AMD Ryzen R5 1600 Hex-Core AM4 Processor Review

Introduction Ryzen has been a hot topic throughout 2017 and with endless delays, it seemed like AMDs new hardware would never come, but it did, and it did it with style. Since the launch of Ryzen in March, we've reviewed all but one of the new CPUs. For our Ryzen reviews, we kicked things a couple of months ago with a look at the incredible Ryzen 7 series. Firstly, we had the Ryzen 7 1800X, then the 1700X, and finally, the standard 1700. Moving on from the high-end, we've then reviewed three of the R5 series. First, we had the R5 1600X Hex-Core, the R5 1500X Quad-Core, and finally the 1400 Quad-Core. Of course, there's one missing, the Ryzen R5 1600 Hex-Core, and that's the one we'll be putting to the test today! Ryzen R5 1600 Specifications Number of CPU Cores: 6 Number of Threads: 12 Base Clock Speed: 3.2GHz Max Turbo Core Speed: 3.6GHz Unlocked: Yes Package: AM4 Default TDP / TDP: 65W Check out our review of the R5 1600X here! Important notes for this review! Previously, reviews of the R7 used launch BIOS and the 16GB Crucial Ballistix Sport XT (2 x 8GB) DDR4 2666MHz memory kits; these were running at 2400MHz due to BIOS issues and They also used MSI X370 Titanium motherboard. However, today’s R5 testing will be using a much faster memory kit and the more affordable B350 chipset motherboards. They’re a more natural fit for these mid-range processors and should get a boost in performance due to faster memory speeds. Furthermore, fast memory is vital for Ryzen to reach its full potential. Of course, we are looking into retesting our R7 series in an upcoming feature to reflect the updates to BIOS, games, memory compatibility, etc. shortly. Testing and Methodology Test Procedure Here at eTeknix, we endeavour to disclose vital information regarding the benchmarking process so that readers can quantify the results and attempt to replicate them using their hardware. When it comes to CPU reviews, the benchmarks are pretty self-explanatory although there are a few exceptions. Please note, we prefer to re-test each CPU within a product's performance range to ensure the results are accurate and reflect any changes to our samples over time or enhancements via graphics drivers. This means we now include fewer results, but they are more reliable and easier to decipher. As always, your choice of motherboard, the silicon lottery and other factors can yield different numbers, and there's always a margin for error when using software. Therefore, your experience may vary. Each benchmark runs three times, and the average figure is taken to try to reduce the effect of hardware variation. Of course, any relevant details regarding the parameters will be listed below. Handbrake To stress processors to their absolute limit and accurately judge their performance in video editing workloads, we transcode a 7.7GB compilation of gaming footage; this particular file is freely available from here. The captured footage is 22 minutes and 12 seconds long, it has a bit rate of 50.1 Mbps and it uses the Advanced Video Codec. Additionally, the video runs at a constant 30 frames-per-second and opts for a 3820x2140 (4K) resolution. Once loaded into Handbrake, we then transcode the 4K MP4 to an MKV file using the "normal" profile. Test Systems AM4 Ryzen R5 Motherboard - ASRock Fatal1ty B350 AM4 Motherboard RAM - GEIL Evo X DDR4 2933/3200MHz CPU Cooler - Noctua D15S with dual fans Graphics Card - Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 980Ti Power Supply - BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 850 Watt Main Storage Drive - Toshiba OCZ VX500 500GB Chassis - Lian Li T80 Test Bench Operating System - Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit AM4 Ryzen R7 Motherboard - MSI XPower Titanimum X370 RAM - Crucial BAllistix 2666MHz (Soon to be upgraded and retested) CPU Cooler - Noctua D15S with dual fans Graphics Card - Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 980Ti Power Supply - BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 850 Watt Main Storage Drive - Toshiba OCZ VX500 500GB Chassis - Lian Li T80 Test Bench Operating System - Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit Z270 Motherboard – Combination used to determine widespread performance RAM – Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB (2x8GB) 2666MHz (16-17-17) CPU Cooler – Thermaltake Water 3.0 with Gelid GC-Extreme Graphics Card – Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 980Ti Power Supply – BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 850 Watt Main Storage Drive – Toshiba OCZ VX500 500GB Chassis – Lian Li T80 Test Bench Operating System – Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit X99 Motherboard – ASUS ROG STRIX X99 GAMING RAM – 32GB Crucial Ballistix Sport (4x8GB) 2400MHz (16-16-16-39) CPU Cooler – Thermaltake Water 3.0 with Gelid GC-Extreme Graphics Card – Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 980Ti Power Supply – BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 850 Watt Main Storage Drive – Toshiba OCZ VX500 500GB Chassis – Lian Li T80 Test Bench Operating System – Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit Z170 Motherboard – ASRock Z170 Extreme7+ RAM – Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB (2x8GB) 2666MHz (16-17-17) CPU Cooler – Thermaltake Water 3.0 with Gelid GC-Extreme Graphics Card – Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 980Ti Power Supply – BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 850 Watt Main Storage Drive – Toshiba OCZ VX500 500GB Chassis – Lian Li T80 Test Bench Operating System – Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit Z87 Motherboard - ASUS Maximus VII Ranger RAM - 16GB Crucial Ballistix Sport XT (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1866MHz (10-10-10-30) CPU Cooler - Thermaltake Water 3.0 with Gelid GC-Extreme Graphics Card - Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 980Ti Power Supply - BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 850 Watt Main Storage Drive - Toshiba OCZ VX500 500GB Chassis - Lian Li T80 Test Bench Operating System - Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit Games Used Ashes of the Singularity (DirectX 12) Rise of the Tomb Raider (DirectX 12) Shadow of Mordor Tomb Raider Test Software Cinebench - available here 3DMark - available here AIDA64 Engineer - available here CPUID HWMonitor - available here CPU-Z - available here Handbrake - available here WPrime - available here Thank you Noctua, Crucial, ASUS, Gigabyte, Lian-Li, be quiet!, OCZ, for providing the hardware that helps makes these tests possible! CPU Benchmarks Ashes of the Singularity Straight away, you can see excellent performance from the R5 1600. Not only does it perform well, but overclocking this R5 even matched the performance of the 1700X running stock speeds. Cinebench R15 While this may be one of the mid-range CPUs, it does still offer 6-scores and 12-threads. Of course, more threads means better performance in tasks like Cinebench. Overall, the R5 1600 does a pretty fantastic job here. Handbrake As we saw in Handbrake, those extra cores work well, giving us a decent score for a CPU in this price range. WPrime Amazingly, the stock and overclocked performance thrashed the Intel 7700K with ease in WPrime. Of course, this CPU has more cores which are a significant benefit. Memory Benchmarks Bandwidth The memory performance is right where we would expect it to be, and everything running as expected. Of course, it's faster than R7 chips, as we used different memory, so keep that in mind. Latency Latency is high, but as with the previous reviews, this does seem to be the norm for Ryzen. Discrete GPU Benchmarks 3DMark Firstly, It appears we caught one of the best chips of the bunch here, as it's keeping up with the 1600X, 1700X, and the R7 1700 with ease! Of course, we're not going to complain, as this is a very nice result. Rise of the Tomb Raider There are certainly no issues with performance here, and the R5 1600 puts out one of our best ever scores. Of course, there's not a huge difference between any CPU here, but that doesn't diminish the results. Shadow of Mordor Once again, there are no surprises here, and the Ryzen 1600 manages excellent numbers against all rivals. Furthermore, overclocking did improve the performance, is only by a tiny margin. Power Consumption and Temperatures Power Consumption With the R5 1600 being one of the faster R5 CPUs, the chip is a little power hungry, especially while overclocked. However, it's not overly demanding and well under what the R7's require. Temperatures One of the best aspects of the R5 is how much cooler they run compared to the R7 series chips. Therefore, the hardware doesn't require as powerful a cool. Furthermore, it should also make overclocking easier on more affordable coolers! Final Thoughts Pricing While the Ryzen R5 1600 is one of the more expensive choices in the Ryzen 5 range, it's still superb value for money at just £213.13. However, at this price, the R5 1600 is cheaper than the Intel i7-7600K. Of course, let's not forget the best Intel has to offer for around the same price; the i5-7600 quad-core. Overview Once again, it seems we're blown away by what Ryzen has to offer. I'm a big fan of the R7 series of chips myself, and I invested in the 1700X for my own work system. However, I think the R5 1600 may be one of the best chips of the entire Ryzen series! This CPU costs less than a lot of the popular Intel offerings, which certainly makes it appealing to any system builder. However, it still delivers the kind of performance you would expect from a high-end desktop processor. When it comes to gaming, it's no slouch, and unless you're building an extreme 4K gaming PC, there's little chance of the R5 1600 causing any bottlenecks with your graphics cards. Of course, it's unlikely anyone building a system like that would be looking at a £200 CPU, so that's a moot point. The R5 1600 may be one of the best chips of the entire Ryzen series! With a six-core and twelve-thread design, this CPU is adept at multitasking. Of course, with more games now starting to support the use of these extra cores, there are benefits to be found. Furthermore, the additional cores (compared to the more conventional dual and quad cores), have other uses. Of course, if you like to stream your games or run a lot of background applications, there are real benefits to be found. While not the most powerful CPU in the world, those who occasionally need to do some video rendering will also find this chip to be a welcome addition to their build. Ryzen has already set a new benchmark for Price Vs. Performance in 2017, and the Ryzen R5 1600 is by far one of the best examples of this. When it comes to building a gaming rig on a tighter budget, this is a very exciting option. Pros The best value for money Ryzen processor AM4 platform Excellent overclocking performance Much cheaper than rival Intel offerings Great for multitasking Robust gaming performance Good thermal performance Cons None "Ryzen 7 is aimed at the enthusiast market, while Ryzen 5 was set to stun the consumer market. The R5 1600 certainly achieves that goal, and would make a great addition to any powerful work or gaming PC, and at a fantastic price too!"