AMD Ryzen 7 5800X vs AMD Ryzen 5 2600X

Processor comparisons 17-03-2021

   Perhaps you can't decide which CPU to buy, you can make a choice by looking at the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X vs AMD Ryzen 5 2600X tests and decide which is better for games or simple use for video editing, programming, machine learning, streaming, rendering. Here you can find useful information from several benchmarks or real streaming and video editing tests. A step-by-step analysis of all the technical characteristics, to make it easier to understand, is summarized in the table.
   From the video comparison, you can get the results of joint testing in special test applications like PassMark, Gears 5, World of Tanks enCore Benchmark, Furmark, Blender, RealBench, Cinebench 23 (20, 15), MATLAB, 3DMark, GeekBench 6, 5.2, AIDA64, UserBenchmark, PCMark 10, SuperPi, Blender, Prime95, WPrime, Dolphin Emulator, DaVinci Resolve Studio, VeraCrypt, Handbrake, 7zip.
   And how good the processors are in games:

Rainbow Six Siege
Red Dead Redemption 2
Apex Legends
Death Stranding
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Borderlands 3
Grand Theft Auto V
Overwatch
Halo Infinite
Last Man Standing
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
Valorant
Watch Dogs Legion
Fallout 76
Cyberpunk 2077
Valheim
Call of Duty: Warzone and Modern Warfare
DOOM: Eternal
Fortnite

After looking at the data these benchmarks and videos, you can already make an informed decision about which CPU is better to buy for gaming AMD Ryzen 5 2600X or AMD Ryzen 7 5800X.

Summary benchmark results

As a percentage of the maximum value based on a sample from the entire base of all processors
Processor Benchmark

Ryzen 7 5800X

58%

Ryzen 5 2600X

54%

The number of this parameter shows the performance of the processors in single-threaded and multi-threaded mode. In this comparison, Ryzen 7 5800X is 6% better than Ryzen 5 2600X. The data source is several popular tests. Detailed information can be found below.

Gaming performance
Summary result of all game benchmarks.

Ryzen 7 5800X

56%

Ryzen 5 2600X

53%

The maximum result in this parameter is 100 percent, which is the performance of the most powerful processor at the moment. And of course, this is a server processor, on which no one will run games. Because this processor costs several tens of thousands of dollars. Therefore, if you think that the selected CPU has a low game result, look at the FPS that it produces in real games in the final table below.
List of other games in which CPU comparisons were performed: PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), DOTA 2A, Control, Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, Half-Life: Alyx, NBA 2K20, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS GO), Horizon Zero Dawn, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Metro Exodus, League of Legends (LOL), Ghostrunner, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Forza Horizon 4, Battlefield V, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Hitman 3, Monster Hunter World.

Gaming benchmark

Fortnite	99.7	94.6
Valorant	113.3	107.5
Cyberpunk 2077	63.5	60.2
Apex Legends	106.5	101.1
Call of Duty Warzone	85.0	80.6
Overwatch	91.8	87.1
Red Dead Redemption 2	78.2	74.2
DOOM Eternal	56.7	53.8
Warzone	88.4	83.9
Assassin's Creed	95.2	90.3
Valheim	94.1	89.3

The numbers in this table indicate the maximum FPS that was received on the device with the corresponding processor. Depending on the configuration of the computer (RAM size and Video Card) and graphics quality settings (Ultra, Medium, Normal), the results may differ quite significantly. We recommend that you better study the results of the Cinebench, GeekBench and Passmark becnmarks.
The computers participating in the comparing not only were the equipped with different video cards and different amounts of RAM. But users also tested them at different screen resolutions: 2K, FullHD or 4K. So the game benchmark data is approximate. But all video cards met the average system requirements of games. To be sure exactly how much performance the processor will be in games, if you compare it in one assembly with the video card that is installed in your computer.

Power consumption

Ryzen 7 5800X

57%

Ryzen 5 2600X

39%

To make a final decision on which processor is better, you should also consider the generation of its core. It is clear that the newer the generation, the better the performance of the processor in games and benchmarks, as well as its energy efficiency. In this case the Ryzen 7 5800X is more energy efficient than the Ryzen 5 2600X since it has less power consumption: 105W vs. 95W. Power consumption is especially important for laptops. Also, when choosing a processor cooling system, it will be useful to know its TDP. You need to buy a cooler that has the TDP data specified in the specification was greater than the TDP of the compared processor.

Software benchmarks

Let's say you plan to use the processor not only for gaming, but also for programming, video editing or video rendering, streaming, machine learning, then first of all you need to pay attention to the performance in multi-threaded mode. In this mode, to reach maximum performance, the CPU turns on all cores and threads that it has. You will learn this data from the benchmark tables below. Before using the data from these tests, be sure to check whether the software you are going to use on your computer supports multi-threaded mode. Because there are still many programs that use only one core to work, and all the advantages of multi-core mode are unused.

Cinebench 23, 20 an 15
The results of this benchmark show Single-threaded and Multi-threaded CPU performance

	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X	AMD Ryzen 5 2600X
Cinbench 15 Single-core	270	176
Cinbench 15 Multi-core	2611	1380
Cinbench 20 Single-core	628	421
Cinbench 20 Multi-core	5724	3048
Cinbench 23 Single-core	1594	1074
Cinbench 23 Multi-core	15245	7514

Passmark
This popular benchmark displays Multi-threaded and Single-threaded processor performance

	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X	AMD Ryzen 5 2600X
Single-Core	3479	2438
Multi-Core	28799	14033

GeekBench 6, 5.2
This benchmark shows Multi-threaded and Single-threaded processor performance

	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X	AMD Ryzen 5 2600X
Single-Core	1823	1127
Multi-Core	11496	6497

Comparison of specifications

In the specification comparison table, the processor release date and overclocking capability will be the most helpful. The later the processor is released, the longer it will last you. And the easier it will be to upgrade the system later. The same can be said about overclocking. If the processor can be overclocked, increasing its performance, then it will still be able to produce maximum FPS in new games. It turns out that you do not need to buy a new CPU to enjoy the games any longer. The economy are obvious!

	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X	AMD Ryzen 5 2600X
Announcement date	November 05, 2020	April 19, 2018
Type	Desktop	Desktop
Socket	AM4	AM4
Core name	Vermeer	Pinnacle Ridge
Architecture	Zen 3	Zen
Generation	5	2
Turbo Frequency	4.7 MHz	4.2 MHz
Frequency	3.8 MHz	3.6 MHz
Cores	8	6
Threads	16	12
Bus rate
Bit	64	64
Lithography	7 nm	12 nm
Transistors count	6200 millions	3600 millions
Power consumption (TDP)	105 W	95 W
Memory type	DDR4	DDR4
Max. Memory
Memory Frequency	3200	2933
Memory bandwidth
L1 cache		576KB
L2 cache	4MB	3MB
L3 cache	32MB	16MB
Overclocking	Yes	Yes
Supports ECC	No	No
Part number	100-000000063 100-100000063WOF	YD260XBCM6IAF YD260XBCAFBOX YD260XBCAFMPK

In this comparison block, you should pay attention to the differences in clock speed and the number of cores. Here Ryzen 7 5800X is 5% better than Ryzen 5 2600X in terms of CPU frequency. Another difference is that Ryzen 7 5800X has 2 more core than Ryzen 5 2600X. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption (relevant for laptops).

Result:
The number of parameters for which AMD Ryzen 7 5800X is better: 32
The number of parameters for which AMD Ryzen 5 2600X is better: 2
However, it should be realized that the summary data that you have looked at here do not mean that taking them into account you should totally trust a simple quantitative comparison. Be sure to watch the testing video and read the opinion of of people who bought AMD Ryzen 7 5800X and AMD Ryzen 5 2600X before making a selection which processor to buy for gaming and which not.

• AMD Ryzen 7 5800X specs and review.

• AMD Ryzen 5 2600X specs and review.