AMD announces “Zen 3” Ryzen 5000 series desktop CPUs with 26 per cent improved gaming performance

AMD announced the Ryzen 5000 series desktop processors featuring their newest Zen 3 microarchitecture with CPUs offering up to 16 cores, 32 threads and 72 MB of cache. AMD claims that they have the fastest gaming processors in the form of the Ryzen 5900X processor which offers up to 26 per cent generational increase in gaming performance over the Ryzen 3900XT in 11 popular video games. Another improvement with Zen 3 is that the CCX (CPU Complex) now comprises 8 Cores compared to Zen 2 which used 4 Core CCX within the processors. The top of the line Ryzen 9 5950X will cost $799 which is $50 more than the Zen 2 based Ryzen 9 3900XT. All AMD Ryzen 5000 processors will be compatible with the existing AMD 500 chipset based motherboards after a BIOS update. Indian pricing for the AMD Ryzen 5000 processors have not been revealed. We’ll update the story when the official prices are out. You can find the claimed improvement in gaming performance of the Ryzen 9 5900X over the Ryzen 9 3900XT via the screenshot below.

“Our commitment with each generation of our Ryzen processors has been to build the best PC processors in the world. The new AMD Ryzen 5000 Series Desktop Processors extend our leadership from IPC, power efficiency to single-core , multi-core performance and gaming ,” said Saeid Moshkelani, senior vice president and general manager, client business unit, AMD. “Today, we are extremely proud to deliver what our community and customers have come to expect from Ryzen processors – dominant multi-core and single-core performance and true gaming leadership – all within a broad ecosystem of motherboards and chipsets that are drop-in ready for AMD Ryzen 5000 Series Desktop Processors.”

AMD Ryzen 5000 processors lineup

The new AMD Ryzen 5000 processor lineup consists of four SKUs – Ryzen 9 5950X and 5900X, Ryzen 7 5800X and Ryzen 5 5600X. Compared to their Ryzen 3000 series counterparts, the Ryzen 5000 processors feature slightly lower base clocks but higher boost clocks.

One of the most popular processors globally right now is the Ryzen 5 3600X and its Ryzen 5000 counterpart is the Ryzen 5 5600X which features a 100MHz reduction in base block and a 200 MHz increase in boost clock. However, the Ryzen 5 5600X is a 65W TDP CPU whereas the Ryzen 5 3600X is a 95W CPU. Combined with the IPC increment, this would be a sizeable improvement in performance. Of course, we'll have to wait for the benchmarks to get the real picture.

Here's a list of all the processors announced today with their specifications:

• AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, 16 Cores, 32 Threads, TDP – 105 Watts, Base frequency – 3.4 GHz, Boost frequency – 4.9 GHz, Total Cache – 72 MB, No CPU cooler included, Price – USD 799 or approximately INR 70,000
• AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, 12 Cores, 24 Threads, TDP – 105 Watts, Base frequency – 3.7 GHz, Boost frequency – 4.8 GHz, Total Cache – 70 MB, No CPU cooler included, Price – USD 549 or approximately INR 48,000
• AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, 8 Cores, 16 Threads, TDP – 105 Watts, Base frequency – 3.8 GHz, Boost frequency – 4.7 GHz, Total Cache – 36 MB, No CPU cooler included, Price – USD 449 or approximately INR 39,000
• AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, 6 Cores, 12 Threads, TDP – 65 Watts, Base frequency – 3.7 GHz, Boost frequency – 4.6 GHz, Total Cache – 35 MB, Wraith Stealth CPU cooler included, Price – USD 299 or approximately INR 26,000

AMD Radeon RX 6000 graphics cards

AMD teased a few details of their next gen Radeon RX 6000 GPUs or as we've known it for all this time as "Big Navi". The official reveal for the RX 6000 graphics cards is scheduled for October 28th. AMD showcased the Radeon RX 6000 paired with the Ryzen 9 5900X reportedly giving over 60 FPS at 4K resolution in Borderlands 3.

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Mithun Mohandas

Mithun Mohandas is an Indian technology journalist with 10 years of experience covering consumer technology. He is currently employed at Digit in the capacity of a Managing Editor. Mithun has a background in Computer Engineering and was an active member of the IEEE during his college days. He has a penchant for digging deep into unravelling what makes a device tick. If there's a transistor in it, Mithun's probably going to rip it apart till he finds it. At Digit, he covers processors, graphics cards, storage media, displays and networking devices aside from anything developer related. As an avid PC gamer, he prefers RTS and FPS titles, and can be quite competitive in a race to the finish line. He only gets consoles for the exclusives. He can be seen playing Valorant, World of Tanks, HITMAN and the occasional Age of Empires or being the voice behind hundreds of Digit videos. View Full Profile