Benchmark Comparison
The Ryzen 9 5900X: 12 Cores at $549
Squaring off against Intel’s best consumer grade processor is the Ryzen 9 5900X, with 12 cores and 24 threads, offering a base frequency of 3700 MHz and a turbo frequency of 4800 MHz (4950 MHz was observed). This processor is enabled through two six-core chiplets, but all the cache is still enabled at 32 MB per chiplet (64 MB total). The 5900X also has the same TDP as the 3900X/3900XT it replaces at 105 W.
At $549, it is priced $50 higher than the processor it replaces, which means that for the extra 10% cost it will have to showcase that it can perform at least 10% better.
The Ryzen 7 5800X: 8 Cores at $449
After AMD showcased a quad core processor under $100 in the last generation, it takes a lot of chutzpah to offer an eight core processor for $449 – AMD stands by its claims that this processor offers substantial generational performance improvements. The new AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, with eight cores and sixteen threads, is set to go up against Intel’s Core i7-10700K, also an eight core / sixteen thread processor.
The Ryzen 7 5800X has a base frequency of 3800 MHz and a rated turbo frequency of 4700 MHz (we detected 4825 MHz), and uses a single eight-core chiplet with a total 32 MB of L3 cache. The single core chiplet has some small benefits over a dual chiplet design where some cross-CPU communication is needed, and that comes across in some of our very CPU-limited gaming benchmarks. This processor also has 105 W TDP (~142 W peak).
The Ryzen 5 5600X: 6 Cores for $299
The cheapest processor that AMD is releasing today is the Ryzen 5 5600X, but it is also the only one that comes with a CPU cooler in box. The Ryzen 5 5600X has six cores and twelve threads, running at a base frequency of 3700 MHz and a peak turbo of 4600 MHz (4650 MHz measured), and is the only CPU to be given a TDP of 65 W (~88 W peak).
The single chiplet design means 32 MB of L3 cache total (technically it’s still the same that a single core can access as the Ryzen 9 parts, more on that later), and will be put up against Intel’s six-core Core i5-10600K, which also retails in a similar ballpark. .