Intel Core i5-8260U vs AMD Ryzen 5 3550U

Processor comparisons   03-04-2021
   If you can't decide which processor to buy, you can make a decision after reading the comprehensive tests Intel Core i5-8260U vs AMD Ryzen 5 3550U and see which is better for games or simple use for programming, machine learning, rendering, video editing, streaming. Here is useful information from many benchmarks or real video editing and streaming tests. A careful review of all the technical characteristics, so that it can be easier to understand, is presented in the form of the table.
   From the comparison video, you can get the results of joint testing in special testing software such as Handbrake, RealBench, SuperPi, DaVinci Resolve Studio, GeekBench 6, 5.2, 3DMark, Blender, UserBenchmark, Cinebench 23 (20, 15), Prime95, Furmark, PassMark, MATLAB, 7zip, Gears 5, Blender, World of Tanks enCore Benchmark, WPrime, VeraCrypt, PCMark 10, AIDA64, Dolphin Emulator.
   And how good the processors are in games:

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

After looking at the data of parallel benchmarks and videos, you already be able to understand which CPU is better to buy for gaming AMD Ryzen 5 3550U or Intel Core i5-8260U.

Summary benchmark results

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

Core i5-8260U

52%

Ryzen 5 3550U

52%

Gaming performance
Summary result of all game benchmarks.

Core i5-8260U

52%

Ryzen 5 3550U

51%

The maximum result in this parameter is 100 percent, which is the performance of the most powerful processor currently available. And of course, this is a server processor, on which no one will play games. Because this processor costs several tens of thousands of dollars. And if it seems to you that the selected CPU has a little 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: Ghostrunner, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Hitman 3, Horizon Zero Dawn, Half-Life: Alyx, Battlefield V, Monster Hunter World, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS GO), Forza Horizon 4, League of Legends (LOL), Control, Metro Exodus, DOTA 2A, NBA 2K20, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Resident Evil 7 Biohazard.

Gaming benchmark

Fortnite	92.3	91.1
Valorant	104.9	103.6
Cyberpunk 2077	58.7	58.0
Apex Legends	98.6	97.4
Call of Duty Warzone	78.7	77.7
Overwatch	85.0	83.9
Red Dead Redemption 2	72.4	71.5
DOOM Eternal	52.4	51.8
Warzone	81.8	80.8
Assassin's Creed	88.1	87.0
Valheim	87.1	86.0

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 comparisons not only were the equipped with different video cards and different amounts of RAM. But users also tested them at different screen resolutions: 4K, 2K or FullHD. Therefore, the game benchmark data is approximate. But all video cards met the average system requirements of games. You will get more accurate information about how powerful 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

Core i5-8260U

221%

Ryzen 5 3550U

197%

To make a final resolution 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 Core i5-8260U is more energy efficient than the Ryzen 5 3550U since it has less power consumption: 15W vs. 15W. Power consumption is especially important for laptops. And TDP should be taken into account when choosing a processor cooling system. It is necessary to calculate so that the TDP data specified in the cooler specification is 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 video rendering or video editing, machine learning, programming, streaming, then the main parameter for you is its performance in multi-threaded mode. In this mode, the CPU includes all threads and cores 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 make sure that the program that you are going to use on your computer can work in 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

	Intel Core i5-8260U	AMD Ryzen 5 3550U
Cinbench 15 Single-core	157	134
Cinbench 15 Multi-core	596	707
Cinbench 20 Single-core	409	343
Cinbench 20 Multi-core	2046	1581
Cinbench 23 Single-core	1029	900
Cinbench 23 Multi-core	4033	4232

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

	Intel Core i5-8260U	AMD Ryzen 5 3550U
Single-Core	2385	2032
Multi-Core	7652	7704

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

	Intel Core i5-8260U	AMD Ryzen 5 3550U
Single-Core	997	888
Multi-Core	4222	3078

Comparison of specifications

In the specification comparison table, the most useful will be the release date of the processor and the possibility of overclocking it. The newer the processor, the longer it will last you. 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 the newest games. Accordingly, you do not need to buy a new CPU to enjoy the games any longer. The savings are obvious!

	Intel Core i5-8260U	AMD Ryzen 5 3550U
Announcement date	April 01, 2020	April 01, 2020
Type	Laptop	Unknown
Socket	FCBGA1528	FP5
Core name	Coffee Lake	Raven Ridge
Architecture	x86	Zen
Generation	8	1
Turbo Frequency	3.9 MHz	3.7 MHz
Frequency	1.6 MHz	2.1 MHz
Cores	4	4
Threads	8	8
Bus rate	4 GT/s OPI
Bit	64	64
Lithography	14 nm	12 nm
Transistors count	1900 millions	4200 millions
Power consumption (TDP)	15 W	15 W
Memory type	DDR4-2400, LPDDR3-2133
Max. Memory	64 Gb
Memory Frequency		2400
Memory bandwidth	37.5 GB/s
L1 cache		384KB
L2 cache		2MB
L3 cache	6 MB	4MB
Overclocking	No	No
Supports ECC	No	No
Part number		YM3500C4T4MFG n/a

In this comparison block, you should pay attention to the differences in clock speed and the number of cores. Here Ryzen 5 3550U is 23% better than Core i5-8260U in terms of CPU frequency. Also keep in mind that high CPU frequency affects battery life through power consumption (relevant for laptops).

Result:
The number of parameters for which Intel Core i5-8260U is better: 24
The number of parameters for which AMD Ryzen 5 3550U is better: 9
Although it should be understood that all the data in the article above do not mean that taking them into account you should entirely trust a simple comparison of these numbers. Be sure to watch the video tests and read the reviews of real owners of Intel Core i5-8260U and AMD Ryzen 5 3550U before making a choice which of the processors to buy for gaming.

Intel Core i5-8260U - all data

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

• Intel Core i5-8260U specs and review.

• AMD Ryzen 5 3550U specs and review.