The AMD Ryzen 5 5800X vs Ryzen 5 5600X: A Comparison of Gaming Performance and Value

In this article, we'll be comparing the performance of two popular processors from AMD: the Ryzen 5 5800X and the Ryzen 5 5600X. We'll examine how these processors perform in various games at different resolutions, including 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. We'll also discuss the differences in performance between these processors when it comes to single-core versus multicore workloads.

Testing for Gaming Performance

To test the gaming performance of both processors, we used the game benchmark tool provided by AMD. This allowed us to compare the performance of each processor in various games at different resolutions. The tests were run on a PC with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card and a motherboard that supports both processors.

Results at 1080p

At 1080p, we tested eight popular games: Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Control, Cyberpunk 2077, CS:GO, Destiny 2, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. We also tested two additional games, Battlefield V and Watch Dogs Legion.

The results at 1080p showed that both processors performed similarly in most games, with an average difference of less than 5% between them. The only game where there was a significant difference was Red Dead Redemption 2, which saw the 5800X perform around 6% better on average. However, when we looked at the 1% low differences, the 5800X performed significantly better in this game as well.

Overall, while there were some minor differences between the two processors at 1080p, they were relatively small and not significant enough to warrant choosing one over the other based solely on gaming performance. However, we'll continue to examine the results to see if there are any notable differences in performance at higher resolutions.

Results at 1440p

At 1440p, we tested the same eight games as before, but this time with a focus on the difference between the two processors. The results were very similar to those at 1080p, with an average difference of less than 2% between the two processors. However, when we looked at the 1% low differences, the 5800X performed around 21% better in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

This highlights that while there are some minor differences in performance between the two processors at 1440p, they are relatively small and not significant enough to warrant choosing one over the other based solely on gaming performance. However, we'll continue to examine the results to see if there are any notable differences in performance at even higher resolutions.

Results at 4K

At 4K, we tested the same games as before, but this time with a focus on the difference between the two processors. The results were again very similar to those at 1080p and 1440p, with an average difference of less than 1% between the two processors.

However, when we looked at the 1% low differences, there was one game where the 5800X performed around 21% better: Shadow of the Tomb Raider. This highlights that while there are some minor differences in performance between the two processors at 4K, they are relatively small and not significant enough to warrant choosing one over the other based solely on gaming performance.

Value for Money

One of the main questions when considering which processor to choose is value for money. To answer this question, we looked at the current prices of both processors. At its launch price, the 5600X was around $30 cheaper than the 5800X, but it was currently selling for more, with a difference of around $70.

In terms of performance, the results were very similar between the two processors. However, when we looked at the single-core performance, the 5600X performed slightly better in some tests. However, this difference was not significant enough to warrant choosing one processor over the other based solely on single-core performance.

On the other hand, when we looked at multicore workloads, the 5800X performed significantly better than the 5600X. This highlights that if you're planning to run demanding tasks such as video rendering or streaming, the 5800X may be a better choice due to its additional cores and higher clock speeds.

Conclusion

In conclusion, both the AMD Ryzen 5 5800X and the Ryzen 5 5600X are capable processors that offer excellent gaming performance. While there were some minor differences between the two processors in certain games at different resolutions, they were relatively small and not significant enough to warrant choosing one over the other based solely on gaming performance.

However, when it comes to value for money, the 5600X may be a better choice if you're looking to save money. The current price difference of around $70 between the two processors is significant, and while the results were very similar between them in terms of gaming performance, the 5600X offered slightly better single-core performance.

On the other hand, if you're planning to run demanding tasks such as video rendering or streaming, the 5800X may be a better choice due to its additional cores and higher clock speeds. Ultimately, the choice between these two processors will depend on your specific needs and priorities.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en6 or 8 cores?I’ve compared AMD’s Ryzen 5 5600X againstthe Ryzen 7 5800X processor in games and productivityworkloads to show you the differences.The main difference between these cpus isin the core counts.The 5800X is the next step up above the 5600Xand has two extra cores, higher clockspeeds,and a little extra L2 cache, so the 5800Xis clearly better and it costs more as a result,the question is how much better is it andis it worth it.Both processors were tested in the same system,literally the only difference is the processor.It’s worth mentioning that although the5600X comes with the Wraith stealth cooler,the 5800X does not come with one.I’ve done all testing with the same AIOfor comparable results.I’ve tested both CPUs at stock without powerlimits, as well as with all core manual overclocks.I was able to get both processors to 4.7GHzon all cores, but this was by no means finelytuned and results will come down to siliconlottery.Alright so with all of that in mind we’llstart out with productivity tests followedby things like power draw and thermals afterwards,then the game benchmarks followed by costper frame value, or you can use the timestampsbelow to time travel to a relevant sectionif you get bored my rambling.Let’s start with Cinebench R23 as it’sa decent way of showing both single and multicore performance.I’ve got the stock results down the bottom,and overclocked results above.Obviously the multicore score is significantlyhigher on the 5800X as it’s got two morecores, and this gives it a 39% higher scoreat stock.Single core at stock on the other hand wasjust 4% higher on the 5800X, then they’rebasically the same with the overclocks.I’ve also tested the older Cinebench R20as a lot of people still use it so you cancompare my results, and similar deal heretoo.The single core scores are the same when overclocked,and the 5800X is actually losing performancecompared to itself running stock, presumablyas manual all core overclocks can preventhigher single core boosts.I’ve tested Blender with the BMW and Classroombenchmarks.This is a heavily threaded test, and similarto Cinebench the 5800X was around 37% fasterat stock in both tests.With both overclocked though the 5800X is33% ahead now, so still a big lead, but itseems the 5600X is doing better with the overclock.The V-Ray benchmark is another core heavyrendering workload, and again a similar difference,a 38% higher score at stock with the 8 core5800X, then a little lower at 34% with bothoverclocked.The Corona benchmark also uses the processorto render out a scene, once more very similardifferences percentage-wise compared to theprevious rendering style workloads so let’smove on.Linux kernel compilation was around 33% fasterwith the 5800X, and given that processor has33% more cores this makes sense as it’sanother threaded workload.With both chips overclocked the lead of the5800X lowers a little to 27% faster than the5600X.Handbrake was used to convert one of my 4Klaptop review videos to 1080p.Although this is also a multithreaded task,the difference was smaller compared to mostof the other workloads tested so far.The 5800X was completing the task 23% fasterat stock, and 19% faster when both are overclocked.Adobe Premiere was tested with the Puget Systemsbenchmark tool, and this tests things likevideo exporting, live playback and more.The scores were closer together now, but the5800X was still scoring 15% higher at stock,then 12% with both overclocked.Adobe Photoshop was also tested with the PugetSystems benchmark tool, and the differenceswere much smaller now.This test typically depends on single coreperformance, and as we’ve seen earlier inCinebench the differences there are minor,especially with the overclock.I’ve used 7-Zip to test compression anddecompression speeds, and the extra core countfrom the 5800X is once more putting it infront, though there’s a much bigger differencein decompression compared to compression.AES encryption and decryption speed didn’treally change with the overclocks, thoughinterestingly the 5600X was doing a littlebetter in this test, not really sure why,but given it’s a 2% change it’s nothingimportant in any case.Microsoft Excel on the other hand had thebiggest difference out of all workloads tested.The 5800X was completing the large numbercrunch task 40% faster on the 5800X at stock.Geekbench tests single core and multi core,and like Cinebench, with both overclockedthe two are extremely close together in single,while multicore sees much larger gains withthe 5800X comparatively.Here’s how much faster the 8 core Ryzen7 5800X processor is compared to the 6 coreRyzen 5 5600X in all of the applications justtested at stock.In the heavily multithreaded tasks we’relooking at a 30 to 40% improvement with the5800X, while single core tests were typicallybelow 5%.With both overclocked to 4.7GHz on all cores,we can see that for the most part the differencesbetween them lower back a little, though resultswill of course depend entirely on what you’reable to overclock to.We can see why this is the case when lookingat the clockspeeds while running blender,a multi threaded test.With both overclocked they’re running at4.7GHz on all cores, the same speed, but atstock the 5800X is 150MHz higher in this test,therefore overclocking the 5600X makes a biggerdifference.The 5800X requires more power in this testto power those additional cores though.In this specific test, the 5800X is drawingalmost 43% more power from the wall to completethe task 37% faster.With both overclocked though, the 5600X startsusing more power comparatively.The 5800X is using 14% more power when overclockedwhile completing the blender task 33% faster.My motherboard seems to apply high voltageby default at stock, which is why my overclockactually uses less power on the 5800X despiteperforming better.The 5600X was quite a bit cooler at stock,but with both overclocked they’re quitesimilar, just a degree difference now.Again because the 5800X is actually usingless power with the overclock, the temperatureis actually lowering a little despite performingbetter too.Let’s get into the gaming tests next, I’vetested 8 games at 1080p, 1440p and 4K resolutionson both processors.Cyberpunk 2077 was tested in little chinawith the street kid life path.I’ve got 1080p down the bottom, 1440p inthe middle, and 4K up top.Only very minor differences here, basicallyno major changes regardless of the resolutionin use so let’s move on.Shadow of the Tomb Raider was tested withthe games benchmark, and though it might notlook it, this game saw the biggest differenceout of all 8 games tested at 1080p with the5800X just over 6% higher in average framerate.The difference at 1440p was the highest ofall games tested at just 2%.Red Dead Redemption 2 was also tested withthe games benchmark tool.The 5600X was a few frames ahead at 1080p,but honestly overall differences are so minorit’s margin of error stuff anyway.Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was also testedwith the games benchmark, and there were evensmaller differences in this one, so let’scontinue.Watch Dogs Legion was tested with the gamesbenchmark too, again nothing really to note,just a 2-3 FPS gain in averages at 1% lowsand 1080p with the 5800X, otherwise even closerresults at higher resolutions where the processortypically matters less.Control is mostly GPU bound, so for gameslike this the CPU doesn’t even make a differenceat 1080p with high settings.CS:GO is an esports title where differencesin frame rate might actually matter more,which is why I decided to test this oldergame.Again nothing major here, at least not a changeyou’re likely to notice.Battlefield V was tested in campaign mode.There was an above average 5% gain to averageFPS with the 5800X at 1080p, but what wasmost interesting was the 1% low differences,particularly at 1440p where the 5800X was21% ahead, though this was the only game andresolution where a difference this big wasseen, so it doesn’t exactly appear to bea common occurrence.When comparing all 8 games tested at 1080p,the 8 core 5800X was just one and a half percentfaster on average, no major change, thoughBattlefield V was closer to 5% with Shadowof the Tomb Raider being higher, basicallyit varies a little based on the game.Stepping up to 1440p and the average differenceis basically nothing, again it varies by game,but when we’re looking at a 2% change ineither direction as the largest differenceit’s really not anything important.The difference is smaller at 4K, just a 1%difference in either direction at the extremesnow.Higher resolutions generally matter less forCPU selection as the GPU takes on most ofthe work, which is why I tested it to illustratethat it doesn’t matter much.When factoring in cost, it’s no surprisethat the 5600X is better value in gaming,the performance wasn’t too different aswe’ve just seen while the 5600X is obviouslycheaper.I’ve got the 5600X MSRP price highlightedin red, however on Newegg it currently costsmore at $380, while the 5800X is right nowavailable at its MSRP on Newegg, so hopefullynot too long before the 5600X lowers to thecorrect price too.It’s worth noting the 5600X includes a coolerin the box while the 5800X does not, so thiswill further make the 5800X worse value ifyou need to factor that purchase in.If the priority is gaming today, it lookslike you can save the money and just go forthe Ryzen 5 5600X.This might change in the future a bit if futuretitles do take more advantage of more cores,but I wouldn’t buy based on that speculation,the fact is 6 cores that are fast still doplenty well in gaming.That said, with current prices at just 18%more money, or $70 extra, I’d probably justget the 5800X.At the correct MSRP, the 5600X is definitelymuch more attractive, and hopefully we seethose prices correct soon.At least it’s now commonly in stock, itwasn’t just a few months ago so that’ssomething.In productivity workloads the single coreperformance from the 5800X was a little ahead,but the biggest difference was of course inmulticore workloads as expected, it’s gottwo more cores.I think it just depends on whether or notyou’ll be running those sorts of workloadsthat take advantage of the cores - like rendering.If so, that current $70 difference for the5800X is easily worth paying for in my opinion.I’ve also compared both of these processorsagainst Intel equivalents in these videosover here, so check those ones out if youwant to get an idea of how these Ryzen processorscompare against the Intel competition.Otherwise get subscribed if you’re new tothe channel for future CPU comparisons likethis one, and come and join us on Discordand get behind the scenes videos by supportingthe channel on Patreon.\n"