The new generation of AMD Ryzen processors are finally here – the Ryzen 5000 series is the brand’s new generation of desktop CPUs – if you’re wondering why this comes so soon after the recently-launched 4000 series chips, the latter runs on the older Zen 2 architecture, while the 5000 series runs on Zen 3; Ryzen 4000 is also only available for laptops and pre-builts.
There are four CPUs that have been announced in the 5000 series family – the most accessible of the lot is the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X with six cores, 12 threads. It has a base clock of 3.7GHz, and a boost clock of 4.6GHz – an improvement over the 3600X’s 3.6GHz and 4.2GHz base/boost clock speeds. The chip will come with the trusty Wraith Stealth air cooler too. The chip has a TDP of 65W, which is the same as the 3600X. The Ryzen 5600X is priced at $299 (RM1,242).
The next chip in line is the Ryzen 7 5800X with eight cores, 16 threads, a base clock of 3.8GHz, and a boost clock of 4.7GHz. It has a TDP of 105W but it’s unsure if it’ll come with a cooler. The CPU is priced at $449 (RM1,865).
The premium tier is populated by the Ryzen 5900X and Ryzen 9 5950X CPUs – starting with the former, has 12 cores and 24 threads, a 3.7GHz base clock, and a 4.8GHz boost clock. Meanwhile, the latter has 16 cores and 32 threads and a base/boost frequency of 3.4/4.9GHz. Both chips have a TDP rating of 105W. The R5900X is priced at $549 (RM2,280), while the R5950X is priced at $799 (RM3,319).
According to AMD’s own benchmarks, their Ryzen 9 5900X is capable of outperforming an Intel Core i9-10900K in a list of games – up to 21% increase in League of Legends but falls 3% short of its counterpart in Battlefield V.
All AMD 500 series motherboards will be ready for the Ryzen 5000 series chips with a BIOS update, while older 400 series boards may also support the new CPUs but that depends on the manufacturers and board models. The Ryzen 5000 chips will be available to purchase globally this November 5.
AMD’s Equipped to Win Game Bundle lets customers who purchase any of the Ryzen 5000 chips bar the Ryzen 5 5600X, between November 5 to December 31 2020 will get a copy of the upcoming Far Cry 6 Standard Edition for PC.