Tag Archives: AMD StoreMI

MSI B450 Tomahawk + MSI B450A-Pro Preview

Excited about the upcoming GIGABYTE B450 AORUS PRO WiFi motherboard? It’s not the only AMD B450 motherboard we saw at .Computex 2018. Let’s take a look at two upcoming MSI B450 motherboard models – the MSI B450 Tomahawk and the MSI B450A-Pro!

Find out if these are the AMD B450 motherboards to pair with your 2nd Gen Ryzen processor!

 

AMD B450 Chipset

The GIGABYTE B450 AORUS PRO WIFI motherboard is based on the upcoming AMD B450 chipset slated to launch in July 2018.

The AMD B450 motherboard is an improved version of the B350 chipset, featuring better memory routing and optimised VRM and power layouts, delivering lower idle power. It will also come with AMD StoreMI – a free OEM licensed copy of Enmotus FuzeDrive Basic.

 

The MSI B450A-Pro + MSI B450 Tomahawk Preview

Both the MSI B450 Tomahawk and MSI B450A-Pro are full-sized ATX motherboards. They both have common features like :

  • a 4+2 power phase design
  • four DDR4 memory slots that support speeds of up to 2933 MHz (with 2nd Gen Ryzen processor)
  • two PCIe 3.0 x16 slots, albeit only the main one have full x16 performance
  • one M.2 slot (up to 110 mm) and six SATA ports
  • one free AMD StoreMI license

The MSI B450 Tomahawk is a bit more expensive at $150 / €128 / RM 600. It has 26% larger heatsinks, that MSI claims will reduce temperature by 10 °C. It comes with a USB-C portthree PCI Express x1 slots, and DVI and HDMI ports (for use with Ryzen desktop APUs).

The.MSI B450A-Pro is cheaper at $100 / €85 / RM 400, but lacks an I/O cover and a USB-C port. It comes with four PCI Express x1 slots, and VGA, DVI and HDMI ports (for use with Ryzen desktop APUs).

So what do YOU think? Are these MSI B450 motherboards a good fit for your 2nd Gen Ryzen processor, or do you prefer the GIGABYTE B450 AORUS PRO WiFi?

 

Suggested Reading

[adrotate group=”2″]

Go Back To > Computer Hardware + Systems | Home

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Octa-Core Processor Review

AMD first showed us the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X at an exclusive tech briefing in March. Now, we have the opportunity to test it out for ourselves. So how fast is the new AMD Ryzen 7 2700X? What exactly does it offer over its predecessors? Find out in our review of this new 2nd Gen Ryzen processor!

 

AMD Pinnacle Ridge

Codenamed Pinnacle Ridge, the 2nd Gen AMD Ryzen processors are based on an improved Zen microarchitecture, what AMD calls the AMD Zen+ microarchitecture. In addition, they’re fabricated on the 12 nm LP process technology.

AMD categorise them as part of the AMD Ryzen 2000 Series. This may be a little confusing since the AMD Raven Ridge APUs are also in the same series, even though they are based on the first-generation Ryzen processors, and fabricated on the original 14 nm process.

 

The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Specifications Compared

SpecificationsRyzen 7 2700XRyzen 7 2700Ryzen 5 2600XRyzen 5 2600Ryzen 5 2400GRyzen 3 2200G
Code NamePinnacle RidgePinnacle RidgePinnacle RidgePinnacle RidgeRaven RidgeRaven Ridge
SocketAM4AM4AM4AM4AM4AM4
Process Technology12 nm FinFET12 nm FinFET12 nm FinFET12 nm FinFET14 nm FinFET14 nm FinFET
Cores / Threads8 / 168 / 166 / 126 / 124 / 84 / 4
Base Clock3.7 GHz3.2 GHz3.6 GHz3.4 GHz3.60 GHz3.50 GHz
Boost Clock4.3 GHz4.1 GHz4.2 GHz3.9 GHz3.90 GHz3.70 GHz
L2 Cache4 MB4 MB3 MB3 MB2 MB2 MB
L3 Cache16 MB16 MB16 MB16 MB4 MB4 MB
Integrated GPUNoneNoneNoneNoneRadeon RX Vega 11Radeon Vega 8
PCIe Lanes1616161688
Max. DDR4 SpeedDDR4-2933DDR4-2933DDR4-2933DDR4-2933DDR4-2933DDR4-2933
TDP105 W65 W95 W65 W65 W65 W
Bundled CoolerWraith PrismWraith Spire (LED)Wraith SpireWraith StealthWraith StealthWraith Stealth
Launch PriceUS$ 329US$ 299US$ 229US$ 199US$ 169US$ 99
[adrotate group=”1″]

 

Unboxing The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X

The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) comes bundled with the new AMD Wraith Prism cooler, which features a rainbow LED ring and illuminated fan blades. Let’s unbox it, and see what we find inside!

Here is what you will find inside the box :

  • The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X CPU and case badge
  • The AMD Wraith Prism cooler, with two cables
  • An AMD CPU installation guide, and certificate of authenticity (missing in our box)

Next Page > AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Key Feature, Price + Availability

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Processor

The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) processor is the top-of-the-line Ryzen 7 model. It has eight Ryzen processor cores, with a 3.7 GHz base clock, and a 4.3 GHz boost clock. It supports SMT (simultaneous multi-threading), and can therefore handle 16 threads simultaneously.

The Ryzen 7 2700X is positioned just under the Ryzen 7 1800X, which could mean a Ryzen 7 2800X is in the pipeline.

 

AMD Zen+ Microarchitecture

The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) is based on the improved AMD Zen+ microarchitecture, which delivers slightly better performance, and lower cache and memory latencies :

  • 3% more 1T IPC (instructions per second)
  • 13% lower L1 cache latency
  • 34% lower L2 cache latency
  • 16% lower L3 cache latency
  • 11% lower memory latency
  • Official support for JEDEC DDR4-2933

 

12 nm Process Technology

The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) is fabricated using the 12 nm LP (Leading Performance)  process technology from GlobalFoundries. While the die size and transistor count remain the same, the smaller transistors allow :

[adrotate group=”2″]
  • top clock speed increased by 250 MHz
  • “all core” now overclock around 4.2 GHz
  • CPU voltage is reduced by about 50 mV at all clock speeds
  • up to 11% lower power consumption, compared to 14 nm
  • up to 16% better performance per watt, compared to 14 nm

 

Precision Boost 2

The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) supports the improved Precision Boost 2, whose more graceful and linear boost algorithm allows them to “boost more cores, more often, on more workloads“. It can change frequencies in very fine granularity of just 25 MHz.

This will allow the Pinnacle Ridge processors to perform better with apps and games that spawn many lightweight threads, as opposed to apps with persistent loads (e.g. video editing and 3D rendering).

 

Precision Boost Overdrive

AMD will introduce Precision Boost Overdrive in the future. The motherboard will be able to communicate its actual capabilities to the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) processor, allowing for better boost profiles and a relaxed vcore limiter with better motherboards.

 

Extended Frequency Range 2 (XFR 2)

XFR 2 boosts the 2nd Gen Ryzen processor’s performance by 4-7%, depending on the performance of the installed CPU cooler.

Next Page > More AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Features, Price + Availability

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Soldered IHS

The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) processor features soldered heatspreaders, using premium indium alloy solder. This allows die temperatures to be reduced by 10°C.

 

AMD StoreMI

AMD StoreMI Technology is an OEM version of the Enmotus FuzeDrive Basic. It combines all of your storage drives into a single virtual storage drive. It can even add up to 2 GB of DDR4 memory as a very fast cache to the combined drive.

The software than automatically assigns frequently used data blocks to the fastest storage devices, optimising your storage devices to deliver the best performance possible.

 

AMD X470 Chipset

AMD introduced the new X470 chipset to offer better overclocking for the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors. Here is our Ryzen 7 2700X (Pr1ice Check) running on the X470 AORUS Gaming 7 WiFi (Price Check) motherboard.

However, this does not mean you will actually need to buy an AMD X470 motherboard. The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) processor will work with all existing AMD 300-series motherboards, with one caveat – the motherboard must be upgraded with the latest BIOS update to support the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors.

 

AMD Wraith Prism

The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) comes with a new cooler – the AMD Wraith Prism. This is an upgraded version of the AMD Wraith Max cooler with heat pipes that are in direct contact with the CPU for better performance, and a rainbow LED ring.

It uses a 7-blade fan, with a maximum noise level of 39 dBA. The fan blades are LED-illuminated, but you can turn off the lights.

[adrotate group=”1″]

 

AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Price + Availability

The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X is priced at US$ 329 / RM 1,559. Here are some purchase links for your convenience :

  • AMD Ryzen 7 2700X : US$ 329
  • Cyberpower PC Gamer Supreme (Ryzen 7 2700X, GeForce GTX 1080, 32 GB RAM, 240 GB SSD + 2 TB HDD) : $2,289.99
  • X470 AORUS Gaming 7 WiFi motherboard : US$ 239

It is available for pre-orders starting 13 April 2018 (9 AM EDT), with on-shelf availability on 19 April 2018.

Next Page > Benchmarking AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, 3D Rendering Performance

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Benchmarking The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X

In this review, we will take a look at the work and gaming performance of the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, comparing it to 6 other processors :

Here is a quick comparison of their key specifications

Cores /
Threads
Base Clock Boost Clock L2 Cache L3 Cache Memory
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 8 / 16 3.7 GHz 4.3 GHz 4 MB 16 MB DDR4-2933
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X 8 / 16 3.6 GHz 4.0 GHz 4 MB 16 MB DDR4-2666
Intel Core i7-8700K 6 / 12 3.7 GHz 4.7 GHz 1.5 MB 12 MB DDR4-2666
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 6 / 12 3.6 GHz 4.2 GHz 3 MB 16 MB DDR4-2933
AMD Ryzen 5 1600X 6 / 12 3.6 GHz 4.0 GHz 3 MB 16 MB DDR4-2666
AMD Ryzen 5 2400G 4 / 8 3.6 GHz 3.9 GHz 2 MB 4 MB DDR4-2933
AMD Ryzen 3 2200G 4 / 4 3.5 GHz 3.7 GHz 2 MB 4 MB DDR4-2933

Here are the specifications of the Intel and AMD testbeds we used.

Intel Testbed AMD Testbeds
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix Z370-F-Gaming GIGABYTE X470 AORUS Gaming-7 WiFi
ASRock AB350 Gaming K4
Memory Speed Corsair Vengeance LPX
DDR4-2666 (4 GB x 2)
G.SKILL Sniper X DDR4-3400 (4 GB x 2)
Corsair Vengeance LPX
DDR4-2666 (4 GB x 2)
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
(GeForce 391.35)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
(GeForce 391.35)
Storage Western Digital Black² Western Digital Black²
Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)

Note : The motherboard BIOSes were all updated, and so was Windows 10, to ensure that all Spectre and Meltdown mitigations are in effect.

 

3D Rendering Speed – CINEBENCH R15

CINEBENCH R15 is a real-world 3D rendering benchmark based on the MAXON Cinema 4D animation software. This is a great way to accurately determine the actual performance of a processor in 3D content creation.

CINEBENCH R15 Single Core

This Single Core test is not reflective of real world performance, but it is useful to find out the performance of the individual core.

The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) has a 300 MHz (7.5%) boost clock advantage over the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check) and Ryzen 5 1600X (Price Check) processors. However, it is 14% faster than both processors.

This is due to the internal improvements made to the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors, which almost doubled the boost clock advantage in this test. Otherwise, it would have scored only 163 cb.

CINEBENCH R15 Multi Core

The Multi-Core test shows the processor’s real-world 3D rendering performance.

With all 8 cores firing, the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) is 11.5% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check). This performance advantage can be attributed to the slightly higher clock speed, XFR 2 and the internal improvements in the Zen+ microarchitecture.

[adrotate group=”1″]

Multi-Threading Boost

This is not a CINEBENCH benchmark result. The Multi-Threading Boost is our calculation of the performance boost that the processor’s Multi-Threading capability provides. It is based on the MP Ratio and the number of physical cores.

Surprisingly, the multi-threading capability of the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) is 10% lower than that of the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check).

Next Page > Video Transcoding Speed + Radial Blur Speed

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Video Transcoding Speed – HandBrake

HandBrake is a free, open-source video transcoding utility. Video transcoding basically converts a video file from one resolution / format to another. As you can imagine, it’s very compute-intensive. In our test, we converted a 4K video of 1.3 GB in size into a 1080p video (HQ1080p30).

The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) did very well in this test, transcoding the video 40 seconds (16%) faster than the next best processors – the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check), and the Intel Core i7-8700K (Price Check).

[adrotate group=”1″]

 

Radial Blur Speed – Photoshop CC 14

The radial blur filter adds the perception of motion to a picture. This is a compute-intensive operation that benefits from multiple processing cores. This radial blur test was performed on a single 13.5 megapixel photo, with a filesize of 4,910,867 bytes.

Look at that! The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) was a whopping 34% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check), and 39% faster than the Intel Core i7-8700K (Price Check).

Next Page > AOTS + Warhammer Gaming Performance

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Ashes of the Singularity

In the RTS game, Ashes of the Singularity, the single core CPU performance has a significant effect on the actual frame rate. We tested the cards using the Normal setting preset.

1080p Gaming Resolution

Thanks to its improved single-core performance, the Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) was 6% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check) it replaces. However, it is still 23% slower than the Intel Core i7-8700K (Price Check).

1440p Gaming Resolution

At the higher 1440p resolution, the Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) was 8.5% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check), and 22% slower than the Intel Core i7-8700K (Price Check).

2160p Gaming Resolution

Little changed when we increased the resolution further. The Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) was 5.5% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check), and 22% slower than the Intel Core i7-8700K (Price Check).

[adrotate group=”1″]

 

Total War: Warhammer

Like Ashes of the Singularity, the single core performance is crucial in Total War: Warhammer.

1080p Gaming Resolution

The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) was, surprisingly, slightly slower than the Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check). However, it was 6% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check) it replaces.

1440p Gaming Resolution

At the higher resolution of 1440p, the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) tied with the Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check). They were both 6% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check).

2160p Gaming Resolution

AT 2160p, the Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) continued to tie with the Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check). They were now just 2.4% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check).

Next Page > For Honor Gaming Performance, Our Verdict & Award

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

For Honor

We tested For Honor using the Medium settings.

1080p Gaming Resolution

The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) was 5.5% slower than the Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check). However, it was 7% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check) it replaces.

1440p Gaming Resolution

Things flipped at the higher resolution of 1440p. The Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check) was now very slightly faster than the Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check).

2160p Gaming Resolution

At the 2160p resolution, For Honor was graphics-limited. The CPU played only a minimal role in the frame rate. The fastest processor – the AMD Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check) only delivered a 5% higher frame rate than the slowest processor – AMD Ryzen 5 2400G.

[adrotate group=”1″]

 

Our Verdict On The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X

The AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) is not only faster than the AMD Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check), it is also cheaper and offers more value.

Priced at just US$ 329 / RM 1,559, the Ryzen 7 2700X is $20 cheaper, and now comes with an AMD Wraith Prism cooler! This is going to significantly impact the appeal of the 8th Generation Intel Core processors, codenamed Coffee Lake.

But make no mistake – the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) is a refined, faster version of the AMD Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check). It is faster and more power-efficient, but not significantly so. The Ryzen Effect forced Intel to buck the hell up, but AMD is under no pressure to do the same.

What does this mean for you?

  • If you currently own a first-generation AMD Ryzen 7 processor, it would not make much sense to upgrade to the Ryzen 7 2700X.
  • If you currently own a first-generation AMD Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 3 processor, the Ryzen 7 2700X is a good upgrade option, offering a significant boost in performance.
  • If you are using an older / slower processor (pre-Ryzen, 6th Gen Intel Core or earlier), the Ryzen 7 2700X would make a great upgrade option, with great value for your money.

What AMD brought to the table with the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check) is not shock and awe, but refinement and even more value for your money. By our books, that’s worthy of our Reviewer’s Choice Award!

 

Suggested Reading

Go Back To > First PageReviews | Home

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Hexa-Core Processor Review

The AMD Ryzen 5 1600X was a very impressive processor when it first launched. Now, AMD has just introduced its successor – the AMD Ryzen 5 2600X. How fast is it? What exactly does it offer over its predecessor? Find out in our review of this new 2nd Gen Ryzen processor!

 

AMD Pinnacle Ridge

Codenamed Pinnacle Ridge, the 2nd Gen AMD Ryzen processors are based on an improved Zen microarchitecture, what AMD calls the AMD Zen+ microarchitecture. In addition, they’re fabricated on the 12 nm LP process technology.

AMD categorise them as part of the AMD Ryzen 2000 Series. This may be a little confusing since the AMD Raven Ridge APUs are also in the same series, even though they are based on the first-generation Ryzen processors, and fabricated on the original 14 nm process.

 

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Specifications Compared

SpecificationsRyzen 7 2700XRyzen 7 2700Ryzen 5 2600XRyzen 5 2600Ryzen 5 2400GRyzen 3 2200G
Code NamePinnacle RidgePinnacle RidgePinnacle RidgePinnacle RidgeRaven RidgeRaven Ridge
SocketAM4AM4AM4AM4AM4AM4
Process Technology12 nm FinFET12 nm FinFET12 nm FinFET12 nm FinFET14 nm FinFET14 nm FinFET
Cores / Threads8 / 168 / 166 / 126 / 124 / 84 / 4
Base Clock3.7 GHz3.2 GHz3.6 GHz3.4 GHz3.60 GHz3.50 GHz
Boost Clock4.3 GHz4.1 GHz4.2 GHz3.9 GHz3.90 GHz3.70 GHz
L2 Cache4 MB4 MB3 MB3 MB2 MB2 MB
L3 Cache16 MB16 MB16 MB16 MB4 MB4 MB
Integrated GPUNoneNoneNoneNoneRadeon RX Vega 11Radeon Vega 8
PCIe Lanes1616161688
Max. DDR4 SpeedDDR4-2933DDR4-2933DDR4-2933DDR4-2933DDR4-2933DDR4-2933
TDP105 W65 W95 W65 W65 W65 W
Bundled CoolerWraith PrismWraith Spire (LED)Wraith SpireWraith StealthWraith StealthWraith Stealth
Launch PriceUS$ 329US$ 299US$ 229US$ 199US$ 169US$ 99
[adrotate group=”1″]

 

Unboxing The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) comes bundled with an AMD Wraith Spire cooler, albeit without an LED ring. Let’s unbox it, and see what we find inside!

Here is what you will find inside the box :

  • The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X CPU and case badge
  • The AMD Wraith Spire cooler
  • An AMD CPU installation guide, and certificate of authenticity

Next Page > AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Key Features, Price + Availability

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Processor Up Close!

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) processor is the top-of-the-line Ryzen 5 model. It has six Ryzen processor cores, with a 3.6 GHz base clock, and a 4.2 GHz boost clock. It supports SMT (simultaneous multi-threading), and can therefore handle 12 threads simultaneously.

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) directly replaces the Ryzen 5 1600X, with the same core clock but a 200 MHz higher boost clock.

 

AMD Zen+ Microarchitecture

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) is based on the improved AMD Zen+ microarchitecture, which delivers slightly better performance, and lower cache and memory latencies :

  • 3% more 1T IPC (instructions per second)
  • 13% lower L1 cache latency
  • 34% lower L2 cache latency
  • 16% lower L3 cache latency
  • 11% lower memory latency
  • Official support for JEDEC DDR4-2933

 

12 nm Process Technology

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) is fabricated using the 12 nm LP (Leading Performance)  process technology from GlobalFoundries. While the die size and transistor count remain the same, the smaller transistors allow :

[adrotate group=”2″]
  • top clock speed increased by 250 MHz
  • “all core” now overclock around 4.2 GHz
  • CPU voltage is reduced by about 50 mV at all clock speeds
  • up to 11% lower power consumption, compared to 14 nm
  • up to 16% better performance per watt, compared to 14 nm

 

Precision Boost 2

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) supports the improved Precision Boost 2, whose more graceful and linear boost algorithm allows them to “boost more cores, more often, on more workloads“. It can change frequencies in very fine granularity of just 25 MHz.

This will allow the Pinnacle Ridge processors to perform better with apps and games that spawn many lightweight threads, as opposed to apps with persistent loads (e.g. video editing and 3D rendering).

 

Precision Boost Overdrive

AMD will introduce Precision Boost Overdrive in the future. The motherboard will be able to communicate its actual capabilities to the AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) processor, allowing for better boost profiles and a relaxed vcore limiter with better motherboards.

 

Extended Frequency Range 2 (XFR 2)

XFR 2 boosts the 2nd Gen Ryzen processor’s performance by 4-7%, depending on the performance of the installed CPU cooler.

Next Page > More AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Features, Price + Availability

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Soldered IHS

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) processor features soldered heatspreaders, using premium indium alloy solder. This allows die temperatures to be reduced by 10°C.

 

AMD StoreMI

AMD StoreMI Technology is an OEM version of the Enmotus FuzeDrive Basic. It combines all of your storage drives into a single virtual storage drive. It can even add up to 2 GB of DDR4 memory as a very fast cache to the combined drive.

The software than automatically assigns frequently used data blocks to the fastest storage devices, optimising your storage devices to deliver the best performance possible.

 

AMD X470 Chipset

AMD introduced the new X470 chipset to offer better overclocking for the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors. Here is our Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) running on the X470 AORUS Gaming 7 WiFi (Price Check) motherboard.

However, this does not mean you will actually need to buy an AMD X470 motherboard. The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) processor will work with all existing AMD 300-series motherboards, with one caveat – the motherboard must be upgraded with the latest BIOS update to support the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors.

 

AMD Wraith Spire

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) comes with a bundled cooler – the AMD Wraith Spire. This is the basically the AMD Wraith Stealth cooler with a taller heatsink and a copper base. It uses the same 5-blade fan, with a maximum noise level of 32 dBA. It does not come with an RGB LED ring.

[adrotate group=”1″]

 

AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Price + Availability

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X is priced at US$ 229 / RM 899. Here are some purchase links for your convenience :

  • AMD Ryzen 5 2600X : US$ 229
  • X470 AORUS Gaming 7 WiFi motherboard : US$ 239

It is available for pre-orders starting 13 April 2018 (9 AM EDT), with on-shelf availability on 19 April 2018.

Next Page > Benchmarking AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, 3D Rendering Performance

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Benchmarking The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X

In this review, we will take a look at the work and gaming performance of the AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, comparing it to 6 other processors :

Here is a quick comparison of their key specifications

Cores /
Threads
Base Clock Boost Clock L2 Cache L3 Cache Memory
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 8 / 16 3.7 GHz 4.3 GHz 4 MB 16 MB DDR4-2933
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X 8 / 16 3.6 GHz 4.0 GHz 4 MB 16 MB DDR4-2666
Intel Core i7-8700K 6 / 12 3.7 GHz 4.7 GHz 1.5 MB 12 MB DDR4-2666
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 6 / 12 3.6 GHz 4.2 GHz 3 MB 16 MB DDR4-2933
AMD Ryzen 5 1600X 6 / 12 3.6 GHz 4.0 GHz 3 MB 16 MB DDR4-2666
AMD Ryzen 5 2400G 4 / 8 3.6 GHz 3.9 GHz 2 MB 4 MB DDR4-2933
AMD Ryzen 3 2200G 4 / 4 3.5 GHz 3.7 GHz 2 MB 4 MB DDR4-2933

Here are the specifications of the Intel and AMD testbeds we used.

Intel Testbed AMD Testbeds
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix Z370-F-Gaming GIGABYTE X470 AORUS Gaming-7 WiFi
ASRock AB350 Gaming K4
Memory Speed Corsair Vengeance LPX
DDR4-2666 (4 GB x 2)
G.SKILL Sniper X DDR4-3400 (4 GB x 2)
Corsair Vengeance LPX
DDR4-2666 (4 GB x 2)
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
(GeForce 391.35)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
(GeForce 391.35)
Storage Western Digital Black² Western Digital Black²
Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)

Note : The motherboard BIOSes were all updated, and so was Windows 10, to ensure that all Spectre and Meltdown mitigations are in effect.

 

3D Rendering Speed – CINEBENCH R15

CINEBENCH R15 is a real-world 3D rendering benchmark based on the MAXON Cinema 4D animation software. This is a great way to accurately determine the actual performance of a processor in 3D content creation.

CINEBENCH R15 Single Core

This Single Core test is not reflective of real world performance, but it is useful to find out the performance of the individual core.

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) only has a 200 MHz (5%) boost clock advantage over the  Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check) and Ryzen 5 1600X (Price Check) processors, but you can see that it is 9.2% faster than both first-generation Ryzen processors.

What this means is that the internal improvements made to the 2nd Gen Ryzen processors almost double the boost clock advantage in this test. Otherwise, it would have scored only 160 cb.

CINEBENCH R15 Multi Core

The Multi-Core test shows the processor’s real-world 3D rendering performance.

With all 6 cores firing, the AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) is almost 10% faster than the Ryzen 5 1600X (Price Check). This performance advantage can be attributed to XFR 2 and the internal improvements in the Zen+ microarchitecture.

[adrotate group=”1″]

Multi-Threading Boost

This is not a CINEBENCH benchmark result. The Multi-Threading Boost is our calculation of the performance boost that the processor’s Multi-Threading capability provides. It is based on the MP Ratio and the number of physical cores.

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) has the highest MT boost, with a slight 2% advantage over the Ryzen 5 1600X (Price Check).

Next Page > Video Transcoding Speed + Radial Blur Speed

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Video Transcoding Speed – HandBrake

HandBrake is a free, open-source video transcoding utility. Video transcoding basically converts a video file from one resolution / format to another. As you can imagine, it’s very compute-intensive. In our test, we converted a 4K video of 1.3 GB in size into a 1080p video (HQ1080p30).

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) did well in this test, with 13% better performance than the Ryzen 5 1600X (Price Check). We know that cache and memory performance helps a fair bit in this test, so a significant amount of that performance improvements must be due to the lower cache and memory latencies.

[adrotate group=”1″]

 

Radial Blur Speed – Photoshop CC 14

The radial blur filter adds the perception of motion to a picture. This is a compute-intensive operation that benefits from multiple processing cores. This radial blur test was performed on a single 13.5 megapixel photo, with a filesize of 4,910,867 bytes.

The CPU cache plays a very important part in this test as well. The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) was 15% faster than the Ryzen 5 1600X (Price Check)! It was now almost as fast as the Intel Core i7-8700K!

Next Page > AOTS + Warhammer Gaming Performance

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Ashes of the Singularity

In the RTS game, Ashes of the Singularity, the single core CPU performance has a significant effect on the actual frame rate. We tested the cards using the Normal setting preset.

1080p Gaming Resolution

Thanks to its improved single-core performance, the Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) edged past the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check), and was 3% faster than the Ryzen 5 1600X (Price Check).

1440p Gaming Resolution

At the higher 1440p resolution, the Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) was 3.5% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check), and 7% faster than the Ryzen 5 1600X (Price Check).

2160p Gaming Resolution

Surprisingly, its performance improved with the higher resolution. It was now 4.4% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check), and 9.5% faster than the Ryzen 5 1600X (Price Check).

[adrotate group=”1″]

 

Total War: Warhammer

Like Ashes of the Singularity, the single core performance is crucial in Total War: Warhammer.

1080p Gaming Resolution

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) did surprisingly well in this resolution, beating even the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check)!

It was 7.4% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check), and 8% faster than the Ryzen 5 1600X (Price Check).

1440p Gaming Resolution

At the higher 1440p resolution, the AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) was neck-to-neck with the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (Price Check).

It was now 6.4% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check), and 5% faster than the Ryzen 5 1600X (Price Check).

2160p Gaming Resolution

At 2160p, the Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) was just 2% faster than both the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check) and Ryzen 5 1600X (Price Check) processors.

Next Page > For Honor Gaming Performance, Our Verdict & Award

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

For Honor

We tested For Honor using the Medium settings.

1080p Gaming Resolution

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) did incredibly well at this resolution. In fact, it came within 2% of the Intel Core i7-8700K!

It was 13% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check), and 6.6% faster than the Ryzen 5 1600X (Price Check).

1440p Gaming Resolution

The higher 1440p resolution “levelled” the playing field. The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) was now slightly slower than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check), but also slightly than the Ryzen 5 1600X (Price Check).

2160p Gaming Resolution

At the 2160p resolution, For Honor was graphics-limited. The CPU played only a minimal role in the frame rate. The fastest processor – the AMD Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check) only delivered a 5% higher frame rate than the slowest processor – AMD Ryzen 5 2400G.

[adrotate group=”1″]

 

Our Verdict On The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) is not only faster than its predecessor, the AMD Ryzen 5 1600X (Price Check)., it is also cheaper and offers more value.

Priced at just US$ 229 / RM 899, the Ryzen 5 2600X is $20 cheaper, and now comes with an AMD Wraith Spire cooler! This is going to significantly impact the appeal of the 8th Generation Intel Core processors, codenamed Coffee Lake.

But make no mistake – the AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) is an evolutionary refinement of the AMD Ryzen 5 1600X (Price Check). It is faster and more power-efficient, no doubt, but not significantly so. The Ryzen Effect forced Intel to buck the hell up, but AMD is under no pressure to do the same.

What does this mean for you?

  • If you currently own a first-generation AMD Ryzen 5 processor, it would not make much sense to upgrade to the Ryzen 5 2600X.
  • If you currently own a first-generation AMD Ryzen 3 processor, the Ryzen 5 2600X is a good upgrade option, offering a significant boost in performance.
  • If you are using an older / slower processor (pre-Ryzen, 6th Gen Intel Core or earlier), the Ryzen 5 2600X would make a great upgrade option, with great value for your money.

What AMD brought to the table with the AMD Ryzen 5 2600X (Price Check) is not shock and awe, but refinement and even more value for your money. By our books, that’s worthy of our Reviewer’s Choice Award!

 

Suggested Reading

Go Back To > First PageReviews | Home

 

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!