AMD Ryzen 9 3900X vs. Intel Core i9-9900K: Which High-End CPU to Buy. What is amd ryzen vs intel

There is no “one size fits all” solution as both companies specialize in different use cases. Intel chips are often the best choice for gamers because they offer the best frequency speeds, while AMD processors tend to excel in creative applications due to their high number of cores and threads.

AMD Ryzen 7 5800X vs Intel Core i7-12700K: Battle of the high-end CPU

Intel may have struggled to maintain AMD’s dominance in the CPU market, but things have certainly changed with the advent of the new Alder Lake chips. All three Alder Lake chips released so far – Core i5-12600K, Core i7-12700K and Core i9-12900K – look very promising on paper. As detailed in our Alder Lake review, both the Core i5-12600K and Core i9-12900K dominated the competition, making them our choice for the best processors on the market today. In this article, we’ll look at the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X vs Intel Core i7-12700K comparison to find out which CPU is best for your next PC.

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Ryzen 7 5800X vs Intel Core i7-12700K: Specifications

Before we start the comparison, let’s take a look at the spec sheet to find out what each brings to the table:

Specification	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X	Intel Core i7-12700K
CPU socket	AMD AM4	LGA 1700
Cores	8	12 (8P + 4E)
Threads	16	twenty
Lithography	TSMC 7 nm FinFET	Intel 7 (10 nm)
Fundamental frequency	3.8 GHz	3.60 GHz (P core) | 2.70 GHz (electronic core)
Increase the frequency	4.7 GHz	4.90 GHz (P core) | 3.80 GHz (E core)
Unlocked for Overclocking?	Yes	Yes
L3 cache	32MB	25MB
Default TDP	105W	125W
Max. Working temperature (Tjmax)	90 ° C	100 ° C
Memory support	DDR4 up to 3200 MHz Up to 128 GB	DDR4 3200MT / s | DDR5-4800MT / s Up to 128 GB
Integrated graphics	ON	Intel UHD 770

The Intel Core i7-12700K, part of the new Alder Lake processor family, provides a hybrid core architecture over the standard Ryzen 7 5800X octa-core. The combination of eight performance cores and four performance cores will allow the Core i7-12700K to provide significant performance gains in high-performance tasks such as gaming and content creation. The new Intel chip, however, uses the new LGA 1700 processor socket, the consequences of which will be seen later in this article in the section on platforms and compatibility.

On the other hand, the Intel Z690 platform should support Intel 12th generation processors. All indications are that Intel is pushing to raise the IPC to regain the gaming crown, while sacrificing 2 cores at the top end of the product stack.

AMD Ryzen 9 3900X

• Excellent price-performance ratio in multi-threaded scenarios.
• One of the first consumer processors to support PCI Express 4.0.
• Relatively low power consumption.
• Huge L3 Cache.
• easy overclocking tools.
• Includes an attractive cooling fan.

• Two more cores than the previous top Coffee Lake processor.
• A flame thrower for multi-threaded applications.
• 5 GHz single core peak clock for single-threaded applications.
• Unlocked multiplier.

• Single core performance and 1080p gaming a bit weaker in some benchmarks.
• No integrated graphics.

• It creates a new, more expensive price level than previous flagship Core i7 processors.
• It works hot.
• No stock cooler.

With more cores and threads than its main competitor Intel at a similar price, the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X is an excellent 12-core CPU beast that powers a high-end gaming platform or multimedia editing station.

The flagship, flagship Intel Core i9-9900K processor is a thrilling performer, no matter what you outsource it with. If you don’t need the bandwidth of the RAM or PCI Express lanes of Intel Core X or AMD Threadripper, this chip is the pinnacle of the new release.

With the arrival of the first Ryzen 9 processors in 2019, AMD has expanded its ability to compete in performance with Intel’s competing Core i7 and Core i9 processors. If you’re looking for the most powerful consumer desktop processor, the Ryzen 9 and Core i9 are both attractive options. In 2021, the new Ryzen 9s of the second generation of the Ryzen 5000 series (headed by the incredibly powerful 16-core AMD Ryzen 9 5950X processor) took the fight to the latest Core i9. (The Core i9 is now in 10th and 11th generations on the new 2020 platform, LGA1200.)

But here in 2021, a silicon shortage has turned the market around since the first Ryzen 9 chips hit the scene. Here, in spring 2021, finding new Ryzen 5000 series processors at list price or below can be difficult – and even at all. As a result, in some cases it may make more sense to look at a previous generation chip, especially if you already have a compatible motherboard. (Intel’s newest top-of-the-line Core i9 processors, the Core i9-10900K and Core i9-11900K, are slightly more readily available, but prices remain high.)

So the dynamics of the Core i9-versus-Ryzen 9 has changed since the introduction of the 2019 era chips. Of course, you’ll still have to pick one or the other. Even if you could swap them from your desktop on the fly (and of course you can’t; they use completely different sockets, and therefore motherboards), at a list price of $ 500 for each of the flagship versions – the Ryzen 9 3900X and Core i9-9900K – buying both would be prohibitively expensive. So let’s take a look at which of these chips will come out on top, depending on how you plan on using your computer.

Comparing Key Specs: Ryzen 9 3900X vs. Core i9-9900K

The Ryzen 9 3900X has 12 cores against the eight Core i9-9900K, so it’s gaining an edge right from the start, at least when it comes to the strict specs for multi-threaded workloads. Everything else is equal, the more cores a chip has, the better it can handle complex workflows from modern applications, many of which are designed to assign tasks to as many CPU cores and threads as they can lay.

Both chips support multi-threading, which means that each core can simultaneously handle two threads of instruction from the software. So the Ryzen 9 3900X can handle 24 threads of instructions, while the Core i9-9900K can handle 16. Again, if the software you choose is optimized to distribute tasks to as many processing threads as it can, more is better here.

Based solely on the number of cores and threads, the Ryzen 9 3900X is arguably a better choice than the Core i9-9900K for 3D animation, video editing, and other chip count dependent workflows.

Many other tasks, especially common ones such as playing older games or browsing the web, are heavily influenced by other factors such as the chip’s clock speed or its cache size, as well as other hardware such as your graphics card. The Core i9-9900K has a base frequency of 3.6 GHz and a maximum boost frequency of 5 GHz, compared to a base speed of 3.8 GHz and a maximum 4.6 GHz gain in the Ryzen 9 3900X. Both can be overclocked.

The speed differences are slight, but significant, although they cannot be closely compared one-to-one. Assuming you are able to pair each chip with a cooling solution that provides sufficient thermal reserve to maintain maximum clock speeds, the Core i9-9900K may offer a slight advantage in “fast” workflows such as applying a filter to an image in Adobe Photoshop. Of course, if the speed of the same task were to be balanced by more cores and threads, this slight advantage in clock rate might be of less importance. It all comes down to the characteristics of each individual program, and that’s where more detailed benchmarking comes in. (More on that in a minute.)

In addition to clock speed and number of cores, many gamers will also want to pay attention to the chip’s cache and its maximum supported memory speed, as the performance of some games may depend on the CPU’s ability to access memory, especially with screen resolutions below 4K. (When you play at the highest resolutions and detail settings, the GPU’s capabilities tend to limit performance more than the CPU.)

Here, at least in pure specs, the Ryzen 9 3900X wins. It comes with 3200MHz DDR4 memory and a massive 70MB L3 cache per die. The Core i9-9900K has lower official support for maximum memory speed (2666MHz) and a much smaller 16MB L3 cache. But there is more to this argument than just spec numbers.

It’s hard to recommend AMD for workstation systems looking to handle the video editing workload as Intel equivalents (at lower prices) are so much better. Yes, the Z690 platform is more expensive, but I assume it will be easy to fix if / when the main B660 platform is released next year.

A Quick History Recap: AMD vs. Intel

If you’re curious about how we came to these conclusions, skip to the next section! First, we’ll talk about the history of Intel and AMD.

AMD and Intel have been in conflict with each other for nearly half a century; the competition is certainly not new and is not going anywhere any time soon.

While Intel has held tight control in the CPU market over the past decade, AMD has lagged behind until Ryzen’s launch in 2017.

The huge performance imbalance and better performance of Intel processors compared to their AMD counterparts made them the obvious choice for any use case prior to the introduction of Ryzen.

Whether you were building a gaming PC, desktop PC, or even an office PC, Intel was without a doubt your best choice.

Intel IPC advantage and AMD Bulldozer

The performance differences were due to the radically different architectural approaches these companies adopted in processors released between 2010 and 2011.

Intel has chosen to focus on IPC improvements; AMD focused on parallelism. One approach equipped the processors with less, but extremely strong cores, and the other one equipped the processors with more, but much weaker cores.

What is IPC?

IPC (Instructions Per Cycle / Clock) is the number of instructions the processor executes per clock cycle. What does it mean?

Well, here’s a simple way to understand it.

We have had processors reaching 3 GHz for over a decade. However, if we directly compare the performance difference between a modern processor with the same clock speed as the older processor, we find that the modern processor is much faster.

In a single clock cycle, newer processors can execute more instructions (more work) than the number of instructions executed by the older processor in the same single cycle.

As it improves performance by a significant margin, an increase in IPC is considered to be the best type of improvement we can get when it comes to CPUs.

Bulldozer: Plagued by Low IPC

The AMD Bulldozer line of processors (FX series) was launched in 2011 and has been redesigned from the ground up. Problem? It was a fiasco.

The newly introduced products were in some cases even slower than the older AMD Phenom parts they were to replace!

source: AnandTech Vishera Review

Although the Bulldozer (FX 4000 series) was launched a few months later, it just couldn’t compete with the amazing Intel Sandy Bridge processors.

Intel seized the opportunity and captured the market.

A similar story unfolded over the next few years and both companies continued to make incremental improvements to their processors.

Result – Intel was crowned king of both single-threaded and multi-threaded workloads.

Intel’s advantage had to end sooner or later. The engineering excellence that he unveiled in 2011 helped Intel maintain a significant advantage over AMD for nearly a decade.

1 st Generation AMD Ryzen vs. 7 th Generation Intel

When AMD first announced Ryzen, people were skeptical. Even I was, to be honest.

After all, AMD promised us the moon earlier, and instead we got the Bulldozer – an 8-core dumpster that couldn’t compete with an Intel 4-core CPU, even with heavily multi-threaded loads.

Add the operating temperature that spawned a whole generation of “warming” memes, and well, you’ve got the picture.

However, the premiere of Ryzen surprised even the most famous AMD fans. It offered a huge 52% IPC improvement over the Bulldozer core – positioning it fairly close to 7th Gen Intel processors.

Of course, this rise was more a testament to how far behind the Bulldozer he was more than anything else.

Despite this, AMD has finally caught up.

Here is the benchmark for Warp Premiere Pro stabilization – a popular effect used to reduce vibration / shake in video material.

The Zen microarchitecture used core complexes connected by Infinity Fabric, making it easier and cheaper to offer more cores without increasing latency too much or sacrificing performance.

Therefore, AMD’s 8-core, 16-thread offering was priced roughly the same as Intel’s 4-core, 8-thread part.

Unlike the Bulldozer, the Ryzen offered excellent clock rates as well as stellar IPCs. When combined with more cores, AMD Ryzen easily took over the multi-threaded crown of the load.

aMD’s 8-core powerhouse was measured against Intel’s 4-core offering due to AMD’s aggressive pricing. At this point, the results were not surprising.

However, Intel has refined its architecture and clock speeds over the years and has continued to maintain its lead in both clock speed and IPC – ensuring it remains the best choice for single-threaded workloads.

Moreover, there are advantages to being a market leader for nearly a decade. Applications have been optimized to run on Intel processors, and some tests have confirmed this discrepancy.

When it comes to gaming and Viewport performance, and even with a few production workloads, Intel has remained the better choice due to faster single-core performance.

With AMD scarcely competing in the under $ 200 price range at the end of 2021, the best option is the Intel Core i5 11400F, while the Core i5 10100 for just $ 89 remains the best budget option.

AMD vs. Intel – Productivity

CPU performance cannot be determined solely by gaming performance. It’s also important to know how to handle various productivity tasks. These include viewing, using Excel, rendering (in applications like Blender, Maya, Cinema 4D), and more.

Of course, if your only intention for your system is to play video games, that shouldn’t matter too much.

Either way, let’s take a look at some benchmarks and see exactly which processors are faster in content creation, applications, and productivity.

We’ll start with some advanced processors.

Looking at the Corona 1.3 benchmark, we can see that the Ryzen 5950X is around 15% faster than the i9-12900K. This is a significant performance difference, but keep in mind that the i9 is a 24-thread processor while its counterpart has 32 threads and 16 large cores.

However, Intel wins when we compare the i9 to the 5900X, a 24-thread processor.

7-Zip’s compression and decompression benchmarks show a different result. While the Intel processor excels in compression, it lags behind in terms of decompression. In the chart, the Anandtech 5950X is 20% faster. The 5900X is a bit slower but still faster than the i9.

Intel is in the lead in the Factorio update per second test. Based on Hardware Unboxed benchmarks, 12900K is 17% faster than 5950x and 27% faster than 5900X.

We can also see improvements over the previous i9 generations in the Adobe Premiere Pro 2021 test, where it also ranks first.

On the other hand, Blender’s Open Data benchmark doesn’t show 12900K in the best light. It’s faster than the 5900X, but relatively slower than the 5950X and even the 3950X.

Overall, it looks more or less like a tie. For a definitive answer, we’ll check the 5600X and 12600K benchmarks again.

We don’t need to analyze these graphs in detail to conclude that the i5-12600K is well above 5600X everywhere. Where the 5950X shone, the Ryzen 5 did not. Rather, the i5 does.

The Intel processor dominates Blender Open Data, Adobe Premiere Pro and Corona 1.3. In our comparative decompression tests, Factorio and the 7-zip i5 is faster but shows similar performance.

Overall, the i5-12600K appears to be around 40% faster in terms of productivity than AMD’s 5600X.

With that in mind, we can say Intel is the winner in this round.

AMD: 1 – Intel: 2

AMD vs. Intel – Power Consumption And Cooling

Another important processor factor for many technology enthusiasts is power consumption. While some people care about wattage to keep the computer’s performance running, others care about the power consumption to keep computers cool.

It is known that the last generations of Intel processors consume a lot of energy and generate significant amounts of heat, which requires users to have powerful cooling systems.

Ryzenes, on the other hand, require much less energy and can be stable even with average coolers.

At least that was before the release of Alder Lake. So let’s look at some of the numbers to see how Intel handles AMD.

We borrowed Tom’s Hardware’s test tests and their energy consumption results.

We are seeing higher power consumption by Intel chips across the board. For example, the i9-12900K has an average of around 200 watts in the y-cruncher and handbrake power, while in the BMW blender it reaches an average of 250 watts.

The AMD equivalent has much lower values ​​despite having a higher number of cores and no efficient cores. As a result, the power consumption in these three benchmarks is on average between 100 and 150 W.

Remember that all these tests are multi-threaded. Single-threaded tests have lower power consumption.

Continuing to work with other SKUs such as the i7-12700K, i5-12600K, Ryzen 5800X, and Ryzen 5600X, we can again see that Intel’s power consumption is significantly higher. Take the y-cruncher chart for example. 12600K uses almost twice as much energy.

However, high power values ​​do not necessarily mean a bad processor. Yes, Intel’s 12th generation processors use more power, but they’re also much more efficient than their predecessors, especially when you put their performance in perspective.

However, this category still favors AMD due to its low power consumption and low temperatures.

In the Hardware Unboxed video we provided above, the i9-12900K peaked at 100 degrees Celsius throttling with a 280mm AIO (Corsair H115i).

The maximum temperature dropped to 95 degrees with the MSI CoreLiquid S360. This is the case with the AIO 360mm. It’s a fairly bulky refrigerator (which will have a hard time fitting in in many cases) and the temperature is still an average of 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

AMD: 2 – Intel: 2

It’s also worth noting that the Ryzen 5000 series chips have reached almost the same level as Intel’s current chips in 1080p gaming. For example, check out our review of the all-new Core i9-11900K for the latest gaming data, which includes the Core i9-9900K and Ryzen 9 3900X, as well as the latest 11th Gen Intel and Ryzen 5000 AMD chips.

Desktop processors

In the past, AMD processors were the best option only in the budget and entry-level segments of the market, but that has changed for the AMD Ryzen 3000 and AMD Ryzen 5000. While AMD still represents great value for money, it now does so throughout the price and performance spectrum competing with Intel in everything and taking a decisive advantage in a few details, even at the highest level.

The most affordable AMD or Intel chips will cost anywhere from $ 40- $ 60 for a few cores and energy-saving clock speeds. The best mid-range processors cost anywhere from $ 200 to $ 350, while a top gaming processor costs around $ 500. If you want to speed up intensive tasks like video editing and transcoding, you can spend 400,000 North.

Dan Baker / digital trends

Intel and AMD have excellent processors for gaming and performance tasks like video editing and transcoding, but they also have their specialties. The current top AMD, the Ryzen 9 5900X and 5950X, beat everything Intel has to offer with 12 and 16 cores respectively.

Currently, the best Intel processor is the Core i9-10900K. Intel has already released the 11th generation desktop platform in which 11900K is to replace the 10900K. However, the last-generation chip offers much better value for money. The 10900K works more or less the same as the 11900K and the price goes down. The 11900K also has some temperature issues, making the 10900K the obvious choice for the blue team.

However, you don’t need to purchase the best one to get a great processor for gaming or work. At around $ 300, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, with six cores and high clock speed, is a fantastic AMD chip for work and play. Intel has 11600K in this price range, equivalent to 5600X with six cores and 12 threads. However, the 11600K has high power and heat requirements. On paper, the 11600K already has twice the power consumption of the 5600X, and in practice it can draw even more.

In the more entry-level market segments, the AMD processor tends to be better value for money, with standout models like the 3300X and 3600 offering amazing multitasking and gaming performance. We don’t have the budget Ryzen 5000 options yet, although we should do so in 2021. The Intel 10300F, however, is a credible competition.

Low-cost options like the AMD 3200G and Intel Core i3 10100 allow the system to boot without an additional graphics card, making them great for general office work and watching Netflix, though not too much. If you want to dip your fingers into light gaming, AMD offers the Ryzen 5000 APU with Radeon graphics.

Non-performance factors can make you choose one manufacturer over the other. Intel’s latest generation CPU has much better support for Thunderbolt 3 ports, if that’s something you can take advantage of. On the other hand, AMD offers overclocking on its cheaper B-series chipset, which allows budget builders to get the most performance out of their machine.

AMD is the better option for desktops these days, but that could change soon. Intel is expected to launch its Alder Lake hybrid processors in late 2021. This new architecture combines two types of cores to increase the number of cores, and rumors suggest they can run much faster than Intel’s current offering.

High-end desktop

Laptop processors

The laptop market is a completely different story. Most of the notebooks you’ll find are based on different generations of Intel processors and integrated graphics. As a Dell representative once pointed out, Intel’s portfolio is simply huge compared to AMD’s, and its current range of laptops and their processors are better than ever.

Where the development of Intel desktop processors has slowed down in recent years, its mobile upgrades are much more exciting. Ice Lake processors introduced a more efficient design with much more efficient 11th generation graphics, offering enough performance to play a lot of esports games at around 60 frames per second (fps) without the need for a graphics card. Tiger Lake 11th generation mobile processors only further, such as the one found in the Acer Swift 5.

For even greater overall computing power, Intel offers Tiger Lake H processors. These high-performance chips use the Tiger Lake design, but push the limits of power further, offering faster clock speeds and more cores. Tiger Lake H chips can be found on high-end gaming laptops such as the Razer Blade 15. In mid-2021, there will also be many machines equipped with a 10th Gen Intel processor based on the Comet Lake project. These machines often come at a discount compared to their Tiger Lake H counterparts.

The wide range of options and production support means that most laptops still offer Intel processors as standard, but like desktops, AMD is also making strides in the field of mobile devices.

The Acer Swift 3 and the 15-inch Surface Laptop 3 were among the first examples of AMD’s recent mobile advances, and while they weren’t outstanding, they proved to be promising. That emphasis continued into 2020, with more powerful releases like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 serving as a launch pad for new AMD Ryzen 4000 laptop chipsets. Lenovo refreshed its Legion gaming laptops in July 2020 with Ryzen 4000 mobile processors, pairing them with RTX 20 series graphics. Now there are dozens of options worth considering.

AMD announced its Ryzen 5000 processors for mobile devices at CES 2021, bringing the new Zen 3 architecture to thin and light laptops. These processors can be found in trimming machines such as the HP Pavilion Aero 13 and the HP Envy x360 15.

Anandtech noted that the 35-watt Ryzen 5980HS achieved performance levels of the Ryzen 5 5600X desktop in rendering tests, far surpassing the Ryzen 4000 and everything Intel has to offer today. Like the desktop Ryzen 5000, the new mobile line seems to be at the top of the charts.

Other benchmarks show similarly impressive performance. The octa-core Ryzen 9 5900HS beats the Intel i9-10980HK, which is one of the most powerful mobile processors available today. AMD chips are competitive with Intel in laptops. That said, you’re still more likely to find an Intel CPU, making this market easy to win for Team Blue.

Both AMD and Intel offer reliable performance for work and play, and there’s a lot more to consider than the CPU when purchasing a laptop, so browsing through individual model reviews is a must. This is especially true in 2021 as the Ryzen 5000 mobile platform is challenging Intel’s longtime mobile throne.

We are seeing higher power consumption by Intel chips across the board. For example, the i9-12900K has an average of around 200 watts in the y-cruncher and handbrake power, while in the BMW blender it reaches an average of 250 watts.

Intel vs AMD – Laptop processors

The competition between Intel and AMD is not just about the desktop space, as it is also about the laptop market. However, the argument is not always clear-cut here, because processors are integrated with systems built by other manufacturers.

One problem is that third-party vendors like to contract and remain loyal to certain processor vendors. For example, Dell XPS and Razer Blade 15 laptops are currently only available with Intel processor configurations.

Since the CPU is only one component of a laptop, it shouldn’t be the only factor in your purchasing decision; you have to consider the design, display, storage and whether you also need a graphics card. That said, choosing the right processor is still very important as no one wants a sluggish system that takes age to load a website or open an application.

Intel’s 11th-generation mobile chips (Tiger Lake) are the latest laptop processors on the blue side. They were only introduced to the market late last year, so laptops with an Intel processor still hit the market.

The most impressive Tiger Lake chips are probably the ones with the G suffix on the SKU, as they have respectable integrated graphics that can run selected video games without the need for a separate graphics card. This can be useful for those who want a laptop for work but enjoy playing Apex Legends and Fortnite on their side.

If you need a laptop for content creation or gaming, Intel also offers a variant of its Tiger Lake H-series chips, achieving higher CPU speeds for better performance. However, these processors currently have a maximum power of 35W, so we’re still waiting for Intel to release the most powerful chips for 11th generation laptops for gaming and the like.

With all of these different SKU branches, Intel’s notebook processor lineup is undeniably confusing. Fortunately, AMD takes a more simplistic approach as all Ryzen 5000 chips for laptops offer both mind-blowing processing speeds and integrated, game-ready graphics.

Ryzen 5000 laptop processors appeared earlier this year and are gradually appearing in more and more laptops including the latest iteration of the Zephyrus G14. It will be a while for Ryzen 5000 laptops to hit the stores massively, so it’s far too early to judge which one is the best, but the first signs show that both processor options are fantastic.

It should also be mentioned that there is now a third major player in the mobile processor market: Apple. The MacBook series is currently in the process of abandoning Intel chips in favor of new Apple Silicon processors, and the incredibly high performance of the new M1 chip in the MacBook Air proves that Apple was right to take this ambitious step.

Neither AMD nor Intel can currently compete with Apple Silicon’s performance levels. If you want the most powerful ultraportable laptop now, look no further than the MacBook Air.

AMD vs Intel – Which is better?

strictly speaking, there is no unique winner here as it really just depends on how you intend to use your system.

In fact, the new Intel Rocket Lake desktop processors are quite disappointing, but the likes of the Intel Core i5-11600K still prove to be an excellent option for high-end gaming. And while AMD is certainly still competitive in the gaming market, it excels more in the content creation market where high multi-threaded performance is prized the most.

The laptop scene is a bit more complicated as both the Intel Tiger Lake and Ryzen 5000 systems are just starting to infiltrate the stores. Both series of mobile processors look very impressive, so you shouldn’t be disappointed with either option, although the appeal of the Apple M1 chip cannot be ignored.

Just make sure the specs match your requirements as it doesn’t make sense to buy a juggernaut chip if you just want to browse the internet and watch Netflix. And don’t take the CPU as the most important factor when purchasing a laptop as there are many other important factors to consider.

With the introduction of the 12th generation processors, Intel increases the performance advantage over the 11th generation Ryzen and Intel processors. The margin is small, but it is there. That said, Alder Lake’s P-core and E-core architecture add one more factor to an already complex CPU selection scenario.

Pricing and Availability

When it comes to pricing, it’s safe to say that you’ll essentially spend the same amount on downloading the CPU itself. Intel suggests a maximum retail price of the Core i5-12600K of $ 299, which is also the retail price of the Ryzen 5 5600X in the market. The Intel Core i5-12600K outperforms the Ryzen 5 5600X at the same price, but that’s more. The initial cost to get into the platform is much higher for an Intel chip. You’ll need a new motherboard, new DDR5 memory to get the performance out of the chip, as well as a new CPU cooler.

For the Ryzen 5 5600X, you have to pay for a new chip if you are upgrading an existing system. You can use existing AMD motherboards and use the same DDR4 RAM kits for this chip. Heck, AMD also includes a CPU cooler for the Ryzen 5 5600X, which is pretty good on its own if you’re going to overclock and push the CPU boundaries beyond its standard settings. Both are now readily available in the market with a healthy amount of stock from what we can see in various online stores.

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X vs Intel Core i5-12600K: Final Thoughts

If you don’t mind paying a higher price to enter the platform, we consider the Intel Core i5-12600K to be obvious here. This processor will keep you well prepared for many years to come and is a fantastic processor for both gaming and content creation. The Ryzen 5 5600X dominates on its own terrain. The Intel Core i5-12600K is our pick of the best processor you can buy in the market right now. However, that doesn’t mean the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X is a bad processor. This particular processor is also not humpbacked. It may not be as powerful as 12600K, but it draws less power and keeps thermals under control. Choosing this processor is cheaper than the Core i5-12600K, but you won’t be able to enjoy the benefits of DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 support.

Well, that sums up the comparison between the Ryzen 5 5600X and the Intel Core i5-12600K. If you’re leaning towards a high-end PC, you can check out our Intel Core i9-12900K vs AMD Ryzen 9 5950X comparison to find out which one is the better high-end CPU on the market right now.