For mainstream game installations, the most popular models for AMD and Intel are naturally models with 6 large cores, such as the dessert hit Ryzen 5 7600 and the Core 14th generation rookie i5-14600K. Especially the newly launched i5-14600K, compared with the previous generation, the maximum turbo frequency of large cores has been increased to 5.3GHz, plus the total number of large and small cores is as high as 14, and the multi-threaded running score is really eye-catching, so how does its performance in actual gaming compare with Ryzen 5 7600? Can it shake the status of Ryzen 5 7600 as the cost-effective leader of mainstream game installations? Let's take a look at the actual PK.
Playing games are all 6 big core output, and the whole big core Ryzen 5 7600 is more efficient
The recently launched i5-14600K is an upgraded version of the i5-13600K, but compared to the previous generation, the frequency has only been increased, and the maximum turbo frequency of the large core that works for games has been increased from 5.1GHz to 5.3GHz, while the number of cores, cache size, memory support, etc. have not changed. Therefore, you can also see from many reviews that the game performance of i5-14600K is almost an average of 3% improvement compared to i5-13600K, but it is a bit difficult to challenge Ryzen 5 7600 at this level.
The Ryzen 5 7600 is already very familiar to us, it uses the 5nm Zen4 architecture, the maximum boost clock reaches 5.1 GHz, and the L3 cache is 32MB, which is 8MB more than the 24MB of the i5-14600K. Moreover, on most 600-series motherboards that can unlock the power wall, the Ryzen 5 7600 is the default all-core 5.1 GHz frequency, and the performance is very good. Of course, it also supports overclocking, and the all-core 5.5GHz is almost the basic disk, and the performance can be further improved.
On the whole, although the total number of cores of i5-14600K seems to be a lot, it is still the 6 big cores that are useful for games, and it is the same as Ryzen 5 7600 in terms of practical cores, but i5-14600K has a disadvantage in terms of L3 cache capacity, and there is still a problem with the scheduling efficiency of large and small cores in some games, which is also its minus in games. The Ryzen 5 7600 all-large-core design, all cores can run to 5.1GHz by default, and it is not difficult to use it stably beyond the all-core 5.5GHz, and the 32MB large-capacity L3 cache also has more bonuses for games, so it has an inherent advantage in terms of specifications.
In terms of energy efficiency ratio, the Ryzen 5 7600 has a more obvious advantage, with a default TDP of only a little more than half of that of the i5-14600K, and a full load power of about 90W, which is still not as high as the PL1 power of the i5-14600K. Lower power means lower requirements for coolers, motherboards, and power supplies on the Ryzen 5 7600, helping gamers save on their budget and improve their experience.
The price part, Ryzen 5 7600 only costs 1349 yuan, and you can save more than 100 yuan by buying a board U suit, and the total price of the set with the A620 motherboard of the first-line brand is only more than 2000 yuan, and the i5-14600K processor alone costs 2599 yuan, plus the motherboard is more than 1,000 yuan more expensive, and this has not included the more expensive radiator. In short, when it comes to playing games alone, the Ryzen 5 7600's cost-effective advantage is too great.
Let's take a look at the actual combat comparison.
The overall gaming performance is stronger, and the Ryzen 5 7600 successfully defended its title
Test platform
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 7600
Intel i5-14600K
Memory: G.SKILL DDR5 6000 16GB×2
Motherboard: ASUS TUF GAMING B650M-PLUS Heavy Gunner
ASUS TUF GAMING B760M-PLUS HEAVY GUNNER
Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 7600
HDD: WD_BLACK SN850X 2TB
Power supply: ASUS ROG Thor II.1200W
Operating system: Windows 11 Professional 22H2
In terms of test platforms, we turned on Resizable BAR support in the motherboard BIOS and left the memory with XMP 6000 enabled to ensure that both platforms performed as well as they should. In terms of graphics cards, we chose mainstream graphics cards such as the RX 7600, which is more in line with the budget level of the actual installation. The game resolution was chosen 1080p to highlight the processor gap.
Judging from the measured results, the Ryzen 5 7600 set by Mopin has 7 leads and 3 draws in 7 of the 12 games, which is about 1.8% ahead of the i5-14600K on average, which can be regarded as a comprehensive small victory. The lead in Red Dead Redemption 2, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and F1 22 is relatively obvious, and these games are also the traditional advantages of the Ryzen 7000 processor. After overclocking to an all-core 5.5 GHz, the Ryzen 5 7600's performance has been further improved, leading all games with an overall lead of 3.68%. If we take the price factor into account, we can see that the performance of Ryzen 5 7600 per yuan under the silent frequency is about 96.13% ahead of i5-14600K, and the all-core 5.5GHz Ryzen 5 7600 is about 99.75% ahead of i5-14600K per yuan, which is nearly double the advantage, which shows that in terms of game installation, Ryzen 5 7600's cost performance is still far ahead of i5-14600K.
▲Using the Cinebench R23 test machine, the maximum power of the Ryzen 5 7600 is about 90W, while the i5-14600K is up to 165W
Let's use the Cinebench R23 to see how much power both processors can use at full load. As you can see from the figure, the Ryzen 5 7600 has only about 90W at full load even if the power wall is unlocked, while the i5-14600K is up to 165W, and the pressure on heat dissipation and power supply is higher.
Summary: Mainstream game installations, Ryzen 5 7600 is still the current cost-effective hegemon
To sum it up briefly. As can be seen from the previous tests, even though the i5-14600K slightly increases the frequency compared to the i5-13600K, it is still not enough to make up for the frame rate gap between it and the Ryzen 5 7600 in terms of actual game combat, and in the end, the Ryzen 5 7600 still wins with a comprehensive lead of 1.8%. If the Ryzen 5 7600 is overclocked to an all-core 5.5GHz, this advantage can be increased to 3.68%. Of course, the i5-14600K can also be overclocked, but even if it is not overclocked, its full load power is already as high as 165W, far exceeding the full load of 90W of the Ryzen 5 7600 (after overclocking 5.5 GHz, it is about 90W), if the i5-14600K is overclocked, it may cause excessive pressure on heat dissipation and power supply, compared to the increase in game frame rate brought by overclocking, it seems to be half the effort, reducing the practical significance. At the same time, in terms of cost-effective installation, the advantages of Ryzen 5 7600 are also obvious. From the comparison of the configuration table, it can be seen that only the board U suit is different from the radiator (i5-14600K full load 165W power makes it need a more expensive radiator), the total price of Ryzen 5 7600 host is as high as 1359 yuan advantage over i5-14600K host, it can be seen that if it is installed specifically for game applications, Ryzen 5 7600 is still the most noteworthy cost-effective overlord for mainstream players, The i5-14600K, which costs 1250 yuan, cannot shake its status.
At present, AMD's JD.com self-operated flagship store is on sale, and from now to November 3, it is at a good start, not only its products have significant discounts, but also designated products can also be returned to E cards. The Ryzen 5 7600 is currently only 1349 yuan, 20 yuan off for 1300 yuan, and the starting price is only 1329 yuan, which is very worth buying.