Question I5 12600k or ryzen 7 5800x?

[Chris06]

Upgrading from an i5 6600k.

I'm intending to upgrade mainly for videogaming, not interested to use it for Video editing or such.

I have a budget of £300, I'm looking at pre owned cpus and mobos and I found a solid b550 strix-f with the Ryzen both costing £250, whereas the Intel and b660 prime costing £295.

For further information please don't hesitate to ask me as these cpus has been a rough decision to make for days.

 

[punkncat]

Being honest, go for the 12th gen. Not because I think that CPU is far better than the R7, but because the platform for the Ryzen is a dead end and there will be no future upgrade path. The 12 gen Intel (motherboard) will be good for a 13th gen, and if my understanding is correct also 14th gen updates, according to the motherboard.
If said idea is worthwhile to consider, select a high quality motherboard with good power delivery and expansion options to allow that system to grow and remain relevant.

 

[Nighthawk117]

I would probably lean towards the 12600K on the CPU side. However the B550 Strix-F is a better board than the B660 Prime.

 

[geofelt]

You probably could not tell any difference in performance.
I think the 12600K is marginally better for cpu intensive games due to the higher single thread passmark rating.
Run the cpu-Z bench on your 6600K and look at the single thread performance rating.
You should get a number like 518.

CPU-Z Benchmark for Intel Core i5-6600K (1T) - CPU-Z VALIDATOR

Best CPU performance - 64-bit - July 2025

valid.x86.fr

If one has intel now, I suggest an intel upgrade, all else being equal.
There is a learning curve switching to amd.

 

[Chris06]

You probably could not tell any difference in performance.
I think the 12600K is marginally better for cpu intensive games due to the higher single thread passmark rating.
Run the cpu-Z bench on your 6600K and look at the single thread performance rating.
You should get a number like 518.

CPU-Z Benchmark for Intel Core i5-6600K (1T) - CPU-Z VALIDATOR

Best CPU performance - 64-bit - July 2025

valid.x86.fr

If one has intel now, I suggest an intel upgrade, all else being equal.
There is a learning curve switching to amd.

Looking at the site the i5's single threat speed is so much higher, which I really like. Don't get me wrong, I've always been a Intel fan boy but what concerns me about the i5 has 6 performance cores and 4 efficient. If you think about, I will only be using the 6 cores because as I mentioned I don't have intentions of using cpu demanding apps like video editing, just pure gaming, whereas the Ryzen is an 8 core chip, making it more future proof for the videogame category.

 

[Chris06]

Being honest, go for the 12th gen. Not because I think that CPU is far better than the R7, but because the platform for the Ryzen is a dead end and there will be no future upgrade path. The 12 gen Intel (motherboard) will be good for a 13th gen, and if my understanding is correct also 14th gen updates, according to the motherboard.
If said idea is worthwhile to consider, select a high quality motherboard with good power delivery and expansion options to allow that system to grow and remain relevant.

I totally agree with your point, however If I'm honest I don't think I will have further intentions of upgrading the cpu after the i5 12600k. I bought the i5 6600k chip in 2017 second hand and had it Overclocked as much as possible since, still alive somehow lol. My point is, I would do the same thing with the 12600k and keep it for probably half a decade, which by then Intel would most likely have ditched the lga 1700 socket.

So if I'm going to keep the 12600k for half a decade, I assume I should save up for a higher end motherboard? Or my better bet is to stick with the Ryzen and high end strix b550 for £50 less altogether?

 

[Peter Ferrari]

12600k is a little faster indeed, but not a big difference.

 

[geofelt]

Looking at the site the i5's single threat speed is so much higher, which I really like. Don't get me wrong, I've always been a Intel fan boy but what concerns me about the i5 has 6 performance cores and 4 efficient. If you think about, I will only be using the 6 cores because as I mentioned I don't have intentions of using cpu demanding apps like video editing, just pure gaming, whereas the Ryzen is an 8 core chip, making it more future proof for the videogame category.

Those 6 performance cores are hyperthreaded giving you 12 performance threads .