Intel Core i7 8700K vs AMD Ryzen 5 2600X: performance comparison
VS
Intel Core i7 8700K
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X
We compared two 6-core desktop CPUs: the 3.7 GHz Intel Core i7 8700K against the 3.6 GHz AMD Ryzen 5 2600X. 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 i7 8700K
57
Ryzen 5 2600X
50
Multi-Core Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
Core i7 8700K
29
Ryzen 5 2600X
26
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of electricity consumption
Core i7 8700K
44
Ryzen 5 2600X
47
NanoReview Final Score
Generic CPU rating
Core i7 8700K
43
Ryzen 5 2600X
41
Key Differences
What are the key differences between 2600X and 8700K
Advantages of Intel Core i7 8700K
- Supports up to 128 GB DDR4-2666 RAM
- 19% faster in a single-core Geekbench v5 test — 1242 vs 1048 points
- Includes an integrated GPU Intel UHD Graphics 630
- 12% higher Turbo Boost frequency (4.
7 GHz vs 4.2 GHz)
Advantages of AMD Ryzen 5 2600X
- Has 4096 KB larger L3 cache size
- More modern manufacturing process – 12 versus 14 nanometers
- Newer — released 6-months later
- Around 2.11 GB/s (5%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
Benchmarks
Comparing the performance of CPUs in benchmarks
Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)
Core i7 8700K
+11%
1213
Ryzen 5 2600X
1096
Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)
Core i7 8700K
+18%
8915
Ryzen 5 2600X
7531
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Core i7 8700K
+15%
2754
Ryzen 5 2600X
2405
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
Core i7 8700K
13786
Ryzen 5 2600X
+2%
14049
Geekbench 5 (Single-Core)
Core i7 8700K
+18%
1247
Ryzen 5 2600X
1054
Geekbench 5 (Multi-Core)
Core i7 8700K
+14%
6650
Ryzen 5 2600X
5827
Submit your Cinebench R23 result
Specifications
Full technical specification of Intel Core i7 8700K and AMD Ryzen 5 2600X
General
Vendor | Intel | AMD |
Released | October 5, 2017 | April 19, 2018 |
Type | Desktop | Desktop |
instruction set | x86-64 | x86-64 |
Codename | Coffee Lake | — |
Model number | i7-8700K | — |
Integrated GPU | UHD Graphics 630 | No |
P-Cores | 6 | 6 |
P-Threads | 12 | 12 |
Base Frequency (P) | 3.![]() |
3.6 GHz |
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) | 4.7 GHz | 4.2 GHz |
Total Cores | 6 | 6 |
Total Threads | 12 | 12 |
Bus Frequency | 100 MHz | 100 MHz |
Multiplier | 37x | 36x |
Bus Bandwidth | 8 GT/s | — |
L1 Cache | 64K (per core) | 96K (per core) |
L2 Cache | 256K (per core) | 512K (per core) |
L3 Cache | 12MB (shared) | 16MB (shared) |
Unlocked Multiplier | Yes | Yes |
Package
Transistors | — | 4.![]() |
Fabrication process | 14 nm | 12 nm |
TDP (PL1) | 95 W | 95 W |
Socket | LGA-1151 | AM4 |
Peak temperature | 100°C | 95°C |
Integrated Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 630 | — |
GPU Base Clock | 350 MHz | — |
GPU Boost Clock | 1200 MHz | — |
Shading Units | 192 | — |
TMUs | 24 | — |
ROPs | 3 | — |
Execution Units | 24 | — |
TGP | 15 W | — |
Max.![]() |
4096×2304 — 60 Hz | — |
iGPU FLOPS
Core i7 8700K
0.38 TFLOPS
Ryzen 5 2600X
n/a
Memory Support
Memory types | — DDR4-2666 | — DDR4-2933 |
Memory Size | 128 GB | 64 GB |
Max. Memory Channels | 2 | 2 |
Max. Memory Bandwidth | 41.6 GB/s | 43.71 GB/s |
ECC Support | No | Yes |
Official site | Intel Core i7 8700K official page | AMD Ryzen 5 2600X official page |
PCI Express Version | 3.0 | 3.0 |
PCI Express Lanes | 16 | 20 |
Extended instructions | SSE4.![]() |
— |
Cast your vote
Choose between two processors
Core i7 8700K
9 (42.9%)
Ryzen 5 2600X
12 (57.1%)
Total votes: 21
Сompetitors
1.
Ryzen 7 5800X3D or Core i7 8700K
2.
Core i5 12600K or Core i7 8700K
3.
Core i5 12400F or Core i7 8700K
4.
Core i7 13700K or Core i7 8700K
Compare other CPUs (540+)
So which CPU will you choose: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X or Intel Core i7 8700K?
Name
Message
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AMD Ryzen 5 2600X vs Intel Core i7-8700K Benchmarks, Specs, Performance Comparison and Differences
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AMD Ryzen 5 2600X vs Intel Core i7-8700K

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Specification comparison:
Processor | AMD Ryzen 5 2600X | Intel Core i7-8700K | ||||||
Market (main) | Desktop | Desktop | ||||||
ISA | x86-64 (64 bit) | x86-64 (64 bit) | ||||||
Microarchitecture | Zen+ | Coffee Lake | ||||||
Core name | Pinnacle Ridge | Coffee Lake-S | ||||||
Family | Ryzen 5 2000 | Core i7-8000 | ||||||
Part number(s), S-Spec |
YD260XBCM6IAF |
BX80684I78700K, |
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Release date | Q2 2018 | Q4 2017 | ||||||
Lithography | 12 nm | 14 nm++ | ||||||
Transistors | 4.![]() |
3.000.000.000 | ||||||
Cores | 6 | 6 | ||||||
Threads | 12 | 12 | ||||||
Base frequency | 3,6 GHz | 3,7 GHz | ||||||
Turbo frequency | 4,2 GHz | 4,7 GHz | ||||||
High performance cores |
— |
6 Cores 12 Threads @ 3,7 / 4,7 GHz |
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Cache memory | 16 MB | 12 MB | ||||||
Max memory capacity | 64 GB | 128 GB | ||||||
Memory types |
DDR4-2933 |
DDR4-2666 |
||||||
Max # of memory channels | 2 | 2 | ||||||
Max memory bandwidth | 43,71 GB/s | 41,6 GB/s | ||||||
Max PCIe lanes | 20 | 16 | ||||||
TDP | 95 W | 95 W | ||||||
Suggested PSU | 600W ATX Power Supply | 600W ATX Power Supply | ||||||
GPU integrated graphics | None | Intel UHD Graphics 630 (Coffee Lake) | ||||||
GPU execution units | — | 23 | ||||||
GPU shading units | — | 184 | ||||||
GPU base clock | — | 350 MHz | ||||||
GPU boost clock | — | 1200 MHz | ||||||
GPU FP32 floating point | — | 423,2 GFLOPS | ||||||
Socket | AM4, PGA-1331 | LGA1151 | ||||||
Compatible motherboard | Socket AM4 Motherboard | Socket LGA 1151 Motherboard | ||||||
Maximum temperature | 95°C | 100°C | ||||||
Crypto engine |
— |
AES New Instructions, |
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Security |
— |
Software Guard Extensions, |
||||||
Max display resolution |
— |
4096 x 2304@24Hz (HDMI), |
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CPU-Z single thread | 475 | 475 | ||||||
CPU-Z multi thread | 3.![]() |
3.693 | ||||||
Cinebench R15 single thread | 179 | 194 | ||||||
Cinebench R15 multi-thread | 1.403 | 1.402 | ||||||
Cinebench R23 single thread | 1.091 | 1.216 | ||||||
Cinebench R23 multi-thread | 7.895 | 8.985 | ||||||
PassMark single thread | 2.398 | 2.775 | ||||||
PassMark CPU Mark | 14.063 | 13.883 | ||||||
(Windows) Geekbench 4 single core |
4.670 | 6.100 | ||||||
(Windows) Geekbench 4 multi-core |
22.![]() |
24.045 | ||||||
(SGEMM) GFLOPS performance |
316,8 GFLOPS | 453,8 GFLOPS | ||||||
(Multi-core / watt performance) Performance / watt ratio |
232 pts / W | 253 pts / W | ||||||
Amazon | ||||||||
eBay |
Note: Commissions may be earned from the links above.
Suggested PSU: We assume that we have An ATX computer case, a high end graphics card, 16GB RAM, a 512GB SSD, a 1TB HDD hard drive, a Blu-Ray drive. We will have to rely on a more powerful power supply if we want to have several graphics cards, several monitors, more memory, etc.
Price: For technical reasons, we cannot currently display a price less than 24 hours, or a real-time price. This is why we prefer for the moment not to show a price. You should refer to the respective online stores for the latest price, as well as availability.
We see that the two processors have an equivalent number of cores, the turbo frequency of Intel Core i7-8700K is bigger, that their respective TDP are of the same order. The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X was designed earlier.
Performance comparison with the benchmarks:
Performance comparison between the two processors, for this we consider the results generated on benchmark software such as Geekbench.
CPU-Z — Multi-thread & single thread score | |
---|---|
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X |
475 3.776 |
Intel Core i7-8700K |
475 3.693 |
In a single core, there is no noticeable difference. In multi-core, the differential gap is 2%.
Note: Commissions may be earned from the links above. These scores are only an
average of the performances got with these processors, you may get different results.
Cinebench R15 — Multi-thread & single thread score | |
---|---|
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X |
179 1.403 |
Intel Core i7-8700K |
194 1.402 |
In single core, the difference is -8%. In multi-core, the differential gap is 0%.
Note: Commissions may be earned from the links above. These scores are only an
average of the performances got with these processors, you may get different results.
Cinebench R23 — Multi-thread & single thread score | |
---|---|
Intel Core i7-8700K |
1.216 8.985 |
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X |
1.091 7.895 |
In single core, the difference is 11%. In multi-core, the difference in terms of gap is 14%.
Note: Commissions may be earned from the links above. These scores are only an
average of the performances got with these processors, you may get different results.
PassMark — CPU Mark & single thread | |
---|---|
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X |
2.398 14.063 |
Intel Core i7-8700K |
2.775 13.883 |
In single core, the difference is -14%. In multi-core, the differential gap is 1%.
Note: Commissions may be earned from the links above. These scores are only an
average of the performances got with these processors, you may get different results.
On Windows:
Geekbench 4 — Multi-core & single core score — Windows | |
---|---|
Intel Core i7-8700K |
6.100 24.045 |
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X |
4.670 22.045 |
In single core, the difference is 31%. In multi-core, the difference in terms of gap is 9%.
On Linux:
Geekbench 4 — Multi-core & single core score — Linux | |
---|---|
Intel Core i7-8700K |
6.115 27.677 |
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X |
5. ![]() 25.900 |
In single core, the difference is 17%. In multi-core, the difference in terms of gap is 7%.
On Android:
Geekbench 4 — Multi-core & single core score — Android | |
---|---|
Intel Core i7-8700K |
5.646 21.101 |
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X |
4.466 16.392 |
In single core, the difference is 26%. In multi-core, the difference in terms of gap is 29%.
On Mac OS X:
Geekbench 4 — Multi-core & single core score — Mac OS X | |
---|---|
Intel Core i7-8700K |
6.084 28.485 |
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X |
5.039 23.457 |
In single core, the difference is 21%.