5 5500
9.
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X and Ryzen 7 5800X3D
What will you choose: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X or Intel Core i5 9600K?
Name
Message
Review and Benchmark Intel Core i5-9600KF vs. AMD Ryzen 5 3600X: Part 1 Gaming
While we’re seeing a delay in new Intel desktop processors that were rumored to be released earlier this year, current Intel processors have to resist decisions from AMD on the Zen 2 architecture. By the way, the Zen 2 architecture, which underlies the Ryzen 3000-series CPUs, cannot be called a minor update, since the engineers have done serious optimization work and achieved a significant increase in efficiency. Against this background, testing and comparison of Intel Core i5-9600KF and AMD Ryzen 5 3600X will be more relevant than ever, because the processors are sold at about the same price.
Technical features of processors
Since we are comparing processors based on completely different architectures, it makes no sense to make a direct comparison of characteristics, but the main characteristics are summarized in a table for easy reference.
If we talk about the Intel Core i5-9600KF, then this processor, unlike the Intel Core i5-9600K, has integrated graphics disabled, and this allowed him to throw off a couple of thousand, which makes it a more attractive purchase for those who will have installed video card. In all other respects, this is a well-known processor based on the Skylake architecture.
The AMD Ryzen 5 3600X costs quite a bit more, but judging by the specs alone, it looks more attractive: it has multi-threading (SMT) support, a whopping cache size, and PCIe 4.0 support.
We will not dwell on the characteristics for a long time — let’s move on to testing.
Test benches
We have assembled test benches, taking into account the specifics of a particular platform, the configuration of which is shown in the table below.
Looking ahead, I will note that I did not overclock the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X for the reason that sometimes this can negatively affect the results. I think it will be fair to say that Precision Boost 2.0 technology allows AMD Ryzen 3000-series processors to work at extreme frequencies and select the optimal operating mode on the fly. The RAM worked in DDR4-3800 MHz mode and this is the limit at which the Infinity Fabric bus works with the RAM frequency divider in 1:1 mode. That is, using a lower or higher RAM frequency would have a negative impact on performance.
Intel Core i5-9600KF was tested only in overclocking, otherwise what’s the point of buying a processor with an unlocked multiplier. By the way, this is the first processor of the Coffee Lake family, which refused to work stably in all modes at a frequency of 5 GHz, and kept absolute stability at a frequency of 4.9 GHz. We got the same overclocking result with Intel Performance Maximizer. So, we will consider far from the most successful copy of the Intel Core i5-9600KF. The RAM on the stand with the Intel processor worked at the maximum possible DDR4-4133 mode.
Game Testing
In game testing, we captured FPS with MSI Afterburner, and captured gameplay using a capture card and a second PC, so as not to have any effect on the test results. In all games, where possible, the DirectX 12 API was used. «iron».
Let’s start the game tests with Far Cry New Dawn. The frame rate in this game is highly dependent on the performance per core, which is why the Intel Core i5-9600KF takes the lead despite a significantly higher load.
In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, despite the higher average FPS on the Intel Core i5-9600KF, the gameplay is slightly more stable when configured with the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X.
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 also responds well to single core performance and Intel Core i5-9600KF leads by ~10%.
Despite the noticeable difference in processor performance, the value of such testing is rather doubtful. Indeed, I can’t imagine a user who would put the minimum settings on such a configuration. Unless, this applies to eSports disciplines, but even without this FPS will be high.
Game tests in WQHD resolution
Let’s move on to more plausible settings, namely WQHD resolution (2560 by 1440 pixels) and the maximum graphics preset.
In Far Cry New Dawn, the dependence on performance per core is still noticeable. If you look closely at the CPU load graphs, you can replace the periodic load of one or two threads with 100% for both processors. In other matters, greater performance per core allows the Intel Core i5-9600KF stay ahead.
When raising the graphics settings in Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, despite the full load of the video card, the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X breaks ahead, both in terms of average and minimum FPS. The best performance of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X in this game at WQHD resolution was confirmed by 4 runs and cannot be attributed to an error.
Intel Core i5-9600KF in The Witcher 3 again demonstrates slightly better performance.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is notorious for high CPU usage and, again, we are seeing a situation where the average FPS is higher with the Intel Core i5-9600KF, and the minimum FPS is more stable with the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X.
In Metro Exodus, the game engine obviously doesn’t play as well with Ryzen, despite using the DirectX 12 API.
Game tests in UHD resolution
Turning to testing in UHD resolution, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the focus of performance is now on the video card, and the processors are much less loaded. The average FPS in all games will vary within the margin of error, and more attention should be paid to 1% and 0. 1% of the minimum FPS.
In Far Cry New Dawn, even at UHD resolution, the Intel Core i5-9600KF does not lose performance advantages. Surprisingly, the biggest FPS drop at the time of the explosion on the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X persisted from run to run.
It’s not worth commenting on the difference in performance in Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, because it can be attributed to an error.
But in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the difference in performance cannot be attributed to an error. The minimum FPS for the configuration with AMD Ryzen 5 3600X is higher.
In the rest of the tests, the Intel Core i5-9600KF demonstrates a higher minimum FPS.