CPU-Z Benchmark for AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (1T)
Best CPU performance — 64-bit — June 2023
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (1T)
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Intel Core i9-13900K
Intel Core i7-13700K
Intel Core i9-12900KS
Intel Core i9-12900KF
Intel Core i9-12900K
Intel Core i7-12700KF
Intel Core i7-12700K
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
Intel Core i5-12600K
Intel Core i5-12600KF
Intel Core i7-12700
Intel Core i7-12700F
Intel Core i9-12900H
Intel Core i7-12700H
Intel Core i5-12500
Intel Core i5-12500H
Intel Core i9-11900K
Intel Core i5-12490F
Intel Core i5-12400
Intel Core i3-12100
Intel Core i5-12400F
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
Intel Core i3-12100F
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
Intel Core i7-11700K
Intel Core i7-11700KF
AMD Ryzen 7 5700X
Intel Core i5-11600K
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
Intel Core i7-11700
Intel Core i7-11700F
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
AMD Ryzen 5 5600
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D
AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX
AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
AMD Ryzen 7 6800H
Intel Core i9-10900K
Intel Core i7-11800H
Intel Core i9-10850K
Intel Core i7-10700KF
Intel Core i5-11400
AMD Ryzen 5 5500
Intel Core i9-9900KF
Intel Core i5-11400F
Intel Core i7-9700KF
Intel Core i5-11400H
AMD Ryzen 7 5800H
Intel Core i7-10700K
Intel Core i7-9700K
Intel Core i9-9900K
AMD Ryzen 5 5600H
Intel Core i5-10600KF
Intel Core i5-9600KF
Intel Core i7-10700
Intel Core i5-10600K
Intel Core i5-11300H
Intel Core i7-10700F
Intel Core i7-1165G7
Intel Core i7-9700
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
Intel Core i5-9600K
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X
AMD Ryzen 7 3800X
Intel Core i7-8700K
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4650G
Intel Core i5-8600K
Intel Core i5-1135G7
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Intel Core i7-7700K
AMD Ryzen 7 4800H
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
AMD Ryzen 7 5700U
Intel Core i7-8700
AMD Ryzen 5 3500X
AMD Ryzen 5 3500
Intel Core i3-1115G4
(YOU) AMD Ryzen 5 2600X
AMD Ryzen 5 5500U
Intel Core i7-10750H
Intel Core i3-9100F
Intel Core i3-10105F
Intel Core i7-6700K
Intel Core i5-8500
Intel Core i5-9400
Intel Core i5-10400
AMD Ryzen 5 4600H
Intel Core i3-10100
Intel Core i5-6600K
Intel Core i5-9400F
AMD Ryzen 3 3100 4-Core
Intel Core i3-10100F
Intel Core i7-4790K
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
Intel Core i5-10400F
Intel Core i5-10300H
Intel Core i5-8400
Intel Core i7-9750H
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X
Intel Core i7-7700
Intel Core i7-8750H
Intel Core i5-4690K
AMD Ryzen 3 3200G
AMD Ryzen 5 3400G
Intel Core i5-9300H
AMD Ryzen 5 2600
Intel Core i3-8100
Intel Core i7-10510U
Intel Core i5-7500
Intel Core i5-8300H
AMD Ryzen 5 1600X
Intel Core i7-8565U
AMD Ryzen 3 2200G
Intel Core i7-4770K
Intel Core i5-4690
Intel Core i5-10210U
AMD Ryzen 5 2400G
Intel Core i7-4790
Intel Core i5-1035G1
Intel Core i7-6700
AMD Ryzen 7 2700
Intel Core i7-4770
AMD Ryzen 7 1700
Intel Core i5-8265U
AMD Ryzen 5 1600
Intel Core i5-4590
Intel Core i3-1005G1
Intel Core i5-3570K
AMD Ryzen 5 3550H with
Intel Core i5-7400
Intel Core i5-6500
Intel Core i7-3770K
Intel Xeon E3-1231 v3
Intel Core i7-8550U
Intel Core i5-4570
Intel Core i3-7100
AMD Ryzen 3 1200
Intel Xeon E5-2666 v3
Intel Core i5-3570
Intel Core i3-10110U
Intel Core i5-2500K
Intel Core i7-3770
AMD Ryzen 7 3750H with
Intel Core i7-2600K
Intel Core i7-7700HQ
Intel Core i5-8250U
Intel Core i5-6400
Intel Core i5-7300HQ
Intel Core i3-6100
Intel Core i5-4460
Intel Core i5-3470
Intel Xeon E5-2640 v3
AMD Ryzen 5 3500U with
Intel Core i5-4440
Intel Xeon E3-1230 V2
Intel Core i3-4170
Intel Core i5-2500
Intel Pentium G4560
AMD Athlon 3000G
Intel Core i7-2600
Intel Core i3-4160
Intel Xeon E5-2689
Intel Core i7-7500U
Intel Core i7-6700HQ
Intel Xeon E5-2670 v3
Intel Core i5-2400
Intel Xeon E5-2620 v3
Intel Xeon E5-2650 v2
Intel Core i3-4130
Intel Core i5-3330
AMD Ryzen 3 3250U
Intel Core i5-7200U
Intel Core i3-3240
Intel Core i3-3220
Intel Core i5-6300U
Intel Core i3-2120
Intel Core i5-3230M
Intel Core i3-2100
Intel Core i5-6200U
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
Intel Core i5-5200U
Intel Core i5-2520M
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
Intel Core i5 650
Intel Core 2 Duo E7500
Intel Core i5-3210M
AMD FX -8350
Intel Core i5-2450M
AMD FX -8320
Intel Core i5-2410M
AMD FX -6300
Intel Core i5-4210U
AMD FX -8300
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Intel Core i3-7020U
Intel Core i5-4200U
Intel Core i3-5005U
Intel Core i3-6006U
Intel Core i3-4005U
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X review: a CPU that deserves to be the heart of your next gaming rig
The Ryzen 5 2600X is the deserving sequel to one of our favourite gaming chips of the last twelve months, the Ryzen 5 1600X. These AMD Ryzen 2 processors are delivering us the second-generation Pinnacle Ridge CPU architecture, and are bringing Intel a bad case of indigestion. How’s that make you feel, Coffee Lake… want some Gaviscon?
When the 1600X first launched we hailed it as the most significant gaming processor that AMD had ever created, and I stand by that. It was a well-priced, powerful multi-threaded CPU, with genuinely competitive gaming performance. It didn’t quite nail the Intel competition on straight in-game frame rate terms, but it was such a good overall package it was almost uncontested as the top gaming CPU until the Core i5 8400 severely undercut it on price.
But what it represented was arguably more important. It represented an AMD that was back in the game and meant that putting together a new gaming rig was now a case of ‘which processor do I choose?’ rather than simply ‘which Intel CPU?’
It also meant six cores and 12 threads was a mainstream core count for the first time.
We don’t count Bulldozer. No-one does.
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X specs
Like the Ryzen 7 2700X we’re talking about an evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, CPU core. The Ryzen 5 2600X is the sequel to the 1600X, not the next-generation of it. As such it sports essentially the exact same Zen design at its heart, though this time built on the 12nm Global Foundries lithography to create what AMD are calling the Zen+ architecture.
It’s still got the same 4.8bn transistors, even if they are nominally smaller than the previous 14nm versions. And that means AMD can’t really squeeze any more cores into the Ryzen 5 2600X’s design. So we’re looking at another six-core, 12-thread processor, using a pair of CCX modules with three on either side, chatting to each other across the Infinity Fabric interconnect.
| Ryzen 5 2600 | Ryzen 5 2600X | Ryzen 5 1600X | Core i5 8600K | Core i5 8400 | |
| Cores | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Threads | 12 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 6 |
| Base | 3. 4GHz |
3.6GHz | 3.7GHz | 3.6GHz | 2.8GHz |
| Boost | 3.9GHz | 4.2GHz | 4GHz | 4.3GHz | 4GHz |
| Total cache | 19MB | 19MB | 19MB | 9MB | 9MB |
| TDP | 65W | 95W | 95W | 95W | 65W |
| Cooler | Wraith Stealth | Wraith Spire | None | None | Intel stock |
| Price (USD) | $166 | $226 | $200 | $260 | $179 |
| Price (GBP) | £158 | £195 | £152 | £215 | £173 |
AMD have, though, boosted the clock speeds of the new Ryzen 5 2600X, thanks to the extra headroom offered by the more lithe 12nm lithography. The base clock is a little lower, but we can largely ignore that – for reasons I’ll come to in a second – while the maximum single core boost clock has been pushed up to 4.
2GHz.
The reason we don’t have to worry about that 3.6GHz base clock speed is because you’re unlikely to ever see your Ryzen 5 2600X ever drop to that frequency when you’re pushing the processor. Where the 1600X resolutely stuck to its 3.7GHz base as soon as you made it do anything that involved anything more than a single core, the Ryzen 5 2600X will boost its clock speed as much as it can, based on the thermal headroom, current, and CPU load at any given time… even when you’re using all six cores.
That’s because AMD have focused on updating the Precision Boost 2 technology; providing a feature that utilises the SenseMI sensors to their fullest and brings you the full potential of your processor more often.
You might get slightly lower frequencies when dropping the Ryzen 5 2600X into an X370 board instead of one of the newer X470 motherboards, but the AM4 socket is identical, offering cross-compatibility… so long as the BIOS has been updated in the last few months.
That will affect some of your CPU-based benchmarking scores, but don’t worry, it won’t affect your machine’s gaming performance.
An X370 will do you just fine, and potentially all the way until 2020 as AMD have committed to using the AM4 socket for all its mainstream chips until then.
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X benchmarks
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X performance
The Ryzen 5 2600X offers a hell of a lot of computational silicon for just $230. Those six multi-threaded cores give it the same level of processing power as the top end Intel Coffee Lake, the Core i7 8700K, and the increased clock speed means that it’s only ever a few frames per second behind the Core i7 in gaming benchmarks too.
And all that despite being some $120 less expensive. Potentially even cheaper when you factor in that you need to buy a third-party cooler with the 8700K.
It also goes without saying then that it’s faster than the original 1600X, which I loved so dear. But I’ve said it anyway, sorry.
It’s 12% quicker in the Cinebench rendering benchmark and around the same percentage faster with the video encoding X264 test. On the whole the gaming performance isn’t that much different, but where it really stands out is in the CPU-intensive Civilization VI tests. In both the general and AI tests the Ryzen 5 2600X is noticeably pacier than the 1600X.
The thorn in the Ryzen 5 2600X’s side, however, is still the Core i5 8400. By virtue of being limited to six non-HyperThreaded cores the Intel chip can’t compete on the general computational front, but its classic Intel gaming chops mean that it still has the lead when it comes to our gaming tests. It’s only ever by a few frames per second on average, but as it’s a cheaper chip that difference becomes a little more important.
But as a non K-series CPU the 8400 can’t overclock… though if you were hoping the overclocking performance of the second-gen Ryzen might blow everything out of the water you might be disappointed.
Sure, if you slosh a load of liquid nitrogen over it you can hit 5.8GHz, and some are even hitting 6GHz, but with a standard closed-loop water cooler we could only just manage a stable 4.25GHz. Considering the maximum boost is 4.2GHz, that’s not a particularly inspiring results.
But overclocks don’t really mean much in the way of gaming frame rates in these upper echelons of the gaming processor market, and as so few people are likely to go to the effort of overclocking it’s barely an issue.
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X verdict
The original Ryzen 5 1600X was a great chip, with genuinely impressive multi-threaded performance, and that allowed us to look past it’s mild gaming flaws. AMD have shored up those slight issues with the Ryzen 5 2600X and have produced a CPU that is better than its predecessor in every way.
It also shows that the first-gen chips weren’t a flash in the pan. AMD have listened to the feedback and have been able to improve their chips in what is a relatively short time – and that gives us a lot of hope for the future AMD Zen 2 CPUs to follow.
The Ryzen 5 2600X is maybe not as much of a milestone as the 1600X, and is still a few fps off the rival Intel chips in gaming performance, but the overall package you get with the second-gen Ryzen processors is second to none.
The longevity of the platform, the agressive price point, the huge multi-threaded performance, and the competitive gaming chops all make the Ryzen 5 2600K one of the absolute best gaming CPUs you can buy today. That said, if you’re happy with a doing a little light overclocking yourself you can get the same level of performance out of the cheaper Ryzen 5 2600 with just a little tweakery.
The only thing which gives me any pause is the gaming performance of the cheaper Intel Core i5 8400. It’s a faster pure gaming CPU and, while that was the case between the 2700X and 8700K, this time it’s the Intel chip that’s the cheaper offering. So, in straight gaming performance terms the 8400 is the better value processor, but that’s only a minor niggle considering all that the Ryzen 5 2600X has got going for it in terms of computational performance and platform longevity.