AMD Ryzen R5 1400 Quad-Core AM4 Processor Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The AMD Ryzen R5 1400 Quad-Core processor is certainly affordable. Right now it’s £158.99 on Amazon. However, we’ve seen some retailers listing is as low at £140, so shop around for the best deal! It may be the cheapest of the Ryzen bunch so far, but its performance is certainly competitive and it is even competitive against more expensive Intel offerings. Meanwhile, similar money will only get you the i3 Dual-Core CPUs from Intel, and you would have to spend up to about £210 for a comparable i5-7600!

Overview

Ryzen has been with us a while now and it continues to impress. While we weren’t expecting world-beating performance from the R5 1400, it’s still put up a good fight. Also, what’s remarkable about this processors, and any R5 series processor, is how well they performance at this price range. We haven’t tested any of the similarly priced Intel chips. However, the R5 1400 managed to keep up with many more expensive i5 quad-core processors. That makes this exceptional value for money for any system builder.

When it comes to gaming, quad-core is king.

More cores can bring benefits, but right now, at least four cores are what you want. As we saw in our benchmarks, the affordable chip may not be setting a new standard, but it’s hardly holding back our graphics card either. This chip is more than good enough for gaming at 1080p and will appeal to those building more affordable gaming PCs.The stock clocks are a little

While the stock clocks are a little lacklustre, you must remember all Ryzen chips are unlocked. Having an unlocked CPU means you can overclock it and thought overclocking, I managed to get it to an impressive 3.9 GHz with 1.4v, yet it still maintained entirely manageable temperatures. Of course, lower temperatures mean you’re not going to need an expensive cooler to overclock; most budget aftermarket coolers will do the job.

Of course, if you want to get the most out of this processors, you will want a B350 chipset motherboard. You can overclock on X370, but if you’re thinking of buying the budget chip and a flagship motherboard, you need to rethink your build. Therefore, if you have extra money, get a faster Ryzen chip and the more affordable B350 motherboards for better balance.

Pros

• Incredible value for money
• Quad-Core for Dual-Core (Intel) prices
• AM4 Platform
• Overclocks easily on B350 or X370
• Ideal for HD gaming systems
• Easy to manage thermals

Cons

• None

“Overall, the AMD Ryzen R5 1400 may not be the fastest chip in the world. However, its performance far exceeds what you would expect given its retail price. However, it’s by far one of the best budget chips we’ve seen in many years.”