AMD’s Ryzen 5 processors have officially launched

AMD is keeping the Ryzen ball rolling this week as its new Ryzen 5 processors are now officially available. Reviews are live and retailers have stock, meaning AMD is now ready to take on Intel's Core i5 lineup with its impressive new architecture.

We have already reviewed the Ryzen 5 1600X and Ryzen 5 1500X processors, coming away with positive impressions. However, for those of you who prefer to buy prebuilt systems, we also have a review up of the Chillblast Fusion Hex system, featuring AMD's Ryzen 5 1600 CPU and a GTX 1070.

For those of you wondering about core counts, clock speeds and pricing, this table shows details all of that:

CPU Model	Cores/Threads	Base/Boost Clock Speeds (GHz)	XFR Clock Speed (GHz)	TDP (Watts)	Pricing
Ryzen 5 1600X	6C/12T	3.6/4.0	4.1	95	£249/$249
Ryzen 5 1600	6C/12T	3.2/3.6	3.7	65	£219/$219
Ryzen 5 1500X	4C/8T	3.5/3.7	3.9	65	£189/$189
Ryzen 5 1400	4C/8T	3.2/3.4	3.45	65	£169/$169

All of the CPUs listed are available from today onwards. However, if you are buying a Ryzen 5 1600X, then you will need to budget for your own CPU cooler as it is the only processor in the range to not include a stock one. All Ryzen 5 CPUs support Simultaneous Multithreading Technology, which is AMD's equivalent to Hyper-Threading. All of these CPUs will also run on X370, B350 and A320 motherboards, which are already available.

Be sure to check out our full reviews for more details on performance in compute tasks and gaming, alongside details on thermals and power draw.

KitGuru Says: Both Luke and Dom seem to be impressed with what Ryzen 5 has to offer. They do seem like good value when pitted against Intel's Core i5 lineup. Are any of you guys looking to make the jump to Ryzen?  Have you been waiting on the Ryzen 5 launch to make your decision?

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