AMD has released a new budget processor, the Ryzen 5 5500F, which at first glance looks almost identical to the regular Ryzen 5 5500. The same 6 cores and 12 threads, Zen 3 architecture, and only 16 MB of L3 cache. But first gaming tests show the new product outperforms similar products by double-digit percentages.
Compared to the Ryzen 5 5500, this processor is 16% faster in Battlefield 6. In Cyberpunk 2077, the advantage is about 11%, in GTA V: Enhanced Edition, it’s about 9%, and in Counter-Strike 2, it’s about 8%. Testing was conducted using a Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB graphics card at 1080p resolution.
The secret of the new product is not only the operating frequency. The operating frequency of Ryzen 5 5500F is increased by up to 4.4 GHz compared to Ryzen 5 5500’s 4.2 GHz. It also supports PCIe 4.0, which the regular R5 5500 doesn’t have. Additionally, it is built on Vermeer’s small-chip design, whereas the regular 5500 uses the laptop’s Cezanne monolithic design.
At around $99, the Ryzen 5 5500F seems to be an interesting choice for a low-cost AM4 gaming PC. But as the price is closer to the Ryzen 5 5600, the choice is no longer so obvious: the latter has twice the L3 cache.
