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The new, lower-priced Ryzen 5 5600 and Ryzen 7 5700X SKUs are necessary additions to the marketplace for AMD to even consider competing against Intel’s impressive Core i5 SKUs.
In general, the £180 Ryzen 5 5600 looks to be a reasonable enough processor. It is marginally but insignificantly slower than the £30 more expensive Ryzen 5 5600X, and its performance versus the £165 Core i5-12400F is very reasonable, workload dependent.
For gaming, though, we’d argue that Intel’s Core i5-12400F is better thanks to its higher 1% low FPS figures, in general. With that said, our Ryzen 5 5600 could be overclocked to 4.8GHz, and that should open up a performance gain over Intel’s multiplier-locked chip, as seen in our Cinebench numbers.
Coupled with advantageous value for the AM4 platform – particularly to upgraders – and we feel like the Ryzen 5 5600 is a good value addition that should tick many boxes for budget buyers. For those building an entirely new system, the head-to-head between a Core i5-12400F and B660 motherboard and a Ryzen 5 5600 and B550 motherboard is a tougher comparison.
My overarching feeling for the Ryzen 7 5700X is that it is simply too little, too late to compete with the Core i5-12600K. In fact, even the value proposition versus the Ryzen 7 5800X is questionable, unless you are happy to manually overclock or use Precision Boost Overdrive.
New system builders should opt for the Core i5-12600K; it is a faster processor in productivity tasks, it is consistently better in gaming, it runs on a more advanced (and more expensive platform), and it also has some overclocking headroom.
For those already on the AM4 platform wanting a quick-and-easy, drop-in upgrade, the Ryzen 7 5700X is fine. But the Core i5-12600K is a better processor to the point where one might start to wonder whether upgrading to a new B660 motherboard and that Intel chip is actually worth the hassle for the extra performance and features it delivers.
The Ryzen 7 5700X priced the same as a Core i5-12600K feels like AMD trying to cash in on current AM4 users who want a simple upgrade. And I don’t personally like that pricing tactic, nor do I think it works well here.
To finish up this one, the Ryzen 5 5600 looks to be a good option for those who are already on AM4 and want a quick-and-easy upgrade. The Ryzen 7 5700X, however, is comprehensively outclassed by the similarly-priced Core i5-12600K.
The Ryzen 7 5700X is available for £269.99 at Overclockers UK. The Ryzen 5 5600 is available for £188.99 at Overclockers UK.
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Ryzen 5 5600
Pros:
- New, cheaper price point for non-APU entry onto Zen 3
- Solid upgrade option for current AM4 users
- Modest power consumption and operating temperatures
- Good PB2 clocks out-of-the-box
- Excellent overclocking headroom
Cons:
- Hardly inspiring versus Intel’s cheaper Core i5-12400F competitor
- Not appealing to new CPU/motherboard buyers versus Intel’s more advanced platform
Ryzen 7 5700 X
Pros:
- Quick-and-easy upgrade for current AM4 users
- Modest power and temperature numbers at stock
- Excellent overclocking headroom
- Considerably cheaper Zen 3 eight-core chip
Cons:
- 65W TDP leaves lots of frequency untapped
- Notably inferior to Intel’s identically-priced Core i5-12600K
- Not appealing to new CPU/motherboard buyers versus Intel’s more advanced platform
- Questionable value at £270, even to AM4 upgraders
KitGuru says: The Ryzen 5 5600 looks to be a reasonable addition to AMD’s product stack for those AM4 users who want a quick-and-easy upgrade. The Ryzen 7 5700X, however, is outclassed by Intel’s Core i5-12600K and is a relatively poor value proposition at its current £270 asking price.
