AMD Ryzen 5 2600X – the CPU that does all the work for you

1. Introducing Ryzen 5 2600X2. Productivity Testing3. Games Testing4. Overclocking, Power and Heat5. Closing Thoughts6. View All Pages

AMD's 2nd Gen Ryzen makes marginal improvements over the original Ryzen and we have our doubts that the 12nm LP fabrication process delivers much benefit. The clever part of the revised CPU is the way that Precision Boost 2 pushes clock speeds close to the limits of the package. This means you get most of the potential performance without any effort as the CPU simply drops in the motherboard and works automatically to best effect.

On the other hand this means there is very little headroom left untapped for overclocking so our advice with Ryzen 5 2600X is that you should forget about overclocking. Performance of Ryzen 5 2600X builds on the superb Ryzen 5 1600X and delivers in all areas. You can do proper work such as video editing and can also play games as well, naturally, as the usual day-to-day PC chores.

Having said that, if your life leads towards gaming you will find the 5GHz performance of an overclocked Core i5 leaves Ryzen 5 trailing in game play.

When it comes to a buying decision we find ourselves in a similar position to our conclusion with the Ryzen 7 2700X. It makes no sense to upgrade an existing Ryzen 5 to the 2600X, although an upgrade from Ryzen 3 might be a good idea. If you currently own a Core i5 or Core i7 PC we doubt you will want to make the leap to Ryzen 5 2600X.

Where the new Ryzen 5 CPU stands out is for anyone looking to buy a new budget PC that is a good all-rounder that can perform in every area. When you add in a requirement of good value for money that sounds like an unfair request yet Ryzen 5 2600X can deliver on that promise.

Ryzen 5 2600X offers marginal improvements over Ryzen 5 1600X which might not sound like a vote of confidence but the fact of the matter is that 1600X was very good and 2600X is even better.

Buy from Overclockers UK for £209.99 inc vat HERE

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Pros:

• Precision Boost 2 delivers maximum performance.
• Soldered heat spreader helps cooling.
• 6 cores and 12 threads run at 4GHz.
• Cheaper than Core i5-8600K.
• Socket AM4 will be around for some years to come.

Cons:

• Intel 8th Gen is better for gaming.
• AMD Ryzen power draw is rather too high at idle.
• 12nm LP process is unimpressive.
• Overclockers have no headroom to play with.

KitGuru says: Ryzen 5 2600X offer superb all-round performance at low cost.

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