Test Methodology
AMD Ryzen 5 1600X and 1500X Specification |
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AMD Comparison Processor Configurations |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Ryzen 7 1800X |
Ryzen 7 1700X |
Ryzen 7 1700 |
Ryzen 5 1600X |
Ryzen 5 1500X |
FX-9590 |
FX-6350 |
| CPU Base Clock | 3.6GHz |
3.4GHz |
3.0GHz |
3.6GHz |
3.5GHz |
4.7GHz |
3.9GHz |
| CPU Turbo Clock | 4.0GHz |
3.8GHz |
3.7GHz |
4.0GHz |
3.7GHz |
5.0GHz |
4.2GHz |
| CPU Cache | 20MB |
20MB |
20MB |
19MB |
18MB |
8MB |
8MB |
| CPU Cores / Threads | 8 / 16 |
8 / 16 |
8 / 16 |
6 / 12 |
4 / 8 |
8 / 8 |
6 / 6 |
| CPU TDP | 95W |
95W |
65W |
95W |
65W |
220W |
125W |
| Integrated Graphics | - |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| IGP Base Clock | - |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| IGP Turbo Clock | - |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Socket | AM4 |
AM4 |
AM4 |
AM4 |
AM4 |
AM3 |
AM3 |
| Lithography | 14nm |
28nm |
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| Motherboard | Asus Crosshair VI Hero |
Asus Sabertooth 990FX R3 |
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| BIOS | 5704 (1002 for Ryzen 5) |
0212 |
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| Memory | Corsair Vengeance 32GB DDR4 |
Corsair XMS3 16GB DDR3 |
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| Memory Config | 4x8GB |
2x8GB |
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| Memory Timings | 16-17-17-36-1T |
11-11-11-28-2T |
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| Memory Speed | 2,666MHz |
1600MHz |
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| Disk Drive | SK hynix Canvas SC300 (512GB) |
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| Power Supply | be quiet Dark Power Pro 11 (1,000W) |
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| Graphics Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW (378.66) |
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| CPU Cooler | Noctua NH-D15S |
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| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) |
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Intel Comparison Processor Configurations |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Core i7-6950X |
Core i7-6900K |
Core i7-7700K |
Core i5-7600K |
Core i5-7350K |
| CPU Base Clock | 3.0GHz |
3.2GHz |
4.2GHz |
3.8GHz |
4.2GHz |
| CPU Turbo Clock | 3.5GHz |
3.7GHz |
4.5GHz |
4.2GHz |
- |
| CPU Cache | 25MB |
20MB |
8MB |
6MB |
4MB |
| CPU Cores / Threads | 10 / 20 |
8 / 16 |
4 / 8 |
4 / 4 |
2 / 4 |
| CPU TDP | 140W |
140W |
91W |
91W |
60W |
| Integrated Graphics | - |
- |
HD 630 |
HD 630 |
HD 630 |
| IGP Base Clock | - |
- |
350MHz |
350MHz |
350MHz |
| IGP Turbo Clock | - |
- |
1,150MHz |
1,150MHz |
1,150MHz |
| Socket | LGA 2011v3 |
LGA 2011v3 |
LGA 1151 |
LGA 1151 |
LGA 1151 |
| Lithography | 14nm |
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| Motherboard | Asus X99 Strix Gaming |
Asus Z270E Gaming |
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| BIOS | 1401 |
0801 |
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| Memory | Corsair Vengeance 32GB DDR4 |
Crucial Ballistix 32GB DDR4 |
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| Memory Config | 4x8GB |
2x16GB |
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| Memory Timings | 15-15-15-36-1T |
16-16-16-39-1T |
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| Memory Speed | 2,400MHz |
2,400MHz |
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| Disk Drive | SK hynix Canvas SC300 (512GB) |
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| Power Supply | be quiet Dark Power Pro 11 (1,000W) |
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| Graphics Card | EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW (378.66) |
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| CPU Cooler | Noctua NH-D15S |
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| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) |
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Benchmark Suite |
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| CPU Benchmarks | ||||||||||||
| HEXUS PiFast | Our number-crunching benchmark stresses a single core by calculating Pi to 10m places | |||||||||||
| Cinebench R15 | Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses all cores | |||||||||||
| wPrime 2.1.0 | Another number-crunching benchmark that stresses all available CPU cores/threads | |||||||||||
| HandBrake 0.10.5 | Free-to-use video encoder that stresses all CPU cores (64-bit) | |||||||||||
| Memory Benchmarks | ||||||||||||
| AIDA64 v5.80.4084 | Benchmark that analyses memory bandwidth and latency | |||||||||||
| Gaming Benchmarks (GeForce GTX 1080) | ||||||||||||
| 3DMark Time Spy | Graphics test run using the Time Spy default test | |||||||||||
| VRMark | VR test run using Orange Room test | |||||||||||
| Deus Ex: Mankind Divided | 2,560x1,440, ultra settings | |||||||||||
| Hitman | 2,560x1,440, ultra settings | |||||||||||
| Total War: Warhammer | 2,560x1,440, ultra settings | |||||||||||
| Miscellaneous Benchmarks | ||||||||||||
| Power Consumption | To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record system-wide mains power draw when idle, when encoding video via HandBrake and while playing Deus Ex: Mankind Divided | |||||||||||
Notes
All 12 processors have been tested afresh, with each platform employing the same hard drive, cooling, graphics card, power supply and operating system. As much as we could, we ran memory at the approved speeds for each processor. All Asus motherboards were flashed with the latest BIOS prior to testing.
AMD sent us a press kit with Ryzen 5 1500X and 1600X chips along with a B350 motherboard. The company argues that these mainstream Ryzen CPUs are best paired with the cheaper chipset, not least because it has worked hard with motherboard companies to ensure that, this time around, platform support is rock solid. We chose to keep consistency with Ryzen 7 reviews and use the Asus Crosshair VI Hero X370 motherboard, upgraded to the latest 1002 BIOS, and can report that stability has been improved markedly.
Looking into the speeds further, the R5 1600X has a 3.7GHz all-core boost, is able to turbo up to 4.0GHz on up to two cores, and add another 0.1GHz through XFR. The Ryzen 5 1500X does 3.6GHz all-core, 3.7GHz turbo and 3.9GHz XFR, suggesting that enhanced cooling plays a bigger part in its potential. We observed exactly these XFR frequencies during testing.
We used the newer Ryzen-Balanced power plan for testing both chips.
