AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and Ryzen 7 2700 Review

Conclusion

The Ryzen 5 2600 is the simpler of the two to sum up because it fits exactly into the AMD Ryzen range where you would expect, both in price and performance terms.

Usually the CPU below the one above it in the range can be overclocked to attain a similar level of performance as the stock one. So in this case the Ryzen 5 2600 at stock is only £30 cheaper but a reasonable step slower than the Ryzen 5 2600X. However, overclock the 2600 and it matches up to a stock 2600X, with the overclocked 2600X a similar step ahead.

All of which makes it easy to describe and easy to decide if it is the processor for you. Given the small gap in pricing between the plain Ryzen 5 2600 and the beefier Ryzen 5 2600X we think that the 2600X is far and away the one to buy unless you’re extremely tight for money or only plan on utilising the 2600 as a gaming processor in the foundation of your rig. Needing to overclock it just to obtain the same performance as a stock model that’s only a few quid more expensive means it wins our OC3D Gamers Choice as it has good gaming capability. However, if you want a more rounded system then the 2600X is a better buy, or even the Ryzen 7 2700. Speaking of which…

  

The Ryzen 7 2700 started off with the same type of performance that we had seen from the Ryzen 5 2600. The pricing is the same £30 behind its X rated cousin, and at stock there was a similar drop off in the scores we were seeing from our benchmarks. It’s safe to say that we were slightly disheartened by this turn of events knowing we had hours of testing ahead of us that didn’t look like causing any major surprises.

Oh we of little faith. Whilst the Ryzen 5 2600 needed its overclock just to match up to the stock Ryzen 5 2600X, the Ryzen 7 2700 took our overclock and ran off into the distance, to the point that in some of our benchmarks it outperformed the overclocked 2700X and in nearly all of them at the very least it matched the overclocked 2700X.

If you think that you’ll be running your system at stock all the time then we’d probably spend the little bit extra and go for the faster speeds and higher performance available from the X model, but if you’re willing to invest a little bit of time into your overclock to ensure that everything remains stable – and you have plenty of cooling capacity – then the Ryzen 7 2700 is the equal of its more expensive stablemate. It’s the type of processor that speaks to our inner being. We love the concept of free performance. We adore the idea of taking something that is more affordable and tweaking it until it matches the next one up in the range. In these fiscally prudent times that is an idea which is even more attractive than ever before, and thus the ability of the Ryzen 7 2700 to match up to its bigger brother when overclocked means that it wins our OC3D Performance Award.

  

Discuss your thoughts on the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and Ryzen 7 2700 in our OC3D Forums.