How good is Intel’s i5-10600K when we compare it to AMD’s cheaper Ryzen 5 3600? Let’s see what the differences are in games and applications both at stock settings and while overclocked.
Table of Contents
- Specs comparison of Intel i5 10600K Vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600
- Gaming – The performance comparisons of Intel i5 10600K Vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600 at 1080p and 1440p
- The Major Gaming Differences at 1440p vs 1080p on Intel i5-10600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600
- The Benchmark Differences Between Intel i5 10600K vs Ryzen 5 3600
- The comparison of Overclocks, power draw, thermals, clock speeds of Intel i5-10600K vs AMD Ryzen 5
- The price comparison of Intel i5 10600K Vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600
- i5-10600K or AMD’s Ryzen 5 3600 which one to buy
Specs comparison of Intel i5 10600K Vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Let’s begin with the specs as both of them are 6 core 12 thread parts. The Ryzen 5 3600 has far more cache, however the 10600K has a higher TDP and higher clock speeds. The price difference is unfortunately a best guess since they keep fluctuating. At the moment, the Ryzen 5 3600 goes for $172 USD, however the 10600K hasn’t hit shelves at the time of recording. Intel lists the 1000 unit sale price as $262, but the actual price will probably be more like $280. There is also the 10600K though, which is basically the same processor but without integrated graphics for less money, so you could definitely save some money if you don’t need the iGPU.
We are mainly comparing these two processors because they have the same core and thread counts, yet the Ryzen 5 3600 is a fair bit cheaper. Sure, the Ryzen 5 3600X might make more sense from a price difference perspective as it’s around $230 USD. However, in this Ryzen 5 3600 vs Ryzen 5 3600X comparison our research found extremely minor differences between these two, and based on this it’s our sole personal opinion that in most such cases it’s not worth getting the more expensive Ryzen 5 3600X unless it’s on a great sale. The following things should be kept in mind before going any further:
- Both processors were tested in the same system, but we had to change motherboards to find the real core valuable differences.
- For the Intel i5-10600K we are testing with the MSI Z490 ACE motherboard, and for the AMD Ryzen 5 3600– the ASRock X570 Taichi.
- For testing the stock we are not capping the 10600K to its 125w limit, as many motherboards aren’t going to limit this by default. It’s just leaving the performance on the table if you have a good overheating PC solution.
- The enhanced turbo has also been disabled in the BIOS, which is MSI’s version of MCE, as that would boost the all core speed from 4.5 to 4.8GHz.
- All the remaining components were left the same otherwise. We have tested with 16GBs of DDR4-3200 memory running in dual channel at CL14 and with an Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti.
- The same Fractal S36 AIO has been used with Noctua NT-H2 paste for both CPUs so we can get an apples to apples temperature analysis.
- All the Nvidia drivers testing has been completed with the new Windows and BIOS installed updates.
Gaming – The performance comparisons of Intel i5 10600K Vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600 at 1080p and 1440p
Let’s get into the gaming performance test results of Intel i5-10600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600, as we tested 15 games at both 1080p and 1440p resolutions. We will start with stock results and look at overclocked, average differences and cost per frame afterwards.
Battlefield V
We tested Battlefield V running through the same section of the game in campaign mode. We got the 1080p results down the bottom, and the 1440p results above that.
Battlefield Test at 1440p & 1080p
Ultra Setting – RTX Off – DX 12
1440p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 136.22 FPS | 86.08 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 129.75 FPS | 74.88 FPS |
1080p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 161.02 FPS | 86.96 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 147.02 FPS | 77.05 FPS |
In this game the 10600K was able to hit 10% higher average FPS at 1080p, lowering to a 5% gain at 1440p.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Test at 1440p & 1080p
Very High Settings
1440p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 87.14 FPS | 62 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 76.89 FPS | 55.5 FPS |
1080p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 99.09 FPS | 67.25 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 88.63 FPS | 56.05 FPS |
We tested Assassin’s Creed Odyssey with the games benchmark tool, and at 1080p the results can be seen in the above chart similar with the 10600K reaching 11% higher average FPS, then at 1440p this increases to a 13% lead over the Ryzen 5 3600.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare
Call of Duty modern warfare is tested in the campaign mode, and the differences below are very interesting.
Maximum Setting – 100% Render Resolution
1440p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 116.06 FPS | 73.58 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 91.04 FPS | 113.13 FPS |
1080p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 155.58 FPS | 81.09 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 150.38 FPS | 115.68 FPS |
The 1% lows really seemed to favour the Ryzen 5 3600 in this test. Given the i5 was only around 3% faster in terms of average FPS, the Ryzen 5 3600 would likely do better overall in this title due to those big 1% low gains.
Borderlands 3
Borderlands 3 has been tested using the games built in benchmark, and the i5 can be seen below reaching 10% higher average FPS at 1080p, then just 3% at 1440p as we are presumably more GPU bound there so the CPU difference matters less in the scenario.
Ultra Setting – DX 11 – 100% Resolution Scale
1440p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 89.32 FPS | 71 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 86.57 FPS | 64.33 FPS |
1080p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 115.59 FPS | 88 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 104.78 FPS | 78 FPS |
That said the 1% low at 1440p can be seen still 10% higher on the 10600K.
Control
The popular game Control is tested by performing the same test pass through the game on both machines, and this is a very GPU heavy game, or at least with these settings, saw one of the smallest differences out of all 15 games tested.
High Setting – DX 12 – RTX Off
1440p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 85.85 FPS | 71.93 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 85 FPS | 68.06 FPS |
1080p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 130.35 FPS | 101.38 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 98.88 FPS | 129.1 FPS |
Overwatch
Overwatch has been tested in the practice range, and while this runs better than actual gameplay, it more easily allows you to perform the exact same test run, which is ideal for such comparisons.
Epic Settings – 100% Render Scale
1440p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 231.06 FPS | 195.66 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 227.16 FPS | 185.33 FPS |
1080p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 262.33 FPS | 298.55 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 240.67 FPS | 295.05 FPS |
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Shadow of the Tomb Raider has also been tested with its benchmark tool, so no 1% low data here unfortunately.
High Settings – DX 12
1440p
| Average | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 120 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 113 FPS |
1080p
| Average | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 146 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 128 FPS |
There was an above average 14% higher average FPS at 1080p with the i5, lowering down to a below average 6% lead at 1440p, which makes sense as realistically this is more of a GPU heavy test.
Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2 has also been tested using their benchmark tool, and this game shows one of the biggest improvements with the 10600K out of all titles tested with a 17% higher average FPS at 1080p, and 10% at 1440p:
High Settings – DX 12
1440p
| Average | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 101.44 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 92.61 FPS |
1080p
| Average | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 119.68 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 102.44 FPS |
Tom Clancy’s: Rainbow Six Siege
Rainbow Six Siege has been tested using the game’s benchmark with Vulkan. This is another game where the difference to 1% low is seen much larger than the average frame rate.
Ultra Setting – Vulkan – 100% Render Scale Rate
1440p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 188.56 FPS | 133.96 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 183.04 FPS | 122.03 FPS |
1080p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 278.08 FPS | 214.53 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 266.35 FPS | 185.63 FPS |
As it can be seen here, the i5 is just 3 to 4% ahead in average FPS, however there is a much larger 15% boost to 1% lows.
CS:GO
CS:GO has been tested as seen below in the chart using the Ulletical FPS benchmark, and as a game that typically favours CPU clock speed with the count not being a prime factor, the 10600K saw fair gains to the average frame rate. However the 1% low difference is far more minor in comparison.
Max Setting – FPS Benchmark by uLLetical
1440p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 418.37 FPS | 102.63 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 397.09 FPS | 100 FPS |
1080p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 518.66 FPS | 150.67 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 483.99 FPS | 145 FPS |
The Witcher 3
The Witcher 3 shows us very interesting results below, although the difference in average FPS is well below most other games tested. The 1% low at 1440p is seen with a massive 38% higher result with the i5.
Ultra Setting – Nvidia Hairworks off
1440p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 131.21 FPS | 95 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 133.88 FPS | 69 FPS |
1080p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 183.34 FPS | 98 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 176.08 FPS | 90.33 FPS |
The Division 2
The Division 2 has been tested using the games benchmark tool, and while the i5 was once more in front, the gains are below the average with just a 6% higher average FPS at 1080p, lowering down to a 2% lead at 1440p. Though there can be seen a higher 13% boost to 1% low performance on the i5 at 1080p in the table below.
Ultra Setting – 100% Render Scale – DX 12
1440p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 102.63 FPS | 77.93 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 100.5 FPS | 71.63 FPS |
1080p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 147.5 FPS | 95.33 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 139.17 FPS | 84.02 FPS |
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and Intel i5’s processors performed close to the 300 FPS frame cap at 1080p. However the 10600K has shown a 9% higher 1% low which is useful if you are a competitive eSports enthusiast.
Dota 2
Dota 2 is also tested and the results can be seen below. It seems to be similar in that it prefers CPU clock speed but realistically we are near the engine frame cap anyway. The i5 is around 7% faster at 1080p but given the fact that the Ryzen 5 3600 is near 200 FPS already. You are probably going to need to be a pro to notice that.
Ultra Setting – DX 11
1440p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 206.56 FPS | 107 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 197.24 FPS | 101 FPS |
1080p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 209.09 FPS | 109 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 195.99 FPS | 99 FPS |
Far Cry New Dawn
Far Cry New Dawn has also been tested with the games built in benchmark. This test has been very well received and shown the biggest improvement with the i5 processor out of all the other titles that we tested..
Ultra Setting – RTX Off – DX 12
1440p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 112.22 FPS | 81.05 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 93.44 FPS | 65 FPS |
1080p
| Average | 1% Low | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 118.34 FPS | 83.25 FPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 95.1 FPS | 65.05 FPS |
At 1080p it reaches at 24% higher average FPS, and still 20% higher even at 1440p.
The Major Gaming Differences at 1440p vs 1080p on Intel i5-10600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600
The Percentage Difference Between Intel i5-10600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600 at 1080p at Average FPS
| Game | % Difference |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 24.44% |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 16.83% |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 14.06% |
| Assassin’s Creed Odyssey | 11.8% |
| Borderlands 3 | 10.32% |
| Battlefield | 9.51% |
| CS:GO | 7.16% |
| Dota 2 | 7.1% |
| The Division 2 | 5.99% |
| Tom Clancy’s: Rainbow Six Siege | 4.4% |
| Call of Duty Modern Warfare | 3.46% |
| The Witcher 3 | 4.12% |
| Overwatch | 1.03% |
| Control | 0.97% |
Intel i5 10600K is 8.85% faster than AMD Ryzen 5 3600
On average over all game tests, the Intel i5-10600K has been around 9% faster at 1080p on average when compared to the Ryzen 5 3600. As we have seen the results differ and vary by game. Far Cry New Dawn at the top for instance saw big gains with the Intel processor, while the other games such as Overwatch and Control have shown not much difference, though the i5 has always been ahead in average FPS tests and different parameters.
The Percentage Difference Between Intel i5-10600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600 at 1440p on Average FPS
| Game | % Difference |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 20.01% |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 13.33% |
| Assassin’s Creed Odyssey | 14.06% |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 9.53% |
| Shadow Of The Tomb Raider | 6.19% |
| CS:GO | 5.36% |
| Battlefield | 4.99% |
| Dota 2 | 4.73% |
| Borderlands 3 | 3.18% |
| Call of Duty Modern Warfare | 3.07% |
| Tom Clancy’s: Rainbow Six Siege | 2.81% |
| The Witcher 3 | 2.49% |
| The Division 2 | 2.12% |
| Overwatch | 1.72% |
| Control | 1% |
Intel i5 10600K is 6.03% faster than AMD Ryzen 5 3600.
When we see 1440p performance the 10600K now gains a 6% lead against the Ryzen 5 3600 in average frame rate. We are co-related to the GPU efficiency in this regard than the CPU, making the difference between the two processors narrow and the difference would be even less vocal at 4K.
The Percentage Difference Between Intel i5-10600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600 at 1080p at 1% Low
| Game | % Difference |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 27.1% |
| Assassin’s Creed Odyssey | 19.03% |
| Tom Clancy’s: Rainbow Six Siege | 15.57% |
| The Division 2 | 13.22% |
| Borderlands 3 | 12.82% |
| Battlefield 5 | 12.21% |
| Dota 2 | 10.01% |
| Overwatch | 9% |
| The Witcher 3 | 8.49% |
| CS:GO | 3.91% |
| Control | 2.53% |
| Call of Duty Modern Warfare | -29.2% |
Intel i5 10600K is found 8.85% faster than AMD Ryzen 5 3600.
We also noticed that the variation in 1% low performance, as these results are typically more sensitive to CPU changes when we compared it to the average frame rates that we have seen above. Interestingly at 1080p the i5 was also around 9% higher here. However it’s being dragged down by Call of Duty, which was the only game that seemed to love the Ryzen 5 3600 in terms of 1% low.
The Percentage Difference Between Intel i5-10600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600 at 1440p at 1% Low
| Game | % Difference |
| The Witcher 3 | 37.68% |
| Far Cry New Dawn | 25.38% |
| Battlefield 5 | 14.96% |
| Tom Clancy’s: Rainbow Six Siege | 14.69% |
| Assassin’s Creed Odyssey | 13.33% |
| Borderlands 3 | 10.37% |
| The Division 2 | 8.8% |
| Dota 2 | 5.94% |
| Overwatch | 5.57% |
| Control | 4.85% |
| CS:GO | 2.67% |
| Call of Duty Modern Warfare | -19.5% |
Intel i5 10600K is 9.87% faster than AMD Ryzen 5 3600
- However, as we have found out that at 1440p the i5 is about 10% faster on average when it comes to the 1% low as that Call of Duty Outlier isn’t as bad as what we noticed at 1080p. In most of the games, a better 1% low on the i5 would transcend into a smoother experience with fewer dips.
- Whereas, for some of the overclocked gaming results, in Far Cry New Dawn it has been seen possible to get a few extra FPS in all instances, but nothing too excessively alarming. The i5 sees a larger boost from the overclock, which makes sense given it has better overclock headroom.
- In Call of Duty Modern Warfare the overclocks caused mixed results.
- For the i5 there were actually slightly lower averages, however the 1% low improved. The Ryzen 5 3600 has shown us minimal change to average FPS, but gained a nice boost to the 1% low.
- In Assassin’s Creed Odyssey the Ryzen 5 3600 seemed to gain a bigger improvement, particularly to the 1% low performance which was now around 10 FPS higher compared to the 2 gain to the i5.
The gaming results are not too surprising when we consider that Intel’s last gen i5-9600K was also beating the Ryzen 5 3600 when it came to gaming for the most part, and that was without hyperthreading, granted the difference was less than what we have seen here. If you are a pro gamer, the 10600K is the better option out of the two in terms of raw performance. However once we take price into consideration the Ryzen 5 3600 is offering better value.
The Benchmark Differences Between Intel i5 10600K vs Ryzen 5 3600
Intel i5 10600K vs Ryzen 5 3600 Cinebench R20 Testing
Starting with Cinebench R20, we have got the Intel i5-10600K up the top, and the Ryzen 5 3600 below.
Cinebench R20 – Higher is better
| Multi Core | Single Core | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 3,593 | 497 |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 3682 | 487 |
However the Intel i5 10600K had a small 2% lead when it came to the single core score, interestingly the Ryzen 5 3600 was 2.5% faster when it came to multicore, which may indicate that the extra cache with the 3,600 is giving it an edge there, as its clocked lower.
Intel i5 10600K vs Ryzen 5 3600 Cinebench R15 Testing
Cinebench R15 – Higher is better
The older Cinebench R15’s results are also shown as hundreds of users use it even today.
| Multi Core | Single Core | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 1,495 | 207 |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 1,636 | 197 |
The single core was better with the i5 with a 5% higher score this time, but multicore was ahead with the Ryzen 5 3600, now with a 9% higher score.
Intel i5 10600K vs Ryzen 5 3600 Comparison Blender Open Data Benchmark
We also tested the Blender BMW and Classroom benchmarks. This one is a core heavy test, there’s not a big difference if you look closely between the two.
Blender Open Data Benchmark
Lower is better
| Blender ClassRoom | Blender BMW | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 997.303 | 293.927 |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 984.662 | 296.399 |
We found that the BMW test was just a few seconds faster on the i5, while the Ryzen 5 3600 was faster when it came to the Classroom test. In any scenario the results were very close.
Handbrake
Handbrake was used to convert the 4K laptop review to 1080p with the HQ 1080p30 preset, and the i5 was about 9% slower in this test, so another win for the Ryzen 5 3600 in multicore.
Handbrake 1.3.1
Lower is better
| Intel i5 10600K | 954 |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 863 |
Intel i5 10600K vs Ryzen 5 3600 Comparison Test on Adobe Premiere
Adobe Premiere was used to test the videos export results at 4K, and VBR 2 paas so both ran for over 50 minutes.
Adobe Premiere Pro CC 4K Video Export Quality Test
4K Ultra H.264 Preset – VBR 2 Pass
Lower is better
| Intel i5 10600K | 3234 |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 3090 |
- The Ryzen 5 3600 has a clear edge over i5, but it’s not that big. The i5 was around 4% slower, but not great when it costs around 50% more than Ryzen while testing the benchmarks for 4K video export quality in Premiere Pro.
- However while using the Puget systems benchmark tool testing, the Ryzen 5 3600 was in the forefront with a clear streak.
- The Puget systems Premiere Pro benchmark test also gave us a score for live playback in particular, and the Ryzen 5 3600 had a similar narrow lead.
- It was also tested on the warp stabilizer effect in Adobe Premiere which is a less threaded workload and is used to smooth out a video clip.
- Please note that the clock speed is very important for this test. However these results kind of turn that around, perhaps the cache difference is also important here as the i5 was 10% slower in this one than Ryzen.
- Adobe Photoshop has also been tested with the benchmark from Puget systems, and this is definitely a test that favours clock speed and single core performance. Here definitely the i5 is a clear winner with scoring 3% above the Ryzen 5 3600, but once again we come to know that it’s really not really worth paying 50% more money on that one either just for that.
Intel i5-10600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600 7-Zip Comparison Test
We also compared Intel i5-10600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU with 7-Zip. It has been used to test compression and decompression speeds and is typically a workload where Ryzen gets an edge. See the results in MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second).
7-Zip
32 MB Dictionary – Higher number of MIPS is better
| Decompression | Compression | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 60,470 MIPS | 50,863 MIPS |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 69,554 MIPS | 51,718 MIPS |
The compression speed can be seen a little ahead on the Ryzen 5 3600, however there is a much larger variation in decompression MIPS, whereas the i5 was 13% slower.
Intel i5-10600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600 VeraCrypt Performance Comparison Test
We also used VeraCrypt to compare the performances variation of Ryzen vs i5 while testing AES encryption and decryption speeds, and again there is an edge to the Ryzen Ryzen 5 3600 as the i5 is seen clearly 7 to 8% slower.
VeraCrypt Comparison Table
AES Encryption/Decryption – 1 GB Buffer – Higher GB/s is better
| Decryption | Encryption | |
| Intel i5 10600K | 11.04 GBs | 11.08 GBs |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 11.98 GBs | 11.97 GBs |
V-Ray
The V-Ray benchmark is used by the CPU to render the scene, and the results have been extremely close together in this test. See the chart below:
V-Ray Benchmark (Higher number of KSAMPLES is better)
| Intel i5 10600K | 10,473 KSAMPLES |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 10,484 KSAMPLES |
This is a heavily threaded workload, and it seems that both processors perform about the same due to having 6 cores 12 threads. With that being said there were some more findings which are as below:
- The Corona benchmark also uses the processor to render a scene, however the i5 was 5.5% faster in this multicore test, so it may favour those higher clock speeds more.
- While during the Hardware Unboxed Microsoft Excel test the Ryzen was in the forefront again. This is the highest variation we have seen so far out of all tests, the Ryzen 5 3600 has completed the task 15% faster than i5.
- On the other hand, during the other single core tests, the i5 is ahead for single core in Geekbench, but also as per most other tests, the Ryzen entertains the very edge over it during the multicore test score.
Here’s how the Intel i5-10600K stacks up against the Ryzen 5 3600 in these tests at stock.
In most cases, the i5 is found to be slower than Ryzen. Most of us didn’t expect it given that both processors have the same core and thread count, yet the Ryzen 5 3600 has emerged a winner in the majority of core heavy workloads despite the fact that it has lower clock speeds.
The i5 is a better performer in single core tests in typical Intel fashion though. This difference is perhaps due to the Ryzen processor having more than double cache, and when you consider that the Ryzen 5 3600 is around $90 cheaper, it’s clearly got the edge in these sorts of productivity workloads – don’t worry we’ll get to gaming shortly.
The comparison of Overclocks, power draw, thermals, clock speeds of Intel i5-10600K vs AMD Ryzen 5
We carried out some tests with both processors Intel i5-10600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 overclocked.
Total System Power Draw Comparison Intel i5 vs AMD Ryzen 5 – Blender Classroom Benchmark (Lower power draw is better)
Overclocked
| Intel i5 10600K 5.0 GHz | 250 Watts |
| Ryzen 5 3600 4.2 GHz | 154 Watts |
Stock
| Intel i5 10600K | 186 Watts |
| Ryzen 5 3600 | 158 Watts |
- We could easily get Ryzen 5 3600 to 4.2GHz on all cores at 1.325v and the 10600K to 5GHz on all cores without changing 1.325v voltage. We also tried 100MHz higher on both with higher voltage, but it was not stable in the blender.
- The Ryzen 5 3600 is using less power during the total system power draw from the wall with the blender test running.
- When the both processors are overclocked the gap widens considerably, the power draw on the i5 blows out completely in this scenario.
- The Ryzen 5 3600 actually used less power overclocked, and that was because at stock the motherboard was automatically applied the higher voltage than the 1.325v we had to manually set for the overclock.
- The higher power drawing results in more heat, and that was the case with the 10600K as it was running hotter too, and like the power draw, once overclocked the i5 is far worse off.
- Again as the overclock applied the Ryzen 5 3600 was a little cooler by using less voltage comparatively.
- They are not directly comparable as the 10600K was running at higher clock speeds during the same test, though as it was drawing more power and generating more heat to sustain this while offering competitive performance.
- So resultantly, the i5 does have much more overclock headroom, as we were just boosting the Ryzen 5 3600 by 89MHz.
- On the other hand, the extra overclock headroom with the i5 allows it to start outperforming the Ryzen 5 3600 in multicore workloads, in Cinebench R20.
- At stock the Ryzen 5 3600 was ahead of i5, but now the 10600K takes the lead once both are overclocked.
- The i5 has also the better gains to single core performance, as the 4.2GHz all core overclock to the Ryzen 5 3600 is basically the same as what it boosts up to in one to two core workloads anyway at stock.
- The results are not found any different in Blender, the i5 completes the task faster than the Ryzen 5 3600. However as we just mentioned above, it is using significantly more power and running quite a bit hotter even with a 360 all in one liquid cooler.
- It should be noted the Ryzen 5 3600 comes with a stock cooler, while the 10600K does not have it pre-built. So if you do want to do some good overclocking like this to boost the multicore performance of the i5, you will need to spend even more money on the Intel option.
The price comparison of Intel i5 10600K Vs AMD Ryzen 5 3600
The i5 is approximately 50% more money than the Ryzen 5 3600, whether or not it’s worth paying that much extra for an average 10% performance improvement or so in games is up to you and how much you value higher FPS.
The Ryzen 5 3600 is definitely still capable of offering a good gaming experience, it just depends on your budget and priorities. Although the Ryzen 5 3600 had an edge in most of our productivity workloads. In most cases it’s not that big of a difference. If you are primarily performing these sorts of tasks and not gaming, then the Ryzen 5 3600 is an easy choice when combined with its cheaper price.
In terms of the upcoming upgrades, AMD announced that soon the existing motherboards will support the upcoming processors, though support will depend on which boards companies pick to update, and that’s not currently clear.
Even if you aren’t looking for next gen, if you already have a decent motherboard you will probably be able to find cheaper options within the same generation, say a 3700X, 3900X or 3950X. Intel 10th gen processors on the other hand launched with the new Z490 and B460 chipsets and new motherboards. So if you have got anything older you definitely need a new motherboard anyway.
Either platform should hopefully give you some options though. The main difference is that AMD have confirmed next gen support while with Intel we are just kind of assuming based on past behaviour.
i5-10600K or AMD’s Ryzen 5 3600 which one to buy
So to conclude, at the end of the day it only seems worth paying around 50% more money for the i5-10600K. If you are gaming and really want that extra around 10% on average performance boost, though of course results will vary between specific games. The Ryzen 5 3600 is still a capable gaming processor and offers much better value in terms of dollar per frame, while also outperforming the 10600K in most multicore workloads at a lower price point.
So, i5-10600K or AMD’s Ryzen 5 3600 which one would you pick?
