AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and 5500 Review: Firing Back at Alder Lake
Tom’s Hardware Verdict
The Ryzen 5 5600 and Ryzen 5 5500 bring a new level of value to the Zen 3 lineup and could make a great value-centric update if you’re updating a first-gen Ryzen system, but competing Intel Alder Lake processors are a better deal for new builds.
Pros
- +
Competent gaming and application performance
- +
Solid upgrade path for Ryzen 1000 owners
- +
Bundled CPU Cooler
- +
Overclockable
- +
Broad support with 300-series motherboards
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Intel’s competitive Alder Lake chips have upset AMD’s dominance with its Ryzen processors, particularly in the lower price ranges, but the new $199 six-core 12-thread Ryzen 5 5600 and $159 Ryzen 5 5500 are designed to plug key gaps in the company’s portfolio. These new chips come as part of AMD’s broader launch of seven new Ryzen 5000 models that aim to shore up the company’s rankings in CPU benchmarks and retake its position on the Best CPUs for gaming list.
AMD’s Ryzen 5000 chips fully eclipsed Intel’s performance lead in desktop PCs when they launched back in 2020, but the company has long neglected to launch any sub-$250 chips with the potent Zen 3 architecture. That’s kept the bar for entry unattainably high for value seekers.
AMD’s new chips are long overdue, arriving a year and a half after the first wave of Ryzen 5000 chips, but they’re badly needed. Intel’s Alder Lake launch caught AMD uncharacteristically flat-footed, wresting away AMD’s performance lead. Intel’s aggressive pricing also brought superior value in every price range while exploiting AMD’s glaring lack of any sub-$250 Zen 3 chips.
AMD’s solution is pretty simple: The company is bringing back its non-X models, but with a twist. As a reminder, AMD’s non-X models are the lower-cost and lower-performing versions of the ‘X’ models (like the Ryzen 5 5600X), but they have historically offered nearly the same performance as their counterparts, particularly after overclocking.
AMD is also putting a new spin on the practice: Some of these new models, like the Ryzen 5 5500, are repurposed APUs with a disabled integrated GPU.
- AMD Ryzen 5 5600 (AMD Ryzen 5) at Amazon for $134.87
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| Price Street/MSRP | Design — Arch. | E/P – Core|Thread | P-Core Base/Boost (GHz) | TDP / PBP / MTP | L3 Cache | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryzen 7 5800X3D | $449 | Zen 3 — Vermeer | 8P | 16T | 3.4 / 4.5 | 105W | 96MB |
| Ryzen 7 5700X | $299 | Zen 3 — Vermeer | 8P | 16T | 3.4 / 4.6 | 65W | 32MB |
| Ryzen 5 5600 | $199 | Zen 3 — Vermeer | 6P|12T | 3. 5 / 4.4 |
65W | 32MB |
| Ryzen 5 5500 | $159 | Zen 3 — Cezanne | 6P | 12T | 3.6 / 4.2 | 65W | 16MB |
| Ryzen 5 4600G | $154 | Zen 2 — Renoir | 6P | 12T | 3.7 / 4.2 | 65W | 8MB |
| Ryzen 5 4500 | $129 | Zen 2 — Renoir | 6P | 12T | 3.6 / 4.1 | 65W | 8MB |
| Ryzen 3 4100 | $99 | Zen 2 — Renoir | 4P | 8T | 3.8 / 4. 0 |
65W | 4MB |
The four new non-X models are designed to respond to Intel’s commanding lead on the low end, and AMD has also slashed pricing on its existing Ryzen 5000 models. AMD is even enabling support for Ryzen 5000 chips on older 300-series motherboards, opening up a value option that’s a good fit for the new low-end Ryzen lineup. Here’s how AMD’s new mainstream contenders stack up.
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| Price — Street/MSRP | Design — Arch. | E/P – Core|Thread | P-Core Base/Boost (GHz) | E-Core Base/Boost (GHz) | TDP / PBP / MTP | Memory Support | L3 Cache | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryzen 5 5600X | $230 ($299) | Zen 3 — Vermeer | 6P | 12T | 3. 7 / 4.6 |
— | 65W | DDR4-3200 | 32MB |
| Ryzen 5 5600G (APU) | $220 ($259 ) | Zen 3 — Cezanne | 6P | 12T | 3.9 / 4.4 | — | 65W | DDR4-3200 | 16MB |
| Ryzen 5 5600 | $199 | Zen 3 — Vermeer | 6P|12T | 3.5 / 4.4 | — | 65W | DDR4-3200 | 32MB |
| Core i5-12400 / F | $192 — $167 (F) | Alder Lake | 6P+0E | 6C/12T | 4.4 / 2.5 | — | 65W / 117W | DDR4/5-3200/4800 | 18MB |
| Ryzen 5 3600X | $250 ($240) | Zen 2 | 6P | 12T | 3. 8 / 4.4 |
— | 95W | DDR4-3200 | 32MB |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | $229 ($200) | Zen 2 | 6P | 12T | 3.6 / 4.2 | — | 65W | DDR4-3200 | 32MB |
| Ryzen 5 5500 | $159 | Zen 3 — Cezanne | 6P | 12T | 3.6 / 4.2 | — | 65W | DDR4-3200 | 16MB |
| Ryzen 5 4600G (APU) | $154 | Zen 2 — Renoir | 6P | 12T | 3.7 / 4.2 | — | 65W | DDR4-3200 | 8MB |
| Core i3-12100 / F | $122 — $97 (F) | Alder Lake | 4P+0E | 4C/8T | 3. 3 / 4.3 |
— | 60W / 89W | DDR4/5-3200/4800 | 12MB |
The Ryzen 5 5600 and 5500 have drastically different designs, but there are a few commonalities. Like their more full-fledged counterparts, both chips come with a bundled Wraith Stealth cooler that is sufficient for stock operation. They also support up to DDR4-3200 memory. In addition, these chips are fully unlocked for overclocking the CPU cores, memory, and fabric. In contrast, Intel’s non-K models only support memory overclocking, and the company’s nonsensical decision to keep certain voltages locked restricts DDR4 overclocking headroom.
The $199 Ryzen 5 5600 is a new Vermeer model, meaning it comes with the standard chiplet-based Zen 3 architecture. This chip is the long-awaited and badly-needed ‘non-X’ version of the Ryzen 5 5600X, so it shares the same feature set, albeit with reduced clocks. The 5600 has a 3.5 GHz base and 4.
4 GHz boost, so you’re only losing 200 MHz for the base and boost clock rate compared to the 5600X. This chip will grapple with Intel’s popular Core i5-12400.
For its lowest-end Zen 3 chip, the $159 Ryzen 5 5500 finds AMD employing a new tactic of repurposing its monolithic (single-chip) Cezanne silicon that it typically uses for APUs, but the company has disabled the chip’s integrated Radeon Vega graphics engine. This six-core 12-thread chip slots in to compete with Intel’s graphics-less $167 Core i5-12400F.
Aside from the disabled iGPU, the 5500 has the same design as the Ryzen 5 5600G, including support for PCIe 3.0 instead of PCIe 4.0. As a result, this chip will make a great pairing for older, lower-end AM4 motherboards (you definitely don’t want to pay for functionality you don’t need by pairing it with a PCIe 4.0-supporting motherboard).
The 5500 is very similar to the 5600G that has the same architecture, but an active iGPU — there’s only a 200 MHz difference in CPU base/boost clock rates between the two chips.
Like its counterpart, the Ryzen 5 5500 also comes with 16MB of cache, half that of the chiplet-based Ryzen 5 5600 that has the same number of cores and threads. This will result in reduced performance in several workloads.
The Ryzen 5 5600 and Ryzen 5 5500 would make great pairings for inexpensive 300- and 400-series motherboards. These chips are already supported on 400-series boards, and as of AGESA version 1207, most 300-series motherboards will support Zen 3 Ryzen 5000 processors after a BIOS update (make sure the BIOS has AGESA 1207 or newer). AMD says that Ryzen 5000 support will vary by vendor, as will the timeline for new BIOS revisions. However, we should see the updates arrive in the April-May timeframe. Notably, these BIOS revisions will also include the fix for AMD’s fTPM stuttering issues. Let’s move on to the CPU benchmarks.
- MORE: Best CPUs for Gaming
- MORE: CPU Benchmark Hierarchy
- MORE: Zen 4 Ryzen 7000 All We Know
- MORE: How to Overclock a CPU
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The Non-X Factor
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Paul Alcorn is the Deputy Managing Editor for Tom’s Hardware US.
He writes news and reviews on CPUs, storage and enterprise hardware.
Intel Core i5 12600K review
Our Verdict
The Core i5 12600K is the best CPU for gaming in 2021. It’s faster than a Core i9 11900K, and brings with it support for the latest tech in DDR5 and PCIe 5.0. For that, I dare say it’s actually a great PC building deal in 2021.
For
- The best CPU for gaming in 2021
- Faster than the Core i9 11900K
- A more efficient Alder Lake chip
Against
- Still more power-hungry than Ryzen
- Doesn’t play nice with some games
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The Core i5 is the CPU that really matters for most gamers. It’s cheaper than a Core i7 or Core i9, but it still offers the fundamentals of what makes those chips great for gaming. With the Core i5 12600K, the first Core i5 of the Alder Lake generation, that’s no different, although that may be understating its abilities.
That’s because the Core i5 12600K is something even more impressive entirely: the equivalent of the top previous-gen chip in a package that’s almost half the price.
- We’re curating all the best Black Friday PC gaming deals right here
Yes, it only took one generation, and less than 12 months, for Intel to take its Core i9 performance and deliver it inside a Core i5 package.
The Core i5 12600K really is shockingly good, and since it’s not pushing to the very limit of what Alder Lake can deliver in a single die, it’s a more power savvy design than the Core i9 12900K , which makes for a more well-rounded processor for mid- to high-end builds.
The deeper you dive into the Core i5 12600K’s performance, the more you start to realise it’s the real star of the 12th Gen show. Or at least until the rest of the Alder Lake desktop chips show up sometime early next year.
But who knows what the Core i5 12400, or any other cheaper Alder Lake chip, may hold for us in the future. The Core i5 12600K is the best way to spend your budget on a gaming CPU today.
Specifications
(Image credit: Future)
What’s inside the Intel Core i5 12600K?
The Intel Core i5 12600K is a CPU in a 6+4 design, and what I mean by that is it has six Performance Cores (P-Cores) and four Efficient Cores (E-Cores). This complimentary design is due to the Alder Lake architecture’s new hybrid approach, which you can read up on in more detail in our Intel Core i9 12900K review , though I’ll lay out the basics here too.
Essentially, there are two different Core architectures powering most 12th Gen processors: Golden Cove and Gracemont.
The Golden Cove architecture aims to be something close to your traditional CPU core as we gamers would know it, built to excel at single-threaded performance and deliver high clock speeds. These are the P-Cores.
Core i5 12600K specs
Cores (P+E): 6+4
Threads: 16
L3 Cache (Smart Cache): 20MB
L2 Cache: 9.5MB
Max P-core Turbo frequency (GHz): 4.9
Max E-core Turbo frequency (GHz): 3.6
P-core base frequency (GHz): 3.7
E-core base frequency (GHz): 2.8
Unlocked: Yes
Graphics: UHD Graphics 770
Memory support (up to): DDR5 4800MT/s, DDR4 3200MT/s
Processor Base Power (W): 125
Maximum Turbo Power (W): 150
Retail price: $280 | £300
The Gracemont architecture is something Alder Lake borrows from Intel’s Atom lineup of low-power chips.
These are built to be efficient, and you can fit more of them onto a chip without taking up too much space. These are the E-Cores.
That’s dramatically underselling both architectures’ intricacies, but it helps explain the Core i5 12600K’s slightly obscure specs. This chip comes with six P-Cores and four E-Cores, as I have mentioned, which is actually a slight increase in overall core count over the Core i5 11600K . It’s also technically more physical cores than a Core i9 11900K , which as you’ll see when we get to the benchmarks, turns this Core i5 into an 11th Gen Core i9 killer.
Before we get to those juicy details, let’s cover off the remainder of the Core i5 12600K’s specs.
Both P-Core and E-Core share access to 20MB of Intel Smart Cache (L3), along with the integrated graphics onboard, which is the new UHD Graphics 770.
The Core i5 12600K sits just below the 5GHz mark on its P-Cores at stock frequencies, which means you’ll have to tweak it yourself to push it over that milestone.
That shouldn’t be a problem with Intel’s promise of overclocking headroom . Its E-Cores will reach 3.6GHz at their fastest, too. The P-Core base clock is actually higher on this model than the Core i9 12900K, however, at 3.7GHz.
The Processor Base Power (PBP) of the Core i5 12600K is 125W, the same as the entire Alder Lake desktop CPU lineup to date. You might be wondering why it’s PBP and not TDP, and that’s because Intel has done away with TDP altogether for the 12th Gen. Instead, you’ll see PBP reference what used to roughly be the TDP of Intel’s processors, and a new Turbo Boost Power (TBP) mark the maximum draw of these chips during certain workloads. In the Core i5 12600K’s case, that TBP is 150W.
The price of the Core i5 12600K is recommended around $289–$299 on Intel’s own website, although that’s traditionally not been the price you’ll see as a customer on the shelves without discount. Newegg has the Core i5 12600K for sale at $319.99 instead, which is more likely going to be the buying price for this processor for a while.
Something slightly tangential to the specification of this chip, but definitely worth mentioning, is that Intel recommends using Windows 11 with these processors to get the most out of them. That comes down to that hybrid architecture and something Intel calls the Thread Director, which helps the OS schedule posts with greater granularity as to what’s going on. Though it does mean that with this chip you’ll probably be using an OS that we’re not entirely happy to recommend today .
And another thing, since this is a brand new 12th Gen chip with a brand new 12th Gen socket (LGA 1700), you’ll need a new motherboard to plug the Core i5 12600K into. That means a Z690 motherboard today, and could mean you have to spend a little more money on it than you might want for a more mid-range or budget-savvy build. We’re expecting cheaper chipsets next year, though, so if you’re happy to wait, I believe the market will come to you.
In the meantime, one way to save cash would be to grab a DDR4-compatible motherboard and save on your memory kit, instead of purchasing a DDR5-compatible board and buying the latest, greatest DDR5 RAM available.
It is quick, though.
Benchmarks
(Image credit: Future)
How does the Intel Core i5 12600K perform?
It’s no secret now that the Intel Core i5 12600K is one helluva gaming chip. The single-threaded performance of the Golden Cove P-Cores means it blasts through most of our benchmarking suite with relative ease, and only just falls behind the Core i9 12900K in a few games.
Most impressively is how it dominates the Core i9 11900K in games (and more, but we’ll get to that). The Core i5 12600K is ahead of the Core i9 11900K in every gaming benchmark we’ve run, and far, far ahead of AMD’s Ryzen 5 5600X , which is its all-important competition at this moment.
Image 1 of 6
(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)
PC Gamer 12th Gen test rig: Asus ROG Maximus Z690 Hero, Corsair Dominator @ 5,200MHz (effective), Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, 1TB WD Black SN850 PCIe 4.
0, Asus ROG Ryujin II 360, NZXT 850W, DimasTech Mini V2, Windows 11
PC Gamer 11th Gen test rig: MSI MPG Z490 Carbon WiFi, Corsair Vengeance Pro RGB @ 3,600MHz (effective), Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, 1TB WD Black SN850 PCIe 4.0, Asus ROG Ryujin II 360, NZXT 850W, DimasTech Mini V2, Windows 11
PC Gamer AMD test rig: Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master, Thermaltake DDR4 @ 3,600MHz, Zadak Spark AIO, 2TB Sabrent Rocket PCIe 4.0, Corsair 850W, Windows 11
There was one pause for me in the Core i9 12600K’s benchmarking, however, and that’s when it came to Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. This game simply will not boot on either of our Intel Alder Lake test systems, and it’s an ongoing issue (likely related to the DRM issues Intel has officially confirmed with Alder Lake) that Intel has told me it is looking into, with Ubisoft’s help.
For all the gains the hybrid Alder Lake architecture seems to be handing the Core i5 12600K, then, it’s also causing some launch day trouble.
Onwards from gaming and let’s not forget the productivity and multithreaded performance on offer here, which will help with all your creative application needs.
Image 1 of 4
(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)
The Core i5 12600K crushes the Core i9 11900K in multithreaded testing. The same goes for the Ryzen 5 5600X. Perhaps that’s not that surprising, considering it does have more physical cores than both chips, but I have to say it’s surprising to see those E-Cores really making waves when it comes to multithreaded workloads. The Core i9 11900K actually has as many threads as the Core i5 12600K, but they’re no match for the real deal on die. At least not a 12th Gen die, anyways.
It’s impressive enough beating the Ryzen 5 5600X, which is a chip we’re very fond of here, but it’s another thing altogether for this chip to run circles around the Core i9 11900K. And we’re not done yet, if you look at the Core i5 12600K’s CPU package power, it’s a far less power-hungry processor than the Core i9 11900K, and more efficient by some margin despite crushing its performance.
Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)
It’s still not quite a match for AMD’s Ryzen 5 5600X, and only a little more efficient than the 16-core Ryzen 9 5950X, which is saying something about the overall efficiency of Zen 3 and AMD’s Ryzen 5000-series. That’s the same story with the high-end Core i9 12900K, too, Intel just can’t seem to nail down the efficiency that AMD is able to deliver.
Generally, though, the Core i5 12600K is a fantastic gaming chip through and through, and I think it’s a prime example of what Intel can deliver when it’s not chasing AMD’s coat tails. It’s roughly priced the same as AMD’s chip, perhaps a touch pricier in practice, but it offers an entirely different class of performance with reasonable power demands.
Analysis
(Image credit: Future)
What does the Intel Core i5 12600K mean for PC gaming?
AMD has its work cut out following the release of the Core i5 12600K, and that’s great news for PC builders.
Intel’s mid-range hasn’t felt at quite such a loss as its high-end chips these past generations, with chips such as the Core i5 11600K being one of our favourites in recent years, but the Core i5 12600K really takes those agreeable Core i5 qualities and turns them up to 11. Or rather, 12.
Also in as much as the Intel Core i5 12600K isn’t only a mighty chip on its own, it’s the keys to a whole next-gen platform. DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 SSDs are all a little more affordable for the Core i5 12600K’s clever balance of price and performance, and that makes the entire 12th Gen platform a little more digestible if you’re not prepared to spend thousands of dollars.
There is still the question of platform costs, which will play into AMD’s favour, at least for a little while. So maybe AMD isn’t quite shaking at the thought of the Core i5 12600K just yet, especially as AMD should have plenty to come back at Intel with in the new year, by the looks of it.
Yet in offering the same performance, if not better, for nearly half the cost of the top processor launched in this same year—Rocket Lake came out in 2021, people—Intel has really won me over with the Core i5 12600K.
Verdict
(Image credit: Future)
Should you buy an Intel Core i5 12600K?
The Core i5 12600K is the best CPU for gaming right now, if you’re in any way a sensible person. I’m not a sensible person and I’d want the Core i9 12900K or Ryzen 9 5950X just because, but if you really boil it down to price to performance, performance per watt, and sense check yourself for just a moment, the Core i5 12600K is the chip on top.
There’s some glimmer of hope that Intel may be able to deliver enough of this chip for its price to stick around, and that means we might finally have a piece of gaming hardware that actually feels like you’re getting a good deal.
With the state of graphics cards right now, even suggesting that feels wrong. But it’s true, the Core i5 12600K is a good deal. With some decently priced Z690 motherboards, it might even be a great deal for a gaming PC build. And that’s a PC that can offer high-end frame rates with the right graphics card—this is a suitably high-end chip masquerading as a mid-range hero, and doing a great job of it.
Perhaps the Core i5 12600KF is my actual pick for the best CPU for gaming today as it’s theoretically going to sit as the cheaper of the two. However, if you do decide to pick up either of the two, presumably whichever you can find for cheaper, you wouldn’t be putting a foot wrong.
Read our review policy
Core i5-12600K
The Core i5 12600K is the best CPU for gaming in 2021. It’s faster than a Core i9 11900K, and brings with it support for the latest tech in DDR5 and PCIe 5.0. For that, I dare say it’s actually a great PC building deal in 2021.
Jacob earned his first byline writing for his own tech blog from his hometown in Wales in 2017. From there, he graduated to professionally breaking things as hardware writer at PCGamesN, where he would later win command of the kit cupboard as hardware editor. Nowadays, as senior hardware editor at PC Gamer, he spends his days reporting on the latest developments in the technology and gaming industry.
When he’s not writing about GPUs and CPUs, however, you’ll find him trying to get as far away from the modern world as possible by wild camping.
2022 Intel and AMD
When shopping for the best gaming processor, you need to balance performance and features with your PC’s budget. Our tips and choices below will help you choose the best processor for gaming.
If you’re looking for the best mid-range processor for gaming, the six-core, 12-thread Alder Lake Core i5-12400 is the chip for you. When tuned properly, it’s even faster in games than the previous generation flagship Core i9-11900K, so it goes without saying that it’s also faster than the Ryzen 5 5600X. It also delivers a compelling combination of single-threaded and multi-threaded performance, making it the best choice for budget gaming processors.
02/24/2022 Update
New generation AMD and Intel processors have been added to the rating.
If you’re looking for the fastest gaming chips on the market, you need to take a look at the Core i9-12900K and Core i5-12600K.
The Intel Core i9-12900K delivers incredible levels of multi-threaded performance, often rivaling or outperforming the Ryzen 9 5950X but at a much lower price. However, the Core i7-12700K offers almost the same gaming performance as the flagship Core i9.-12900K but cheaper. The 12900K offers extra cores and extra speed for those looking for ultimate performance, but the Core i7-12700K is a well-rounded chip that delivers an impressive price/performance ratio for both gaming and apps.
The Intel Core i5-12600K is the best gaming processor in its price range. The 12600K delivers 38% more multi-threaded performance than the Ryzen 5 5600X and 7% more than the Ryzen 7 5800X. Meanwhile, the Core i3-12100 is the best budget processor on the market with an excellent price/performance ratio.
The AMD Ryzen 7 5700G and Ryzen 5 5600G APUs have the fastest integrated GPUs on the market, delivering nearly twice the performance of an Intel iGPU. The Ryzen 5 5600G is the best value for money, with performance that is within 4% of the Ryzen 7 5700G but 30% cheaper.
The Ryzen 5600G could also be a stop-gap solution for enthusiasts who can’t find a reasonably priced graphics card during a time of severe GPU shortages.
1
Intel Core i5-12600k
as a whole The best processor for games
Sent type: Box, OEM
SOCKET: LGA1700
Number of nuclei: 10 x 3700-4900 MHz
L2/l3: 9.50 MB/20 MB
RAM: 2 x DDR4, DDR5 3200/4800 MHz
Heat release: 150 W
Integrated graphics: UHD Graphics 770 3200/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800/4800 MH0025 10 nm
The number of flows: 16
Processor core: Alder Lake-S
Game: Yes
Plus
- Excellent game performance
- Significant improvements of multi-dominated performance
- High energy efficiency
900 PCIe 5.
0 and DDR5
Cons
- No bundled cooler
- Requires LGA1700 motherboard
- Platform cost
The Core i5-12600K gaming processor provides leading gaming performance in its price range, outperforming the Ryzen 5 5600X at a slightly lower price point. The 12600K also offers 38% more multi-threaded performance than the Ryzen 5 5600X and even 7% more than the Ryzen 7 5800X. Combined with high single-threaded performance, this gaming chip is second to none. 9The 0003
12600K comes with six multi-threaded P cores running at 3.7/4.9GHz and four E cores running at 2.8/3.6GHz for a total of 16 threads. This is combined with 20MB of L3 cache and 9.5MB of L2 cache.
The chip supports 16 lanes of advanced PCIe 5.0 interface and an additional four lanes of PCIe 4.0 for a fast M.2 SSD port. However, the advanced connectivity doesn’t end there: the Core i5-12600K also supports DDR4 or DDR5 memory. Most gamers will like the lower price and comparable performance of DDR4, but you can upgrade to the more expensive DDR5 if you need access to more memory bandwidth.
9The 0003
12600K has a maximum power rating of 150W, but the chip consumes significantly less power than its previous generation counterpart while delivering much better gaming performance. The lower power consumption allows the chip to work well with a wide range of standard air and water coolers, but you’ll need to make sure your model supports the LGA 1700 socket.0 is currently the only option. You can find a wide variety of high end models that support DDR5 memory and although you will only find lower and mid-range DDR4 motherboards.
2
AMD Ryzen 5 5600x
In general, the best processor for games is an alternative choice
Type of delivery: BOX, OEM
SOCKET: AM4
6 x 3700 — 4600 MHz
L2/L3 cache size: 3 MB/32 MB
RAM: 2 x DDR4 3200 MHz
Heating: 65 W
Integrated graphics: no
Technician: 7 nm
Lumber Zen 3
Gaming: yes
Pros
- Powerful gaming performance
- Strong in single and multi-threaded workloads
- Cools relatively easily
- PCIE 4.
0 - Complete cooler
- Energy efficiency
- works with existing motherboards of the series 500
Mine
- 9000 performance in both games and applications. The six-core, 12-thread chip costs more than the previous generation counterpart, but provides more than enough extra performance in games and applications to justify the difference. Ryzen 5 5600X even outperforms Intel Core i9-10900K in games, which is an incredible achievement considering its price. Not to mention, it’s the most energy efficient desktop processor out there.
AMD Zen 3 microarchitecture results in a staggering 19% increase in IPC for a smooth ride in terms of performance in games, single-threaded and multi-threaded applications. In fact, the chip is broadly on par with the gaming performance of its more expensive sibling, the Ryzen 7 5800X. This makes the 5600X an incredibly versatile chip that can handle any type of game, from competitive class performance with high refresh rate monitors to streaming, while also delivering more than enough performance for everyday application workloads.
The Ryzen 5 5600X has a base clock of 3.7GHz and a boost clock of 4.6GHz, but with the right cooling and motherboard, you can expect higher short-term boosts. The chip also has a TDP rating of 65W, which means it runs exceptionally cool and quiet considering its capabilities (the previous generation model was 95W). Existing owners of AMD 500 series motherboards will breathe a sigh of relief as they are compatible. You can also insert chips into 400 series motherboards.
3
Intel Core i9-12900k
The most powerful gaming processor
Delivery type: Box, OEM
SOCKET: LGA1700
Number of nuclei: 16 x 3200-5200 MHzL2/ volume L2/ volume L2/ L3: 14 MB/30 MB
RAM: 2 x DDR4, DDR5 3200/4800 MHz
Heating: 241 W
Integrated graphics: UHD Graphics 770 3200/4800 MHz
TECHTOM
Number of flows: 24
Processor core: Alder Lake-S
Game: YesPlus
- Huge growth of multi-core performance
- The most powerful gaming processor
- 2 is very good
- Future proof with PCIe 5.
0 and DDR5
Cons
- Expensive
- High peak temperature
- Only slightly better than the i5 for gaming
The Intel Core i9-12900K is the fastest gaming processor on the planet. It outperforms the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X in gaming and even in multi-threaded content creation tasks, making it exceptionally beneficial for high-end game streaming. It’s also the undisputed leader in x86 single-threaded performance. The
12900K supports advanced connectivity with support for DDR4-3200 or up to DDR5-4800 memory as well as 16 PCIe 5.0 lanes and an additional four PCIe 4.0 lanes from the M.2 SSD chip.
The chip comes with eight hyper-threading P-cores and eight single-threaded E-cores, for a total of 24 threads. P-cores have a base frequency of 3.2GHz and peak frequencies reach 5.2GHz with Turbo Boost Max 3.0 (this feature is only active on P-cores). Meanwhile, the E-cores have a base frequency of 2.4GHz and can be boosted up to 3.
9GHz with standard Turbo Boost 2.0 algorithms. The chip is equipped with 30MB L3 cache and 14MB L2 cache. This 12900K is rated at 125W PBP (base) and 241W MTP (peak), but its power consumption is lower than its previous generation counterpart and you get industry-leading performance in return.
You will need to buy a powerful chip cooler as well as a new 600 series motherboard. You can find a wide variety of high-end motherboards that support DDR5 memory, and while you’ll only find lower to mid-range DDR4 motherboards, there’s still plenty to choose from. Most gamers will like the lower price and comparable performance of DDR4, but you can upgrade to the more expensive DDR5 if you need access to more memory bandwidth.
4
AMD RYZEN 9 5950X
The best processor for games with high performance-Alternative choice
Type of delivery: BOX, OEM
SOCKET: AM4
Number Number: 16 x 3400-4900 MHz
Construction L2/L3: 8MB/64MB
RAM: 2 x DDR4 3200MHz
TDP: 105W
Integrated Graphics: no
Process technology: 26 95 nm0024 Number of flows: 32
Processor core: VERMEER
Game: YesPlus
- The best in its class 16 nuclei and 32 flows
- Energy rational price
9000 9000 PCIe Gen 4.
0
Cons
- Requires powerful cooling
- No cooler included
- High price
- No integrated graphics
High-end desktop processors have long been offering top performance if you’re willing to pay the price. In addition to the high suggested retail prices, the chips also require other expensive hardware, such as powerful motherboards and the additional cost of fully populating quad-channel memory controllers.
The 16-core, 32-thread AMD Ryzen 9 5950X expands on its predecessors’ mission of delivering HEDT-class performance to mainstream motherboards while lowering the bar for entry. Price 5950X is quite affordable compared to competing HEDT processors that don’t offer the same class of performance.
We generally do not recommend HEDT processors to enthusiasts who are only interested in gaming. Gamers are best suited for conventional processors (with fewer cores and higher clock speeds), which often run faster in games.
The Ryzen 9 5950X falls into the same category — AMD’s lower end 5000 series models are more value for money for gamers. However, if you want a chip and platform that can do some serious work very quickly, yet be nimble enough to deliver high refresh rates for your gaming experience at the end of the day, Ryzen 9The 5950X fits the bill like no other processor before it.
5
Intel Core i7-12700k
The best processor for games in price/quality ratio
SOCKET: LGA1700
Number: 12 x 3600-5000 MHz
Cache volume: L2/L3 12/L3 12/L3 12/L3 12/L3 12/L3 12/ MB/25MB
RAM: 2 x DDR4, DDR5 3200/4800MHz
Thermal: 190W
0026 Technician: 10 Nm
Number of flows: 20
CUDERARY COMPLEDER: Alder Lake-S
Plus
- Complete game performance 12900K
- A and multi-track performance in the Class gaming performance
- PCIe 5.
0 and DDR5 memory - Overclockable
- Improved energy efficiency
Cons
- No bundled cooler
- Platform cost
- Uses more power than Ryzen
At its price, the 12700K processor completely outperforms the Ryzen 7 5800X and even outshifts the expensive Ry9X5 gaming performance as well as the fastest gaming chip on the planet, Intel’s own flagship Core i9-12900K.
At 1080p gaming, the Core i7-12700K is an impressive 12% faster than the Ryzen 7 5800X and 7.5% faster than the Ryzen 95900X, which holds the title of AMD’s fastest gaming chip. In low thread count applications, the 12700K is about 17% faster than the 5800X and 5900X. In multi-threaded work, the Core i7-12700K is 2.5% faster than the Ryzen 9 5900X, although the 5900X wins in multi-threaded applications. The Ryzen 7 5800X doesn’t even come close to competing with it — the 12700K is 40% faster in multi-threaded work.
The
Core i7-12700K is the same price as the previous generation Core i7-11700K but has 33% more threads.
The Core i7-12700K has eight P (high performance) cores and four E (efficiency) cores for a total of 20 threads. P-cores operate at a base/boost frequency of 3.6/5.0 GHz, and E-cores weigh at 2.7/3.8 GHz. In addition, the chip is powered by 25MB L3 cache and 12MB L2 cache. 9The 0003
12900K also supports advanced connectivity with support for DDR4-3200 or up to DDR5-4800 memory, as well as 16 PCIe 5.0 lanes and an additional four PCIe 4.0 lanes from the M.2 SSD chip. The 12700K is rated at 125W PBP (base) and 190W MTP (peak). However, it has lower power consumption than its previous generation counterpart, and in return you get super-competitive performance.
You will need to buy a powerful chip cooler as well as a new 600 series motherboard. You can find a wide variety of high-end motherboards that support DDR5 memory, and while you’ll only find lower to mid-range DDR4 motherboards, there’s still plenty to choose from. Most gamers will like the lower price and comparable performance of DDR4, but you can upgrade to the more expensive DDR5 if you need access to more memory bandwidth.
6
AMD RYZEN 9 5900X
The best processor for Games Price/Quality-Alternative choice
SOCKET: AM4
Number Number: 12 x 3700-4800 MHz
Cache volume: L2/L3 6/L3 6/L3 6/L3 6 MB/64 MB
RAM: 2 x DDR4 3200 MHz
Heating: 105 W
Technician: 7 nm
Number of flows: 24
Processor ker0003
- Support PCIE 4.0
- Compatibility with motherboards of the series 500
- Excellent game performance
- Great and multi-flow performance
9007
If you’re really only interested in the best gaming CPU and basic performance tasks, you should go for the Ryzen 5 5600X and save some money. But if you’re looking for the unparalleled fastest gaming chip on the market, or thinking about game streaming, occasional video editing, or just wanting to have more streams available when you need them, AMD Ryzen 95900X is the right choice.
The 12-core, 24-thread Ryzen 9 5900X is rated at 3.7GHz base clock and 4.8GHz boost that can be overclocked to 5.0GHz. The 5900X offers unmatched gaming performance — it’s the undisputed gaming chip on the market, but it’s a little overkill if gaming is all you do. However, if you feel the need for speed in your workloads, this chip’s 12 cores will handle those workloads with a bang.
Also has PCIe 4.0 support and overclocking capability. Ryzen 9The 5900X fits on existing 500 and 400 series motherboards. You will need your own cooler, the bigger the better — cooling definitely affects the performance of Ryzen 5000 processors.
7
Games
SOCKET: LGA1700
Number: 6 x 2500-4400 MHz
Cache volume: L3 7.50 MB/18 MB
RAM: 2 x DDR4, DDR5 3200/4800 MHz
Heating: 117 W
Integrated graphics: UHD Graphics 730 3200/4800 MHz
Technician: 10 Nm
Number of flows: Protes of processor: ALRAKS-SETS: ALRAKS-ST Excellent gaming performance
0 and DDR5 memory Cons
- Requires LGA1700 motherboard
If you’re looking for the best mid-range processor for gaming, the six-core 12-thread Alder Lake Core i5-12400 is your chip. When properly configured, it’s even faster in games than the flagship Core i9-11900K of the previous generation, so it goes without saying that it’s also faster than the Ryzen 5 5600X in games.
The chip comes with six hyper-threaded P-cores running at a base frequency of 2.5GHz and a boost frequency of 4.4GHz. The 12400 supports advanced connectivity with support for DDR4-3200 or up to DDR5-4800 memory as well as 16 PCIe 5.0 lanes and an additional four PCIe 4.0 lanes from the M.2 SSD chip.
The Core i5-12400 delivers consistent performance across all multi-threaded applications, and its fast single-thread performance outperforms even the fastest Ryzen 5000 processors. In addition, the Core i5-12400 delivers incredible levels of gaming performance, but at a much lower price than any comparable AMD processor, setting a new benchmark for budget gaming chips.
The
i5-12400 comes with a powerful cooler capable of handling 65W/117W base/peak power, but you’ll also need a new 600 series motherboard. Most gamers will like the lower price and comparable DDR4 performance, but you can upgrade to a more expensive one DDR5 if you need access to more memory bandwidth. Luckily, Intel partners now have B and H series motherboards, and the B660 motherboard and Core i5-12400 processor make for a killer gaming combo.
8
Intel Core i3-12100
BEFTICAL BEST processor for games
SOCKET: LGA1700
Number Number: 4 x 3300-4300 MHz
Cache: L2/L3 5 MB/12 MB/12 Mb
RAM: 2 x DDR4, DDR5 3200/4800 MHz
Heating: 89 W
Integrated graphics: UHD Graphics 730 3200/4800 MHz
Technician: 10 Nm 0026 Processor core: Alder Lake-S
Plus
- Price/performance ratio
- Best Game and Single-Treat performance
- Powerful Complex
-
9000 9000 PCIE and DDR5 PCIE and DDR5 PCIE and DDR5 Low power consumption
- Supports memory overclocking
Cons
- No Turbo Boost 3.
0 (2.0 only) - Core clock not overclocking
Like the rest of the Alder Lake family, the Core i3-12100 hits the market at a revolutionary price point. The chip is also available in the F-series Core i3-12100F, which Intel ships with integrated graphics disabled and at a lower price than the full-featured model. In fact, with no clear current-gen competitor from AMD and stellar performance for its price point, the Core i3-12100 easily leads its price segment CPU tests.
9The 0002 Core i3-12100 is now considered the fastest budget gaming processor on the market, and it also impresses in low-threaded applications: no AMD chip can match the 12100 in single-threaded work. The Core i3-12100 also impresses with multi-threaded workloads for its price.
The
Core i3-12100 comes rated at 60W PBP (base) and 89W MTP (peak). The chip operates at a base frequency of 3.3 GHz and can be boosted up to 4.3 GHz. It also comes with 12MB L3 cache. Intel Alder Lake installed on Socket 1700 motherboards from the 600 series, including the Z690, H670, B660 and H610. The Core i3-12100 is a locked chip, meaning it cannot be overclocked. However, Intel supports memory overclocking on Z690, B660 and H670 motherboards (however, Z690 doesn’t make sense for this class of chips).
The Core i3-12100 has no equivalent price competitor from AMD. However, despite the complete lack of competition, it still delivers impressive generational productivity gains. In fact, when gaming at 1080p, the Core i3-12100 provides 88% of the performance of the Core i5-12400, but is 56% cheaper. It’s a winning combination of price and performance.
9,0003
AMD RYZEN 5 5600G
The best level processor for games
SOCKET: AM4
Number Number: 6 x 3900-4400 MHz
volume of cache: L2/L3 3 MB/16 MB/16 MB/16 MB
RAM: 2 x DDR4 3200 MHz
Heating: 65 W
Integrated graphics: Radeon Graphics 3200 MHz
Technician: 7 Nm
Luminous
0024 Processor core: CEZANNE
PLASS
- Excellent price ratio
- FAST NECURAS Zen 3
- Toleen 1080p, confident 720p
- Excellent energy consumption and efficiency
- Included cooler
- Compatible with some AM4 motherboards
.
Cons
- PCIe 3.0 connection
The Ryzen 5 5600G enters the market during the biggest GPU shortage in history, so many users will switch to this chip and use its powerful integrated graphics for gaming until GPU prices drop. The Ryzen 5 5600G also fulfills this requirement, entering the arena as the new value champion for APUs, which are chips with integrated graphics powerful enough that they don’t need a discrete GPU for light gaming, albeit with reduced performance.
The Ryzen 5 5600G delivers 96% gaming performance on integrated graphics than its more expensive sibling, the Ryzen 7 5700G, but 30% cheaper. This makes it the best APU on the market. As long as you’re willing to sacrifice fidelity and resolution to keep your expectations in check, the Vega Ryzen 5 5600G graphics deliver surprisingly good gaming performance. The Vega 5600G graphics deliver comparatively excellent 1280×720 performance in many games, but the performance becomes more limited at 1080p. Sure, you can play games at 1080p, but you’ll have to severely limit your fidelity settings for most games.
With eight cores and 16 threads running at a base frequency of 3.9GHz and boosting to 4.4GHz, the Ryzen 5 5600G processor also offers good performance for its price in standard desktop applications. The chip comes bundled with a Wraith Stealth cooler, which makes it more attractive, and is installed on existing 500-series and some 400-series motherboards, although support for the latter varies by vendor.
How to choose the best gaming processor?
When choosing the best gaming processor, consider the following:
AMD or Intel? Lately, Intel tends to make the best processors for mainstream PCs. But as long as you’re looking at the details of the current generation, arguing about performance is mostly pointless, especially when it comes to gaming.
For gaming, clock speed is more important than the number of cores. Higher CPU clock speeds translate into faster performance in simple, common tasks like gaming, and more cores will help you handle time-consuming workloads faster. After all, the fastest processors of any family have the highest clock speeds.
Total system budget. Don’t pair a powerful processor with weak storage, RAM, and graphics.
Overclocking is not for everyone. If you just want to play, it might make sense to spend a little more and buy a higher-end chip rather than spend money on a more expensive cooler.
- The best graphics cards for gaming and work
- The best gaming headsets
- The best gaming controllers for PC
- The best gaming microphones
The best gaming processors for gaming. What to choose Intel or AMD?
Buying a gaming processor is now not as difficult as it used to be. With AMD Ryzen 5000-series processors and 12th Gen Intel Core processors offering more performance and core count than ever before, it’s hard to pick a bad gaming processor these days, especially because that most PC games prioritize powerful graphics cards over CPU power.
All of which goes to show that there are certain CPU processors that stand out from many other top gaming processors due to their price, performance, or excellent price/performance ratio.
Whether you’re on a budget or willing to pay for incredible chip speed, here are the best gaming PC processors you can find on the market.
Best gaming processor for most purposes
Intel Core i5-12600K
Intel Core i5 CPUs are the ultimate solution for gamers. In fact, if you don’t need the extra cores of the more expensive processor options, this class of chips offers pretty much the same gaming experience as processors that cost hundreds of dollars more. The main question for many gamers is which brand of processor to choose: Intel or AMD? The answer is complex.
In pure performance terms, the new 10-core, 16-thread Intel Core i5-12600K processor definitely outperforms the 6-core, 12-thread AMD Ryzen 5 5600X processor in multi-core tasks and office productivity.
It also wins in PC games, although the difference between them is not so huge: in our test set of eight games, the Intel Core i5 processor scored four wins and two draws, while the AMD Ryzen 5 chip scored a couple of decent wins. All in all, the Core i5-12600K is definitely the chip we’d recommend to most people, but there’s one caveat.
Both are great processors for gaming and high performance, and both cost around $300, but AMD’s Ryzen 5000 series has been available for over a year, so the motherboard stack that surrounds it is fully developed. Right now you can easily buy budget or mainstream models of AMD AM4 500 series motherboards. In turn, Intel released Alder Lake with two Z690-class motherboards, which are still at a high price. If you decide to choose one with advanced DDR5 memory support, the total cost of ownership of such a system will be even higher.
If the cost of maintaining a computer is more important than high performance, the lower overall cost of an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X platform with a mainstream AMD H-series motherboard and DDR4 memory might be your best bet—at least until more affordable Intel motherboards will not hit the market.
Best High-Performance Gaming Processor
Intel Core i9-12900K
Today’s six-core Core i5 and AMD Ryzen 5 gaming processors provide almost the same level of gaming performance as more expensive processors, with a few exceptions.
You only need to upgrade to a high-end gaming processor if you need more cores for a variety of performance tasks, eight cores for streaming, or if you’re building a gaming PC with an eye on the future, or simply if you need the highest potential frame rate in any situation.
If you’re looking for top performance, the $650-$700 Intel Core i9-12900K is the best gaming processor in the world for pure frame rates, losing that title to the ferocious Ryzen 95950X from AMD. The 16-core, 32-thread Ryzen chip costs $750, and it manages to outperform Intel’s 16-core, 24-thread processor in some performance tasks because the Core chip uses a radical new mix of high-end and high-performance cores. But when it comes to raw gaming, the cheaper Core i9-12900K takes the lead without a doubt. Keep in mind that you will also have to buy the latest (namely, expensive DDR5 memory) in order to fully exploit the potential of this beast, even though some Z69 motherboards0 support installed (read: not so expensive) DDR4. The $550 AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
is another solid option that offers high frame rates, but when you realize that paying that much for a 12-core chip doesn’t make sense and your goal is only gaming.
If you just want ultra-fast frame rates in games and don’t need an insane amount of CPU cores to be productive, consider the inferior Core i7-12700K and Ryzen 7 5800X as well. Each costs roughly $450, with street prices varying somewhat, offering 12 and 8 cores respectively. Either would be a great option for people looking to build a balanced PC for work and play as the Intel chip is better suited for pure gaming, though again DDR5 and Z69 motherboards0 may increase the overall platform cost for Intel chips until they become more mainstream.
Best Budget Gaming Processor
AMD Ryzen 5600G
Now is not the best time to build a budget gaming PC with very few processors priced below $200.
Intel and AMD prioritized higher-end processors, and neither side offered affordable Core i3 or Ryzen 3 processors in their most recent lineups. Due to the scarcity of some processors in the market, you won’t even be able to easily find AMD’s latest generation Ryzen 3 3100 or 3300X processors right now.
All is not lost, however. GPUs are now sometimes even more difficult to find than processors. If you’re looking to build a new gaming PC from scratch and don’t have a graphics card yet, check out the $260 AMD Ryzen 5 5600G or $360 Ryzen 7 5700G processors. Yes, they are not exactly budget processors. But instead of being simple processors, these «APUs» come with amazingly good Radeon graphics cores built into the chip, which means you can play most games at 720p or 1080p. It’s like an entry-level processor and graphics card in one device.
So the AMD Ryzen 5 5600G offers 6 cores and 12 threads paired with 7 Radeon graphics cores clocked at 1.9GHz. There’s also an upgraded version of the 5700G that even pushes that number up to 8 cores and 16 threads, along with 8 Radeon cores running at 2GHz.
Most buyers on a budget would be better off opting for the cheaper part, unless you have a specific performance-related reason to opt for more CPU cores in a Ryzen 7 chip.
Do you already have a graphics card and just need a processor? You’ll want to turn to previous generation Intel components, at least until (unless) the Core i3-12400 rumors pop up. Your best bet is the $173 Core i3-10400F or the $198 Core i3-11400F. Both offer 6 cores and 12 threads. Intel’s 11th gen «Rocket Lake» chips don’t provide much of a performance improvement over 10th gen chips, so feel free to pick the 10400F if you’re on a budget. However, you’ll want to ditch the bundled cooler and opt for a cheap third-party option to get the best performance out of these chips.
