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The Intel Core i5-12600KF vs AMD Ryzen 5 5600X battle is an interesting one, especially in the mid-range category. Ryzen processors are known for their gaming capabilities, and this one is no different. But this Intel processor has some talents of its own. It has more cores and higher clock speeds, giving it a competitive edge over the Ryzen processor.
So, if you're wondering which one is the best mid-range processor out of the two, that would be the Intel Core I5-12600KF. Read on to find out what makes the Intel CPU the best and to what degree. We will also find out if the AMD CPU can be a decent alternative.
Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and solely reflect the writer's opinions.
Intel Core i5-12600KF vs AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
The Intel Core i5-12600KF is the 12th Gen Intel processor that introduced the concept of P-cores and E-cores. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, on the other hand, brought significant improvements in IPC and gaming performance compared to their older processors. Let's look at the specs of the two CPUs and find out what they are capable of.
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Specs
The Intel Core i5-12600KF is based on the Alder Lake architecture and has 10 cores with 16 threads. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X is based on the Zen 3 architecture and has 6 cores and 12 threads. Here are the full specs list of the two CPUs:
Synthetic & productivity benchmark
The specs don't always reveal the full picture, so let's put the two CPUs to the test and find which one is better. A full suite of popular benchmarks have been performed on the two CPUs.
In single-core performance, the Intel Core i5-12600KF has a 19% higher average score than the Ryzen CPU. In multi-core benchmarks, the Intel CPU is ahead of the Ryzen CPU by 46.4%, which is quite significant. It was a brutal fight, and the Intel CPU came out winning by a huge margin. Even in 3D rendering workloads at Blender, the Intel Core i5-12600KF secures a 58.59% lead.
Gaming performance difference
As observed in synthetic benchmarks, Intel won by a huge margin. However, productivity benchmarks don't always translate to gaming performance, and we may see an opposite version in this case. However, we can't be sure until we try, so let's put the two CPUs through some game benchmarks.
Note: The FPS numbers were provided by the "Odin Hardware" channel on YouTube.
On average, the Intel Core i5-12600KF delivers 6% more performance than the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X. Due to the IPC and gaming performance improvements, we expected the AMD CPU to beat the Intel CPU in the gaming benchmark at least, but that's not the case here.
In God of War, the Intel CPU is much faster. However, the two CPUs are closer to each other in gaming than they are in productivity.
Price
The Intel Core i5-12600KF currently costs $159.13, while the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X costs $144.30 as of writing. Despite the extra cost, Intel will provide faster gaming performance and significantly faster performance in productivity.
Which is the best mid-tier CPU?
The Intel Core i5-12600KF is the faster CPU. In productivity, the Intel CPU is 46.4% faster and 6% faster in gaming on average. If you are building a new PC and your budget is around $150 to $160 for the processor, the Intel CPU is an easy recommendation. However, if you are already on the AM4 platform and upgrading from an older AMD CPU, the Ryzen 5 5600X can be a great choice.
