Question Ryzen 5600X or 5800X? Unable to choose.

Jayce98

Prominent
Jan 1, 2022
21
0
510
Hi everyone!

So I've been torn between the two, and after much research, I still haven't been able to decide.

The 5600X is on sale for $349 CAD, while the 5800X is also on sale for $439 CAD (so $90 difference)

I will be using the machine for some gaming, but I also multitask a lot with various apps, while also switching between back and fourth in games.

If anyone can point me to the right one, it would be appreciated as I'm currently 50/50 on both.

Thanks!
 

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Mind sharing the list of your apps with mentioning an etc in there? I'd pick the latter if you have the funds and you're going to be doing more than just gaming, like content creation(and streaming). If not, you're fine with former. Make and model of the motherboard and rams you're going to pair said processor?
 

kanewolf

Titan
Moderator
Hi everyone!

So I've been torn between the two, and after much research, I still haven't been able to decide.

The 5600X is on sale for $349 CAD, while the 5800X is also on sale for $439 CAD (so $90 difference)

I will be using the machine for some gaming, but I also multitask a lot with various apps, while also switching between back and fourth in games.

If anyone can point me to the right one, it would be appreciated as I'm currently 50/50 on both.

Thanks!
Most "multitasking" that humans do is just having multiple programs open at once. Not really a heavy tax on the CPU. RAM is more important for that use-case.
 

Jayce98

Prominent
Jan 1, 2022
21
0
510
As for as apps go, nothing crazy. I use MS Office, Photoshop, a little sound editing, but a lot of multitasking in general (I notice the stuttering and the lag / loading times of things, but I'm also still on my legacy Core I7-920 machine, so I have no doubt either pick will be a massive upgrade).

For the motherboard, I haven't been able to find an appropriate one yet. I hadn't realized most of the X570 boards have that god awful chipset fan, not only for the noise, but the possibility of having it die down the road (and they are usually non-standard sizes designed for that specific motherboard, I imagine). I don't really want to go down to the budget B550 or B450 boards, but I also don't want to spend the $380-$500+ for the X570s boards either just to have a passively cooled chipset.

I already have the RAM which is the Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4-3200 and a Samsung 980 Pro 1TB SSD.
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
I'd stay away from the 'budget' B550 boards, they lack much in the way of VRM and other voltage regulatory circuitry cooling.

Chipset fan on the Asus ROG x570i I have is not heard. It only spins up high enough when the pc is pushed and even the Noctua fans are louder at that point.

As for the higher-end B550 mobo's vs X570, the biggest difference for me other than pcie4.0 use, was the usb type-C header. B550's have it for front panel, X570's were out before cases started really using it, so don't have it. If you have a use for that particular header, go with a B550.

Personally, I'd opt for the 5800x. It's better binned silicon. A 5600x is nothing but a 5800x that had a failed core so amd nixxed the 2 worst cores and leaves you the better 6. The 5800x has higher standards to pass.

There's always tomorrow. Today, PS and Adobe mostly have higher single thread needs, but stuff like Arnold has very high core usage as does other compression/decompression, rendering software. That's not to say that tomorrow is going to be the same. Last version of Adobe didn't scale well past 8 threads, the new version is opposite, which really changed the listing for Intel vs Ryzen standing.
 

Jayce98

Prominent
Jan 1, 2022
21
0
510
I'd stay away from the 'budget' B550 boards, they lack much in the way of VRM and other voltage regulatory circuitry cooling.

Chipset fan on the Asus ROG x570i I have is not heard. It only spins up high enough when the pc is pushed and even the Noctua fans are louder at that point.

As for the higher-end B550 mobo's vs X570, the biggest difference for me other than pcie4.0 use, was the usb type-C header. B550's have it for front panel, X570's were out before cases started really using it, so don't have it. If you have a use for that particular header, go with a B550.

Personally, I'd opt for the 5800x. It's better binned silicon. A 5600x is nothing but a 5800x that had a failed core so amd nixxed the 2 worst cores and leaves you the better 6. The 5800x has higher standards to pass.

There's always tomorrow. Today, PS and Adobe mostly have higher single thread needs, but stuff like Arnold has very high core usage as does other compression/decompression, rendering software. That's not to say that tomorrow is going to be the same. Last version of Adobe didn't scale well past 8 threads, the new version is opposite, which really changed the listing for Intel vs Ryzen standing.

I am leaning a little more toward the 5800X now to be honest.

Do you have any suggestions for a standard ATX board? I honestly likely won't use the front USB-C port all that much, so that's not an issue. There's a lot of choices in the X570 range, and a select few in the X570S range (albeit, I haven't seen one affordably priced). It's been quite some time since I last built a new machine, so as far as brands go, I'm not sure which is the preferred for quality and features. I mostly see ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte, and ASRock, but I'm sure there are others.

One thing I really look for is power in silence, so I scrutinize all parts to make sure they are as quiet as possible. High pitched whining or jet engine sounding fans are definitely a pet peeve, and I am usually willing to spend a little extra for quiet hardware.

On a side note: Has there been any word on the upcoming Zen 3+ and how they will be versus the current 5000 series? Wondering if it would be worth waiting for or just take the sale on the 5800X now.
 
Last edited:
I guess it depends on what you want to use the system for, gaming, the 5600x will do the job just fine paired with an mid-higher end card, but once you start going with 3080 like performance, some games like Battlefield will start to perform a little better on the 5800x.

If $90 difference is a little too much to stretch for you, maybe look into a 5700G, it doesn't really overclock as high as the 5800x, but its vary close, still has 16 threads and has onboard video and is usually cheaper, which could be useful
 
I am leaning a little more toward the 5800X now to be honest.
....
On a side note: Has there been any word on the upcoming Zen 3+ and how they will be versus the current 5000 series? Wondering if it would be worth waiting for or just take the sale on the 5800X now.
IMO if you've need of the 8 core/16 thread CPU you'd know it so most likely all you need is the 5600X. But if the extra cost isn't a burden it can be nice to have a 5800X anyway so why not. If you live close enough to a Microcenter they often put them on sale as low as $299.

Good ATX boards include Asus TUF B550 Gaming Plus; I've a 5800X on the mATX variant of that running an optimized PBO2 and it remains utterly unfazed under any work load. Also good choice is Strix B550-F and MSI's MPG B550 Gaming plus or B550 Tomahawk with an over-kill strong VRM.

Be careful about some of the upper tier boards as they tend to have special features that add considerable to cost. But if you do have need of the features they're great to have.

I've not seen anything about what will be required for the Zen 3D processors...or their prices. I expect we'll find out fairly soon...probably at CES. While precise performance numbers are equally unclear if they deliver the promised 15% IPC uplift in a similar power envelope I expect them to reclaim the specious title of 'gaming king'. But right now, it is still a mystery to be unveiled.

EDIT: for a quiet PC consider carefully your case. It must have excellent ventilation or the biggest, baddest CPU cooler you can get will be using the GPU's hot exhaust to heat up the CPU instead. Look for an open, mesh type front panel so fans can spin relatively slowly and quietly. Glass fronts look cool with the RGB spinning in back but the obstruction makes for noisy airflow even with high-end quiet fans.
 
Last edited:

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
Many years ago, I bought an i5-3570K not long after release. Which at the time was touted as the best value gaming cpu and $100 cheaper than the i7-3770K, whose only real difference was Hyperthreading. A year later, prices had dropped, 4th gen about to be released, the i7 just $50 more. So I built another pc with an i7.

And then games changed. Battlefield 4 changed everything. No more reliance on 4 threads or less, no more reliance on high single thread workloads. Even the FX3850 was barely behind an i7-4790k in fps, and ahead of the i5-4690K. My i5 quickly became obsolete, all of the 4 thread cpus did shortly after. The i7's 8 threads sustained many years, only retired 2 years ago. Overall, the i7 was far better value, I was still happily gaming while others had already upgraded to 4th gen, 6th gen, 7th gen i5's and then to 6 core cpus, wasting more money.

My theory is get the best you can justify. I'd not buy a 5950x, the realistic differences to a 5800x don't justify the cost overall. Between a 5600x and 5800x, if you aren't overly concerned with initial cost, the 5800x will remain viable longer, no matter what the software does. It's a longer term outlook vs what's good Now.

Silent pc's are easy. Over provisioning. Use the biggest quality cooler you can, the strongest gpu you can afford, the best airflow case you can stand to look at. Then under-volt.
 
Take a look at the intel 12th gen processors.
The i5-12600K sells for $380 on newegg.ca:
https://www.newegg.ca/intel-core-i5-12600k-core-i5-12th-gen/p/N82E16819118347
It has the same 16 threads and a passmark performance rating of 23949/3946.
The latter 3946 is the single thread rating which is most important for games.
The 5600X has 12 threads and a 22156/ 3382 rating.
the 5800X has 16 threads and a 28478/3495 rating.
On your current pc, run CPU-Z bench and look at the single thread result.
Then compare to this list:
http://valid.x86.fr/bench/bhgfiz/1
Here is a review of the 12600k:
https://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/core_i5_12600k_processor_review,21.html

12th gen works well with ddr4, you can reuse it.
3200 speed is fine for Intel; you would want 3600 speed for ryzen.
Multitasking primarily needs to have all active tasks resident in ram.
I would imagine 32gb would be plenty.

A Z690 ddr4 capable motherboard is not that expensive.
Here is a popular MSI Z690 A PRO DDR4 for $ 290:
https://www.newegg.ca/p/N82E16813144489

What is the make/model of your case?
That is what will likely determine how quiet your pc will be.
Noise comes from fast moving fans.
That will be from the graphics card and from the cpu cooler.
Big slower turning fans will be quieter.