Apple M2 vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600X

Processor comparisons 20-10-2022

   If you have difficulties with the choice of a CPU, you will solve them by reading the comprehensive tests Apple M2 vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600X and understand which is better for games or normal use for programming, rendering, streaming, machine learning, video editing. Here is all information from real streaming and video editing tests or various benchmarks. A thorough review of all the specifications, so that it can be easier to understand, is made by the table.
   From the comparison video, you can get the results of joint testing in software tests like Dolphin Emulator, Cinebench 23 (20, 15), DaVinci Resolve Studio, Gears 5, 7zip, Blender, Handbrake, VeraCrypt, Furmark, PassMark, UserBenchmark, MATLAB, World of Tanks enCore Benchmark, PCMark 10, Blender, AIDA64, WPrime, SuperPi, Prime95, 3DMark, RealBench, GeekBench 6, 5.2.
   Gaming performance of CPUs in:

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

After reading the results of all benchmarks and videos, you can already make an briefed decision about which CPU is better to buy for gaming AMD Ryzen 5 3600X or Apple M2.

Summary benchmark results

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

59%

Ryzen 5 3600X

55%

This shows the performance of the processors in single-threaded and multi-threaded mode. In this comparison, M2 is 6% better than Ryzen 5 3600X. The data source is several popular tests. More detailed information of the benchmarks is below.

Gaming performance
Summary result of all game benchmarks.

55%

Ryzen 5 3600X

54%

For the maximum in this test, the results of the most powerful processor in the site database are taken. And it is clear that 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 small game result, look at the FPS that it produces in real games in the summary table below.
List of less popular games in which processors were compared: League of Legends (LOL), Monster Hunter World, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, DOTA 2A, Forza Horizon 4, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS GO), NBA 2K20, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Ghostrunner, Hitman 3, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Horizon Zero Dawn, Metro Exodus, Half-Life: Alyx, Control, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Battlefield V.

Gaming benchmark

Fortnite	97.4	96.0
Valorant	110.7	109.1
Cyberpunk 2077	62.0	61.1
Apex Legends	104.1	102.6
Call of Duty Warzone	83.0	81.9
Overwatch	89.7	88.4
Red Dead Redemption 2	76.4	75.3
DOOM Eternal	55.4	54.6
Warzone	86.4	85.1
Assassin's Creed	93.0	91.7
Valheim	91.9	90.6

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 tested computers not only did they have different amounts of RAM and different video cards. But users also tested them at different screen resolutions: 2K, 4K or FullHD. Therefore, 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 get acquainted with the benchmarks that are made with the same video card that is installed in your computer.

Power consumption

535%

Ryzen 5 3600X

47%

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 M2 is more energy efficient than the Ryzen 5 3600X as it consumes less power: 12W vs. 95W. Power consumption is particularly important for laptops. And TDP should be taken into account when choosing a processor cooling system. 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

If you plan to use the processor not only for gaming, but also for streaming, video editing or video rendering, machine learning, programming, then first of all you need to pay attention to the performance in multi-threaded mode. In this mode, the CPU includes all cores and threads that it has to the maximum to reach maximum efficiency. You will learn this data from the benchmark tables below. Before you take into account 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 can use only one core to run, and all the advantages of multi-core mode turns out to be unnecessary.

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

	Apple M2	AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Cinbench 15 Single-core	298	204
Cinbench 15 Multi-core	1586	1647
Cinbench 20 Single-core	558	501
Cinbench 20 Multi-core	2699	3751
Cinbench 23 Single-core	2057	1286
Cinbench 23 Multi-core	10520	9588

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

	Apple M2	AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Single-Core	4095	2651
Multi-Core	29665	18377

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

	Apple M2	AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Single-Core	1929	1341
Multi-Core	9243	7891

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 in your computer. And the easier it will be to upgrade the system in the future. The same can be said about overclocking. If the processor can be overclocked, thereby increasing its performance, then it will continue to maintain maximum FPS in new games. The economy are obvious! It turns out that there is no longer a need to buy a new CPU to enjoy the games any longer.

	Apple M2	AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
Announcement date	October 18, 2022	July 07, 2019
Type	Laptop	Desktop
Socket	M2	AM4
Core name	4 x Avalanche and 4 x Blizzard	Matisse
Architecture	hybrid (big.LITTLE)	Zen 2
Generation	2	3
Turbo Frequency		4.4 MHz
Frequency	3.49 MHz	3.8 MHz
Cores	8	6
Threads	8	12
Bus rate
Bit	64	64
Lithography	5 nm	7 nm
Transistors count	20000 millions	4200 millions
Power consumption (TDP)	12 W	95 W
Memory type	LPDDR5 - Up to 6400MHz	DDR4
Max. Memory
Memory Frequency	2400	3200
Memory bandwidth
L1 cache	2MB	384KB
L2 cache	12MB	3MB
L3 cache	16MB	32MB
Overclocking	No	Yes
Supports ECC	No	No
Part number		100-000000022 100-100000022BOX 100-100000022MPK

In this comparison block, you should pay attention to the differences in clock speed and the number of cores. Here Ryzen 5 3600X is 8% better than M2 in terms of CPU frequency. Another difference is that M2 has 2 more core than Ryzen 5 3600X. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption (relevant for laptops).

Result:
The number of parameters for which Apple M2 is better: 24
The number of parameters for which AMD Ryzen 5 3600X is better: 11
Although it should be understood that all the figures in the article above do not mean that taking them into account you should completely trust a simple comparison of these numbers. Better to watch benchmarks video and read the reviews of of people who bought Apple M2 and AMD Ryzen 5 3600X before making a selection which CPU to buy for gaming and which not.

Apple M2 - all data

• Cinebench r15 score
• Cinebench r20 score
• Cinebench r23 score
• GeekBench 6, 5.2 score

• Apple M2 specs and review.

• AMD Ryzen 5 3600X specs and review.