The Ryzen 5 5500 certainly works well, but realistically if you're on a budget yet remain a performance-minded enthusiast, this CPU should be avoided even at $140. At that price, the R5 5500 is about 20% more affordable than the 5600, and we only found it to be 14% slower under extreme conditions, but we're also talking about $40, and of course, there are other considerations such as the lack of PCIe 4.0 support.
Our editors hand-pick related products using a variety of criteria: direct competitors targeting the same market segment, or devices that are similar in size, performance, or feature sets.
The Ryzen 5 5500 certainly works well, but realistically if you're on a budget yet remain a performance-minded enthusiast, this CPU should be avoided even at $140. At that price, the R5 5500 is about 20% more affordable than the 5600, and we only found it to be 14% slower under extreme conditions, but we're also talking about $40, and of course, there are other considerations such as the lack of PCIe 4.0 support.
Intel's competitive Alder Lake chips have upset AMD's dominance with its Ryzen processors, particularly in the lower price ranges, but the new $199 six-core 12-thread Ryzen 5 5600 and $159 Ryzen 5 5500 are designed to plug key gaps in the company's...
AMD's Ryzen 5 5500 offers decent performance for non-gaming tasks, but it trails slightly costlier AMD and Intel CPUs in our benchmarks, making it a second-tier pick.
The Ryzen 5 5500 is a great chip for upgraders with existing Ryzen systems, but it only makes sense for new builds if you need more threaded heft and don't mind using an older platform. The Core i3-12100 is a better choice for gaming-focused rigs due to its higher performance and friendlier price tag.
AMD basically invented affordable, high-core-count mainstream desktop CPUs with the original Ryzen processors. Taking nearly 18 months to bring the company's newest architecture down to its more cash-strapped customers isn't a great look.