What CPU is equivalent to Ryzen 5 5600X?

The popular 5600X meets it's match

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The Ryzen 5 5600X has long been a top-tier gaming processor serving the needs of gamers all over the world. It has stood the test of time and remains one of the best options for value-conscious gamers today. Let’s discuss what CPU is equivalent to the 5600X.

Having alternatives helps you be more flexible with your PC build and can save you motherboard costs, as AMD’s motherboards are known to be somewhat costlier.

If you’re going for a mid-range build, you might not want a fancy motherboard with many features. And in that case, you may consider getting a similar processor from Intel.

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X specifications

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X

Speed

3.7GHz/ 4.6GHz

Core (Threads)

6/12

Socket

AM4

TDP

65W

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The Ryzen 5 5600X has the following specs:

• 6 cores
• 12 threads
• Base clock 3.7GHz
• Boost clock 4.6GHz
• L3 cache 32MB
• Default TDP 65W

With 6 multithreaded cores, the processor has the perfect workload capacity for gaming. It has healthy clock speeds and an excellent L3 cache. The 65-watt TDP is also very nice to have – the processor consumes little power and runs cool.

What CPU is equivalent to the Ryzen 5 5600X?

Based on performance-determining specs and real-world benchmarks, the CPU that’s equivalent to the Ryzen 5 5600X is the Intel Core i5-12400.

Intel Core i5-12400

Intel Core i5-12400

Speed

2.5 GHz / 4.4 GHz

Core (Threads)

6 (12)

Socket

LGA-1700

TDP

65W

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The Alder Lake i5 12400 features 12 threads running on 6 high-performance, hyperthreaded cores – a similar core/thread setup to the above 5600X.

The processor has a base clock frequency of 2.5GHz. That’s rather low. But it has been set this way to allow the CPU to consume minimal power when idle. The core clock can boost all the way up to a more competitive 4.4GHz when necessary.

It’s the max clock speeds that are consequential to performance. In this case, the 5600X does have a 200MHz edge over the 12400. It also has a higher 32 MB L3 cache compared to the 12400’s 18MB smart cache.

Given these metrics, you would expect the 5600X to outperform the 12400 by a noticeable margin in single-core performance. However, as benchmarking software reveals to us, that doesn’t seem to be the case. The i5-12400 pulls ahead in single-core performance by a 5 to 10% margin.

Multicore performance between the two processors is almost identical, with the 12400 again taking the lead, but just by a hair this time around.

I should mention that the Ryzen 5 5600X is an unlocked processor and supports overclocking, as long as you have the right motherboard. With a light overclock, it quickly catches up to the 12400 in both single-core and multicore performance, and with further overclocking, it takes the lead.

The i5-12400 is now overclockable. Essentially, if you compare both processors at their stock values, the i5 is the winner. However, if you overclock the Ryzen 5 5600X, it naturally starts to outperform the former.

Lastly, it’s worth noting that the 5600X is the more power-efficient of the two. It has a 65-watt TDP. The i5-12400 has the same default TDP but can soak up to 117 watts of power under full load, meaning you may need to get an aftermarket cooler to keep its temperatures in check. The 5600X will work just fine with the stock cooler, though. Even with a light overclock.