AMD Ryzen 5 9600X specs, expected performance, prices, and more

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X is now official—it was unveiled as part of the first wave of Ryzen 9000 series chips at Computex 2024. The processor will be the family's six-core offering, targeting the mid-range market and gamers with its strong single-core performance. AMD has already unveiled the full specs of the upcoming chip. It is expected to be made available in July.

The new generation of processors utilizes the same AM5 socket as the 7000 series. AMD has also launched new X870 and B850 motherboards to fully utilize the computing prowess of the latest offerings.

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AMD Ryzen 5 9600X specs

AMD is launching four CPUs as part of the first wave of Ryzen 9000 processors (Image via AMD)

At its core, the new Ryzen 5 9600X is similar to the 7600X in terms of on-paper offerings. For instance, we are looking at a similar six-core and twelve-threaded chip. However, there are some alterations to the operating clock speeds and TDP.

The boost frequency of the 9600X is at a staggering 5.4 GHz, which makes it 100 MHz faster than the last generation. However, the base clock has gone down from 4.7 GHz to 3.9 GHz.

The biggest change is in the maximum power draw limits. While the 7600X took things to a new high for the Ryzen 5 with a whopping 105W design, the 9600X is rated at a more modest 65W, just like the older 5600X and 3600X.

	AMD Ryzen 5 9600X	AMD Ryzen 5 7600X
Architecture	Zen 5	Zen 4
# cores	6	6
# threads	12	12
Base clock	3.9 GHz	4.7 GHz
Boost clock	5.4 GHz	5.3 GHz
Total cache (L2+L3)	38 MB	38 MB
PCIe generation	Gen 5	Gen 5
TDP	65W	105W

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AMD Ryzen 5 9600X expected performance

New Zen 5 CPUs deliver twice the graphics bandwidth and AI performance (Image via AMD)

AMD didn't explicitly go over performance improvements with the more modest Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 processors. At the event, only the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X took center stage, which boasts up to a 56% performance increase over the Intel Core i9-14900K depending on the workload.

However, we got a look at the performance improvements with the new Zen 5 CPU cores, which gives us a pretty good idea of what to expect with the upcoming Ryzen 5 9600X.

The Zen 5 CPU core is on average 16% faster than the last generation (Image via AMD)

On average, the upcoming AMD CPU architecture is 16% faster than the last generation. This is a modest uplift, only making the upcoming chips a good buy for those with three to five-year-old processors.

We will have to wait until the final launch of the 9600X to get an exact idea.

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AMD Ryzen 5 9600X expected prices

We have no information on the prices of the upcoming processors. Since the latest chips aren't a massive improvement over the last gen, we are expecting them to cost pretty much the same.

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X debuted for $299. However, it was subsequently discounted to $250 and now sells for $200 following backlash over the chips' value for money. The upcoming 9600X will likely cost $299, but a cheaper $249 price tag wouldn't surprise us.