Review: AMD Ryzen 5 1400 and Ryzen 5 1600 (14nm)

Conclusion

The Ryzen 5 launch completes with the widespread arrival of the 1600 and 1400 processors, priced at £200 and £150, respectively.

Ryzen 5 1600 offers the cheapest route to six-core, 12-thread processing. It naturally excels in multi-threaded benchmarks where, typically, it is between 50-75 per cent faster than a price-comparable Core i5 processor. A competitive TDP and reasonable gaming performance means that, in our opinion, it's the best all-round processor at around the £200 mark.

The Ryzen 5 1400, meanwhile, is AMD's method of bringing the Zen architecture at the most aggressive price point. Still a solid performer in multi-threaded applications, the combination of restrained frequencies, half the cache and a conservative XFR rating combine to make it most attractive to those who are building to a much tighter budget, probably with a B350 chipset-based motherboard in tow.

We believe the extra £50 for the Ryzen 5 1600 is worth the investment, so whilst the Ryzen 5 1400 is capable due to being cut from the same Ryzen cloth, we'd steer enthusiasts towards the former.

AMD Ryzen 5 1600

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The Ryzen 5 1600 and Ryzen 5 1400 are available to buy from Scan Computers*

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