What CPU is equivalent to 5900X?
Here's the best 5900X equivalent
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AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is a leading Zen 3 processor. It’s been around for a while now and was recently superseded by the 7900X. Still, the 5900X is a very powerful processor – and one capable of offering top-notch performance today. Let’s look at what CPU is equivalent to the 5900X.
It’s nice to have some alternatives in case you can’t get a particular CPU – due to limited market availability, for example – but want to only settle for something that offers identical performance to complete your original PC build.
Ryzen 9 5900X specifications
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
Speed
3.7GHz/ 4.8GHz
Core (Threads)
12/24
Socket
AM4
TDP
105W
Here are the processor’s specs so you know what we’re comparing to:
- Architecture: Zen 3
- Cores: 12
- Threads: 24
- Base Clock: 3.7 GHz
- Boost Clock: 4.8 GHz
- L3 Cache: 64 MB
- TDP: 105W
As you can probably tell from the specs alone, the Ryzen 9 5900X is a fairly high-end processor, even if it is a few years old now.
12 cores and 24 threads offer top-notch multi-core performance. The 24-thread standard is second only to the 32-thread counts featured by flagship processors.
The processor has an excellent boost clock, too, at a 4.8GHz max clock speed. With the latest innovations, CPUs have hit clock speeds of up to 6GHz at stock, so 4.8GHz isn’t considered as high as it would’ve been only a few months ago.
Still, it is by no means lacking and will offer you a very practical amount of single-thread performance.
What CPU is equivalent to the Ryzen 9 5900X?
We believe that the CPU that most closely resembles the Ryzen 9 5900X’s specs while also offering the most similar practical performance is the Intel Core i7-12700 processor.
Intel Core i7-12700F
Intel Core i7-12700F
Speed
4.9 GHz
Core (Threads)
12 (20)
Socket
FC-LGA16A
TDP
65W
This Alder Lake i7 processor was the first to feature Intel’s hybrid core architecture.
It comes equipped with 8 hyperthreaded performance cores capable of boosting up to a 4.9GHz max clock speed. And the processor also has 4 efficiency cores (without hyperthreading) that offer a lesser 3.6GHz clock speed but do consume minimal power, giving the processor much more versatility.
The i7-12700F is overall a 12-core, 20-thread processor. While it has the same number of physical cores as the Ryzen 9 5900X, it does have 4 fewer threads.
As such, it loses out by a slight margin to the 5900X in peak multicore performance – when the entirety of the processor is being utilized. This would constitute use cases such as content creation and 3D rendering.
The i7-12700F does, however, have a 100MHz higher boost clock than the 5900X, giving it the edge in single-thread performance. Single-thread performance benefits workloads such as gaming, which can’t really utilize all the threads a processor has to offer very efficiently.
I should also mention that we’re going with the 12700F since, like the 5900X, it does not feature integrated graphics. You could get the standard 12700 for the same performance but with integrated graphics by paying a few bucks extra.
The 12700K is probably the most popular variant of this processor, but it does outperform the 5900X by a fair margin due to its higher clock speeds. The standard edition 12700 is the closer equivalent to the 5900X.
