Intel Core i5-2500k
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
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Intel Core i5-2500k vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600. Specifications, performance, tests

User rating
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Released
Q1/2011
Intel Core i5-2500k
Intel Core i5-2500k
Released
2019-07-07
User rating
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AMD Ryzen 5 3600
AMD Ryzen 5 3600

What's the best choice Intel Core i5-2500k or AMD Ryzen 5 3600? Which processor is faster?

We have prepared a comparison to help you choose the best processor. Compare their specifications and benchmarks.

Intel Core i5-2500k has a base frequency of 3.30 GHz. 4 CPU Cores / Threads. Stated TDP / base power 95 W. Released in Q1/2011.

AMD Ryzen 5 3600 has a base frequency of 3.6 GHz. 6 / 12 CPU Cores / Threads. Stated TDP / base power 65 W. Released in 2019-07-07.

Differences

  • Place in the overall ranking

    (based on several benchmarks)

    252 left arrow place

Positions in all rankings

Common positions Intel Core i5-2500k CPU in popular benchmarks, for comparison with other models.

  • Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)
    314 place
  • Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)
    292 place
  • Cinebench R20 (Single-Core)
    454 place
  • Cinebench R20 (Multi-Core)
    388 place
  • Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)
    637 place
  • Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)
    573 place
  • Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)
    613 place
  • Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)
    658 place
  • iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)
    1250 place
  • Blender 2.81 (bmw27)
    158 place
  • Geekbench 3, 64bit (Single-Core)
    419 place
  • Geekbench 3, 64bit (Multi-Core)
    387 place
  • Cinebench R11.5, 64bit (Single-Core)
    354 place
  • Cinebench R11.5, 64bit (Multi-Core)
    368 place
  • Cinebench R11.5, 64bit (iGPU, OpenGL)
    177 place
  • Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark
    587 place
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Reasons to consider
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Report a bug
  • Place in the overall ranking

    (based on several benchmarks)

    138 left arrow place
  • Higher clock speed

    Around 9% better clock speed

    3.6 GHz left arrow 3.30 GHz
  • More number of cores

    2 more cores

    6 left arrow 4
  • Higher turbo clock speed

    Around 14 % higher specified turbo frequency

    4.2 GHz left arrow 3.70 GHz
  • Lower stated TDP / base power

    Power limits alone do not measure performance per watt.

    65 W left arrow 95 W

Positions in all rankings

Common positions AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU in popular benchmarks, for comparison with other models.

  • Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)
    169 place
  • Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)
    160 place
  • Cinebench R20 (Single-Core)
    147 place
  • Cinebench R20 (Multi-Core)
    167 place
  • Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)
    115 place
  • Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)
    186 place
  • Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)
    259 place
  • Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)
    255 place
  • Monero Hashrate kH/s
    39 place
  • Blender 2.81 (bmw27)
    59 place
  • Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark
    178 place

Specifications

Technical data
Intel Core i5-2500k Intel Core i5-2500k
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 AMD Ryzen 5 3600
CPU family and group

Background information about the processors being compared, series, generation and market segment.

  • CPU group
    Intel Core i 2000 left arrow AMD Ryzen 3000
  • Family
    Intel Core i5 left arrow Ryzen
  • Generation
    2 left arrow 3
  • Predecessor
    - left arrow AMD Ryzen 5 2600
  • Segment
    Desktop / Server left arrow Desktop / Server
  • Form Factor
    - left arrow Desktops / Boxed Processor
  • Series
    - left arrow Ryzen 3000 Series
CPU Technical specs

Core counts, threads, cache and clock modes describe the CPU configuration. Performance depends on the workload and comparable measured results.

  • Base Frequency
    3.3 GHz left arrow 3.6 GHz
  • Core architecture
    normal left arrow normal
  • CPU Cores
    4 left arrow 6
  • CPU Threads
    4 left arrow 12
  • Hyperthreading / SMT
    No left arrow Yes
  • Overclocking
    Yes left arrow Yes
  • Turbo Frequency (1 Core)
    3.7 GHz left arrow 4.2 GHz
  • Turbo Frequency (4 Cores)
    3.7 GHz left arrow -
  • Max. Boost Clock
    - left arrow 4.2 GHz
  • Turbo Frequency (6 Cores)
    - left arrow 4 GHz
IGPU

Internal Graphics does not affect the performance of the CPU, performs the work of the graphics card in its absence or on mobile devices.

  • DirectX Version
    10.1 left arrow -
  • Execution units
    12 left arrow -
  • Generation
    6 left arrow -
  • GPU Frequency
    850 MHz left arrow -
  • GPU name
    Intel HD Graphics 3000 left arrow None
  • GPU Turbo
    1100 MHz left arrow -
  • Max. displays
    2 left arrow -
  • Release date
    Q1/2011 left arrow -
  • Shader
    96 left arrow -
  • Technology
    32 nm left arrow -
Hardware codec support

Built-in codecs used to encode and decode content. Significantly speeds up the required operations.

  • AV1
    No left arrow No
  • H.264 / AVC
    Decode / Encode left arrow No
  • h265 / HEVC (8 bit)
    No left arrow No
  • h265 / HEVC (10 bit)
    No left arrow No
  • JPEG
    No left arrow No
  • VC-1
    Decode left arrow No
  • VP8
    No left arrow No
  • VP9
    No left arrow No
Memory specs & PCI

Types, channel quantity of RAM supported by AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and Intel Core i5-2500k. Depending on the motherboards, higher or lower memory frequencies may be supported.

  • ECC
    No left arrow Yes
  • Max. Memory
    32 GB left arrow 128 GB
  • Memory channels
    2 left arrow 2
  • Memory type
    - left arrow DDR4
  • PCIe lanes
    16 left arrow 20
  • PCIe version
    2.0 left arrow 4.0
  • PCIe
    - left arrow PCIe 4.0 x16
  • System Memory Specification
    - left arrow 3200
Encryption
  • AES-NI
    Yes left arrow Yes
Thermal Management

Compare the TDP requirements of TDP Intel Core i5-2500k and AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Power specifications describe different manufacturer limits. TDP, base power and maximum turbo power are separate values; they do not establish measured system consumption.

  • Maximum Operating Temperature
    - left arrow 95 °C
  • TDP (PL1, legacy label)
    95 W left arrow 65 W
  • Default TDP
    - left arrow 65 W
Technologies and extensions

Architecture, interfaces, additional instructions supported by Intel Core i5-2500k and AMD Ryzen 5 3600, virtual machine technologies and process technology.

  • Architecture
    Sandy Bridge S left arrow Matisse (Zen 2)
  • Instruction set (ISA)
    x86-64 (64 bit) left arrow x86-64 (64 bit)
  • ISA extensions
    SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX left arrow SSE4a, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2, FMA3
  • L2-Cache
    - left arrow 3 MB
  • L3-Cache
    6 MB left arrow 32 MB
  • Release date
    Q1/2011 left arrow 2019-07-07
  • Socket
    LGA 1155 left arrow AM4
  • Technology
    32 nm left arrow TSMC 7nm FinFET
  • Virtualization
    VT-x, VT-x EPT left arrow AMD-V, SVM
  • Codename
    - left arrow Matisse
  • L1-Cache
    - left arrow 0.375 MB
  • Manufacturer product ID (boxed)
    - left arrow 100-100000031BOX
  • Manufacturer product ID (MPK)
    - left arrow 100-100000031MPK
  • Manufacturer product ID (tray)
    - left arrow 100-000000031
  • Operating systems
    - left arrow Windows 11 - 64-Bit Edition / Windows 10 - 64-Bit Edition / RHEL x86 64-Bit / Ubuntu x86 64-Bit
  • Thermal Solution (MPK)
    - left arrow AMD Wraith Stealth
  • Thermal Solution (PIB)
    - left arrow AMD Wraith Stealth

Benchmarks

Performance tests CPUs
Individual model tests

These results have no shared test of both models with the same version and settings. They are shown separately without a percentage difference.

Intel Core i5-2500k

AMD Ryzen 5 3600

More results: 9

Individual system tests

Results were obtained on the reported systems. Test versions and settings remain separate; incomplete conditions do not support calculated model performance differences.

RandomX / XMRig 6.26.0 / 1M / 12 threads / windows

Model ResultReported conditions
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 5835.6676 H/s RandomX / XMRig 6.26.0 / 1M / 12 threads / windows
System RAM: 8 GB
OS: Windows NT 10.0
Motherboard: ASRock / B450 Gaming-ITX/ac
Duration: 171.36 s
User-submitted run; tuning and power settings are incomplete.

Based on the results of several benchmarks, you can more accurately estimate the difference in performance between Intel Core i5-2500k and AMD Ryzen 5 3600.

Compare the synthetic test values and choose the best processor!

These are saved results from the earlier catalog. Measurement dates and test configurations were not recorded. Models with no comparable results are omitted.

Recent models: test results with identified primary sources — Cinebench R23 · Cinebench R20 · Cinebench R15 · Cinebench 2026 · RandomX benchmark

Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)
Maxon's Cinebench R23 SC is a cross-platform test suite for macOs and Windows uses one CPU core, with no hypetrading

Higher values are better in this metric.

697.000000
Intel Core i5-2500k
1235.000000
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)
Maxon's Cinebench R23 MC is a cross-platform test suite for macOs and Windows using a multi-core and hyperthreading

Higher values are better in this metric.

2450.000000
Intel Core i5-2500k
9113.000000
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Cinebench R20 (Single-Core)
Cinebench R20 SC is a high load CPU test for long tasks on a desktop or notebook PC, uses one CPU core, with no hypetrading

Higher values are better in this metric.

262.000000
Intel Core i5-2500k
472.000000
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Cinebench R20 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench R20 MC is a high load CPU test for long tasks on a desktop or notebook PC, using a multi-core and hyperthreading

Higher values are better in this metric.

894.000000
Intel Core i5-2500k
3570.000000
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)
The Cinebench R15 SC stresses the computing modules of a desktop or laptop computer to their limits and accurately determines the key performance parameters of the hardware

Higher values are better in this metric.

127.000000
Intel Core i5-2500k
197.000000
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)
The Cinebench R15 MC stresses the computing modules of a desktop or laptop computer to their limits and accurately determines the key performance parameters of the hardware

Higher values are better in this metric.

461.000000
Intel Core i5-2500k
1578.000000
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)
Geekbench 5 SC is a popular cross-platform performance test for desktop or mobile processors that uses system memory intensively

Higher values are better in this metric.

812.000000
Intel Core i5-2500k
1183.000000
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)
Geekbench 5 MC is a popular cross-platform performance test for desktop or mobile processors that uses system memory intensively

Higher values are better in this metric.

2679.000000
Intel Core i5-2500k
6821.000000
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Blender 2.81 (bmw27)
Blender is Open Source Software, creating predefined 3D scenes and measuring the time to execute them

Lower values are better; time in seconds.

778.700000
Intel Core i5-2500k
235.700000
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark
PassMark is a test suite that performs complex mathematical calculations to determine CPU performance on file compression, encryption and physics-related tasks

Higher values are better in this metric.

6405.000000
Intel Core i5-2500k
17877.000000
AMD Ryzen 5 3600

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