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AMD Releases Ryzen 5 Processors Today: Is Intel About To Be Crushed?

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Last month saw AMD release its Ryzen 7 CPUs - a trio of 8-core 16-thread models that offered better performance in multi-threaded tasks such as rendering and video editing than Intel's similarly priced equivalents. AMD hasn't had things all its own way though; gaming performance was a little sub par on occasions, while stability and availability of socket AM4 motherboards have improved but continue to be issues. Today, though, sees perhaps the most important launch from AMD  - the Ryzen 5 series.

AMD Ryzen 5 CPU range. Data via AMD

Data courtesy of AMD. Image Credit: Antony Leather

A pair of 6-core/12-thread processors and a pair of 4-core/8-thread processors are heading to shop shelves and starting at just $169 and this is not only cheaper than Intel's low price 4-core processors such as the Core i5-7500, but the cheapest Ryzen 5 - the 1400, is overclockable too - something you can't do with Intel's 4-cores until you reach the $240.

Similarly, the flagship $250 Ryzen 5 1600X offers six cores and 12 threads - a specification that will cost you over $410 with Intel's Core i7-6800K. The Ryzen 5 1600X not only appeared to offer similar performance to the Intel CPU, but it beat the more expensive Core i7-7700K as well, even when the latter was overclocked to 5GHz according to leaked performance numbers from News.xfastest.com in February.

The six-core Ryzen 5 1600X could be real Intel-beater. Image credit: News.xfastest.com

Image credit: Antony Leather. Data via Cinebench and https://news.xfastest.com

Today we'll get a better idea of just how well the Ryzen 5 series performs in other tests, especially games, although other leaked benchmarks point at a fairly even fight in terms of game performance such as this video from YouTube user Santiago Santiago.

In his benchmarks, Battlefield 1, saw an Intel Core i5-7400 CPU with a clear lead even over the overclocked Ryzen 5 1400, and a significant one over the stock speed AMD CPU. The same was true in Fallout 4 - the Intel CPU was noticeably faster and it was the same for GTA 5.

However, Hitman saw nearly no difference between the Intel CPU and the overclocked Ryzen 5 1400, while Rise of the Tomb Raider and The Witcher 3 favored AMD, especially when the Ryzen 5 1400 was overclocked.

Similarly, the leaked benchmarks below point at Intel having a lead in most tests concerning the Ryzen 5 1600, with Intel's Core i7-6700K, which has fewer cores but a higher frequency, edging out the AMD CPU in six of the eight tests.

Elchapuzas Informatico has published a review of the Ryzen 5 1600

Elchapuzas Informatico

My predictions will be that as we saw with the Ryzen 7 series, the Ryzen 5 series will be great multi-threaded performers for the price, with the benchmark numbers for the Ryzen 5 six core CPUs bettering Intel's equivalents that cost nearly twice as much. However, when it comes to games, it will likely be title-dependant and reliant on any optimizations.

I'll be back with a roundup of finding from various reviews as well as recommendations on which Ryzen 5 CPU is best for you if you're building a budget gaming system.

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