AMD Ryzen 7 8700G vs Ryzen 5 8600G: Which APU is worth buying in 2024?

The AMD Ryzen 7 8700G and Ryzen 5 8600G are two newly launched APUs designed with the latest graphics hardware for affordable gaming. They are powered by Zen 4 processors and the latest RDNA 3 graphics, rendering them much more capable than the last generation Ryzen 5000 alternatives. The chips will hit shelves later this month on January 31. For now, you must wait before pulling the trigger on the latest chips from Team Red.

However, which one between the Ryzen 7 8700G and the 8600G is best for you? Answering this can be difficult given the chips haven't launched yet, and no reviews are online. In this story, we will try to determine the better CPU with the information available online. This will help you choose between the chips at launch.

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Both Ryzen 7 8700G and Ryzen 5 8600G are capable enough to play AAA titles

A render of the new AM5 Ryzen chips (Image via AMD)

The latest Ryzen 8000G APUs are armed with the latest hardware in the market. They are expected to be fairly capable of any workload. Let's look at their on-paper specs to check out what they exactly bring to the table.

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Specs comparison

Both the Ryzen 7 8700G and the Ryzen 5 8600G are based on the same Zen 4 architecture as the Ryzen 7000 chips. While the higher-end Ryzen 7 chip bundles eight cores, the cheaper 8600G has been paired with six of them. Thus, both CPUs bring decent single and multi-core performance to the table.

Besides, both chips clock to 5 GHz, like most other Ryzen 7000 processors. However, the 8600G is 100 MHz slower at a maximum boost speed of 5 GHz, while the 5700G goes to 5.1 GHz.

In every possible way, the Ryzen 5 8600G is a slightly cut-down version of its higher-end sibling. It bundles the Radeon 760M graphics processor, which is slower than the 780M. Moreover, you get 22 MB of L2 and L3 cache instead of 24 MB on the 8700G.

The detailed specs list of the two processors is as follows:

	AMD Ryzen 7 8700G	AMD Ryzen 5 8600G
Core count	8	6
Thread count	16	12
Boost frequency	5.1 GHz	5.0 GHz
Base frequency	4.2 GHz	4.3 GHz
Graphics processor	12-core AMD Radeon 780M	8-core AMD Radeon 760M
Total cache	24 MB	22 MB
TDP	65W	65W

Both chips are rated at 65W, however. This is good news for budget gamers who don't have the cash to spend on expensive high-wattage power supplies.

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Which among the Ryzen 7 8700G and Ryzen 5 8600G should you buy?

The new Ryzen 8000G processors launched at CES 2024 are built for affordable gaming (Image via AMD)

Choosing between the Ryzen 7 8700G and the 8600G can be difficult. Both chips have been priced competitively. While the eight-core processor is up for grabs at $329, you can buy the 8600G at just $229. This makes them cheaper than the current Ryzen 7 7700X and Ryzen 5 7600X offerings.

The APUs target a different market segment than these chips. They are meant to be an all-in-one package that can play the latest games without relying on a discrete graphics processor. The RDNA 3-based GPUs in them are decent enough to handle most games at 1080p.

Given what we have seen in the Ryzen 7040HS mobile chips, the Radeon 780M is as powerful as the GTX 1650 Super, and the 760M will be slightly faster than the GTX 1050. The difference between the two chips will be considerable. Players on the weaker 760M might have to crank down to 720p in the more demanding games.

We don't know the exact performance details of the two chips until the reviews drop closer to the January 31 launch date. For now, the Ryzen 7 8700G makes more sense if you want a decent experience in the latest AAA titles without relying on a graphics card. However, if you want to play older games or have plans to add a GPU sometime down the line, the Ryzen 5 8600G will suffice.