If you've got some $200 to spend on a new CPU and you want something that can handle any and all tasks you throw at it with maximum efficiency, the Ryzen 5 2600 series is a must-have. But should you buy the Ryzen 5 2600X or the non-X 2600?
Ryzen 5 2600X vs. 2600: Which should you buy?
- Thread starter Steve
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dogofwars
Posts: 209 +80
I wonder what power consumption you get with the 2600 overclock to 4.2 on idle vs the 2600X just on it's own(XFR/automatic).
Evernessince
Posts: 5,469 +6,158
Power consumption is going to be very high, especially if you are using a fixed voltage. You'd get much better energy efficiency with the 2600X just using XFR2.
Both seem to offer about the same value. I really don't think there is a binning process between the models. Tech Report also saw the non-x model clock higher than the x model. Simply put, I just don't see strong evidence of binning process in clock speed or memory controller ability.
Anyhow, if you already have a good cooler, get the R5 2600 and save $30. If you are starting out completley fresh, Go ahead and grab the 2600x. Either way, you will be able to game and compute with the best of them.
Lastly, don't think you need an x470 mb with 10+2 phases. You can hit 4.2 ghz or more on a moderate B-350. The motherboard is the last place to waste money on. It will give you very little. That money is better spent on quality ram.
Anyhow, if you already have a good cooler, get the R5 2600 and save $30. If you are starting out completley fresh, Go ahead and grab the 2600x. Either way, you will be able to game and compute with the best of them.
Lastly, don't think you need an x470 mb with 10+2 phases. You can hit 4.2 ghz or more on a moderate B-350. The motherboard is the last place to waste money on. It will give you very little. That money is better spent on quality ram.
funkydmunky
Posts: 13 +9
Yes, I agree.
In almost every case, super spec MB's with crazy power limit VRM's are not necessary. The chips hit a wall well before the MB is stressed unless set to stupid levels which will show no gains. Breakneck super-cooled competition OC'ers ignore. You all need that!
Yes RAM and its timings are where it is at. For some limiting the chip to 3.7GHz takes the stress off of the IMC allowing fantastic RAM speed/timings that best higher clocked CPU's with high-speed high latency RAM.
Either way high CPU is great, but it is so much better with tweaked RAM.
I got an 17 6700k was thinking off getting an 2600x as my motherboard is getting on all I do is game at 2k with gtx 1070ti is it worth it
NightAntilli
Posts: 929 +1,195
Not necessarily. XFR2's performance will vary wildly depending on the motherboard. I'm not sure about the 2600X, but with the 2700X, the difference between a B350 motherboard and an X470 motherboard is the difference of being able to run all cores at 3.9 GHz and running all cores at 4.2 GHz. Depends on VRM quality rather than the chipset, but generally the X470 chipset boards have much better VRM than the B350 boards.
I suppose this is the case, similar to Intel having the i7 8700 throttle down with cheapo motherboards as shown on Gamers Nexus. I am just not sure if that is caused by VRM capacity or cooling as the VRMs are often the same for both. Hell, the have a Strix B350 which would beat alot of cheaper x370s.
8 cores, yes the x470 may help. 6 cores and below, a B350 will allow max clocks no problem. I personally have seen some insane power draw numbers going through my cheap ASUS B350 which had both the cpu and iGpu overclocked to the max. (more demanding than the 6 core parts overclocked; 200+ watts).
jukeyjunk
Posts: 14 +9
I'm glad this was on point with my thoughts. As I upgraded from my i7 3770k to a R5 2600. I already had a water cooler to slap on it figure I can overclock to over 2600x speeds with relative ease if needed. I future proofed myself with the newer board instead of the 350 series I went with a Gigabyte x470.
erickmendes
Posts: 1,136 +629
Not worth it. If you were building from scratch, this would be worth.
CaptainTom
Posts: 414 +221
"Only Intel can get away with bending over enthusiasts and make them excited about having to buy their own cooler, but also delid their chip so the cooler can do its job."
It truly is remarkable anyone buys Intel anymore on desktop. Oh wait, Techspot itself said the 8700K was better than the 2700X. smh, I wonder where builders keep getting misinformation from?!
It truly is remarkable anyone buys Intel anymore on desktop. Oh wait, Techspot itself said the 8700K was better than the 2700X. smh, I wonder where builders keep getting misinformation from?!
Sausagemeat
Posts: 1,597 +1,423
As an enthusiast I can inform the author that I’d feel a lot more shafted (or bent over) buying an AMD product than an Intel one that I have to delid when I find the clock speeds can’t go above 4.1-4.2 ghz on the Ryzen part. And telling me I saved a bit of cash would not make me feel any better at all.
Intel chips are faster and overclock better therefore I prefer them. I don’t give a dam about value for money in this price range. I’m not poor enough to care.
Intel chips are faster and overclock better therefore I prefer them. I don’t give a dam about value for money in this price range. I’m not poor enough to care.
If money is not important, get yourself a 9900k with a 2080 TI. After that, you can proudly show how much you got screwed by dropping your pants and bending.
Sausagemeat
Posts: 1,597 +1,423
You think that’s expensive? Wait until you find out how much I pay just go on one of the 3 or 4 annual scuba diving trips I’ve been doing. Could buy almost two 9900K/2080ti rigs for the cost of one of those trips. And that’s before I cost the kit I use to do it.
Oh and I’m not rich, not by modern standards, I’ve worked very hard to get into my position and started with very little. There are literally multiple millions of people around the world who are just as rich as I am if not richer. Companies like Intel/Nvidia/AMD etc are only just beginning to realise there is a lot of money to be made from us.
I am impressed with this CPU. First, I helped somebody set up a new laptop, budget laptop, with this CPU. It was the smoothest 500 laptop I have been using in a long time. But surprises didnt end there. I tried some games that can run on integrated supposedly, and thats where I felt a little sad knowing that Intel's graphics could never do what this CPU could.
Because of its performance, I chose this CPU over i5 8400. It was a budget PC and I think it would cost me 100 to 150 more if I tried similar motherboard and intel core i5.
The only problem, weird problem I had was that the person using this new PC used an old TV instead of a monitor. It was just fine with an ancient graphic card I passed on to him. But on integrated vega, it looked somewhat blurry, the text especially. I tried too fix that, and he couldn't just use my ancient nvidia GPU because it was beyond just old. In any case, I know how my high end TV displayed text, it wasnt anywhere close to a descend monitor. So I just recommended that he buys a monitor like a normal human being.
Because of its performance, I chose this CPU over i5 8400. It was a budget PC and I think it would cost me 100 to 150 more if I tried similar motherboard and intel core i5.
The only problem, weird problem I had was that the person using this new PC used an old TV instead of a monitor. It was just fine with an ancient graphic card I passed on to him. But on integrated vega, it looked somewhat blurry, the text especially. I tried too fix that, and he couldn't just use my ancient nvidia GPU because it was beyond just old. In any case, I know how my high end TV displayed text, it wasnt anywhere close to a descend monitor. So I just recommended that he buys a monitor like a normal human being.
The concept of binning is important for Intel chips, especially the unlocked K models. I've seen no evidence that AMD use binning. All AMD Ryzen chips are unlocked and all can get very close to the max frequency if you pair them with a good motherboard (the power phases are important for a stable overclock). On a lower quality Bxxx motherboard, you can still get to within around 0.3 GHz of max. I have a 1600 on a B350 and had no problem getting stable at 3.8 but cannot go higher. Well, I can boot it up but it falls apart once it gets any serious load.
I managed 4.2 ghz with 3466 mhz on a cheap B-350 using a 2400g. The only POSSIBLE trend is that the x models have slightly better memory controllers but this is not definitive. HWbot can sometimes be used as a guide to what the average overclock is, but this is not reliable as the more skillful overclocked will get the x models just to be safe.
144hzGamer
Posts: 214 +131
Neither. Just get an i5 8400 with the cheapest 2400mhz ram you can find and b360 mobo. Dont touch anythin and you will have better gaming performance and much lower power consumption (in case you overclock ryzen to match 8400).
Ready for that hate on the next comments!
Ready for that hate on the next comments!
Please don't troll.
LogiGaming
Posts: 160 +141
I will be the first one hating.
1- I can do multiple Video Editing/Encoding or just Rendering some stuff while I play Doom or Tomb Raider on the second monitor, because now everyone is a content creator and needs to edit videos/image/3d, that´s why everyone prefers Ryzen.
2- In 5 years, when I prolly need a new CPU anyway, games will be using the full 12 threads on my R5 2600, so your i5 8400 will struggle a lot.
3- I need to buy 3200mhz DIMMS for better performance with Ryzen, but they will last longer than your 2400mhz ones. Even if DDR5 is coming by that time and I need to change it anyway.
4- I can stream while playing because I have more threads. Because everyone is a streamer now and we all make a living from it, so we need 1080p 60fps feed. 720p 30fps for casual streaming isn´t enough.
5- Threads, threads and threads. Ryzen better because threads.
There you go, I just resumed every hate comment you can possibly get.
Recently switched from i7 2600K @4.7Ghz with 1866MHz DDR3 to Ryzen 5 2600 @4Ghz (haven't pushed further yet)with 3200Mhz DDR4. Even managed to get a new bracket from Corsair for my old H50 all in one closed loop water cooler so could use it with the Ryzen. The boot up time, multitasking smoothness, speed of operations in Lightroom. It's been a worthwhile upgrade for me, but for pure gaming just getting a more powerful graphics card would probably have been a better upgrade.
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Peter Farkas
Posts: 654 +530
agreed.
fktech
Posts: 542 +147
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