| Category | Desktop | ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ |
|---|---|---|
| Target | mid-range | ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ |
| Socket Compatibility | AM4 | ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ |
| Integrated Graphics | None | ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ |
| Cooler Included | Yes | ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ |
| Overclock Potential | 7 % | ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ |
| Year | 2017 Model | ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ |
| Price | 189 USD | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Number of Cores | 4 Cores | ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ |
| Number of Threads | 8 Threads | ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ |
| Core Frequency | 3.5 GHz | ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ |
| Boost Frequency | 3.7 GHz | ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ |
| Max Stable Overclock | 4 GHz | ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ |
| Power Consumption | 65 W | ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ |
| Manufacturing Process | 14 nm | ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ |
| L3 Cache | 16 MB | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ |
| Maximum Supported Memory | 64 GB | ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ |
| Price-Value Score | 65.7 % | ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ |
| Speed Score | 0 % | ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ |
| Productivity Score | 0 % | ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ |
| Gaming Score | 0 % | ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ |
| Max 1080p Bottleneck | 42.8 % | ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ |
| Max 1440p Bottleneck | 21.4 % | ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ |
| Max 4K Bottleneck | 10.7 % | ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ |
| Overall Score | 36/100 | ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ |
Presenting the Ryzen 5 1500X! This Desktop processor is a powerhouse in AMD's mid-range series. Launched in 2017, it packs 4 cores and 8 threads. It runs at a base clock speed of 3.5GHz, can accelerate to 3.7GHz, and has a power requirement of 65W, making it an ideal choice for your gaming system. The Ryzen 5 1500X is a product of the advanced Summit Ridge 14nm technology and is a part of the distinguished Ryzen 5 series.
Can the AMD Ryzen 5 1500X finally dethrone the king of mainstream CPUs, the Core i5-7500? It's a maybe. The Ryzen 5 1500X doesn't quite reach the same single-core performance as its rival, but more games are starting to use all those threads, so who cares!
AMD just unleashed its Zen architecture, raising the stakes in the high-stakes battle for desktop PC dominance against Intel. This new lineup of chips pushes core counts and raw power to crazy high levels, threatening Intel's reign for the first time in a decade. Buckle up, it's about to get intense!
Heads up, with a simple overclock, the Ryzen 5 1400 can actually perform almost as well as the Ryzen 5 1500X, even when the Ryzen 5 1500X is overclocked too. But the Ryzen 5 1400 is $70 cheaper! Don't get us wrong, the Ryzen 5 1500X is still a beast and offers more overall performance than Intel's Core i5-7400, but if you're on a budget, the cheaper sibling might be the better call.
We already went deep into the nitty-gritty details of the Zen chip design in our reviews of the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 and Ryzen 5 1400. If you want to learn more about the Ryzen 5 1500X's architecture (which is identical to the Ryzen 5 1400), head over there!
The Ryzen 5 1500X is the more expensive version of the Ryzen 5 1400, and it shows with its higher base and boost clock speeds: 3.5 GHz and 3.7 GHz, respectively. That's a nice boost in speed, but the real game changer is the higher power delivery (PPT). This lets the motherboard pump more juice (up to 142W) to the Ryzen 5 1500X compared to the Ryzen 5 1400's limit of 65W. This extra power allows the Ryzen 5 1500X to crank up the boost clocks even more aggressively, on both single and multiple cores. That means the performance gap between these two CPUs might be bigger than what the specs on paper suggest.
Alright, listen up. When it comes to pure gaming performance, Intel still holds the crown. If squeezing out every last frame per second is your top priority, then a Intel CPU might be the better choice. But here's the thing: that advantage shrinks at higher resolutions or if you pair the CPU with a less powerful graphics card. mattersToo
But for most gamers who also do other stuff on their PC besides gaming, the Ryzen 5 1500X is a better overall choice. It offers double the threads compared to the similarly priced Core i5-7500, and those extra threads come in handy for tasks like editing and encoding videos. The Ryzen 5 chips have always been great for these workloads, and AMD's recent improvements to AVX performance are super impressive.
For gamers on a budget who aren't afraid of a little overclocking and have decent cooling, the Ryzen 5 1400 is a solid option. You can get pretty much the same performance as the Ryzen 5 1500X (especially for gaming) by overclocking it a bit. Plus, it's cheaper! This is why we gave the Ryzen 5 1400 an Editor's Choice award.
Straight out of the box, the Ryzen 5 1500X is a better all-rounder than the Core i5-7500. It offers slightly better performance than its cheaper sibling, the Ryzen 5 1400, and comes with a free cooler which saves you money on the build. Plus, there are tons of motherboards compatible with it, so you have plenty of options to choose from.
The AMD Ryzen 5 1500X is pretty much the best CPU for most gamers on a budget. It won't beat the Ryzen 5 1600, especially for stuff that uses all the cores (multi-threaded workloads), but it's way cheaper and doesn't need a super beefy cooler. Most gamers will be very happy with the Ryzen 5 1500X, especially considering there are bound to be some sweet deals on it soon.
Things get interesting when you compare the Ryzen 5 1500X to its main rival, the Intel Core i5-7500. The Core i5-7500 costs $202 and has 4 cores, but no HyperThreading. That means the Ryzen 5 1500X gives you double the processing threads for less money! Sure, Intel still holds the crown for single-core performance, but when it comes to using all the cores at once (multi-core), the AMD Ryzen 5 1500X is the king.
The high number of threads (over 7!) in the AMD Ryzen 5 1500X makes it a monster for tasks that use all the cores at once (multi-threaded workloads), especially for the price. If you edit a lot of videos or work with giant spreadsheets, the Ryzen 5 1500X will give you a noticeable performance boost.
For gamers, both the Core i5-7500 and Ryzen 5 1500X are great choices. They're neck and neck, with a slight edge to the Intel CPU if you don't overclock it. The Ryzen 5 1500X's base performance can be achieved with cheaper RAM (around $90), whereas the Core i5-7500 needs faster RAM ($110-$120) to hit the frame rates we showed. The price difference is small though, and with anything less than an RTX 2070 or Vega 64 graphics card, your GPU will bottleneck your performance anyway. BottleneckAtPlay
Today's review is on the AMD Ryzen 5 1500X, a 4-core desktop processor launched in Apr 2017. AMD sells the Ryzen 5 1500X without integrated graphics, making it perfect for systems with a dedicated graphics card. It costs $189 and is a great option for those who already have a GPU.
One of the best things about the AMD Ryzen 5 1500X is that it comes with a free CPU cooler! You can grab the Ryzen 5 1500X for $189 without having to spend extra on cooling.
The AMD Ryzen 5 1500X comes with a basic heatsink cooler, nothing fancy. But it gets the job done for this low-power CPU (TDP of 65W). You won't need a fancy aftermarket cooler unless you want to overclock it.
The AMD Ryzen 5 1500X is a decent performing chip for $189. The main competitor at this price point is the Core i5-7500, a 4-core unlocked processor with integrated graphics, which costs $202.
If you don't care too much about overclocking and max boost speeds, then the AMD Ryzen 5 1400 is a good option for $169. It also has 4 cores and 8 threads, but with slightly lower clock speeds (3.2GHz base and 3.4GHz boost).
Looking at the competition, Intel's current 4-core processor, the Core i5-7600, is much more expensive at $224. Even going back a generation to Skylake-S, the 4-core Intel Core i5-6600 isn't much cheaper at $224.
The launch of Ryzen 5 wasn't perfect. Some gamers experienced performance issues and the CPUs ran a bit hot. But after a month of optimizations, driver updates, and BIOS fixes, Ryzen 5 seems to be running smoothly now.
The Ryzen 5 1500X boosts up to the advertised 3.7 GHz, and with AMD's software you can push one core even higher to 3.7+0.1 GHz. But don't expect much beyond that without a serious cooler upgrade and manual voltage tweaks.
Looking for an affordable powerhouse CPU for work and play? Look no further than the Ryzen 5 1500X!
Building on the success of mainstream Ryzen 5 CPUs, AMD is now attacking the mid-range market with the Ryzen 5 1500X processors, available since Apr 2017.
Below is a comparison of all graphics cards average FPS performance (using an average of 80+ games at ultra quality settings), combined with the AMD Ryzen 5 1500X.
| Graphics Card | Price | Cost Per Frame | Avg 1080p | Avg 1440p | Avg 4K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT 8GB | $ 399 | $ 4.3 | 92 FPS
|
94.9 FPS
|
63.6 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT 16GB | $ 1,099 | $ 6.5 | 168.7 FPS
|
174.2 FPS
|
114.1 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 7600 8GB | $ 269 | $ 2.9 | 91.3 FPS
|
94.3 FPS
|
63 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT 20GB | $ 899 | $ 4.8 | 185.7 FPS
|
191.7 FPS
|
125.5 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX 24GB | $ 999 | $ 4.9 | 204.3 FPS
|
210.8 FPS
|
138.2 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti 24GB | $ 1,999 | $ 12 | 165.9 FPS
|
174.4 FPS
|
125.6 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 8GB | $ 200 | $ 2.5 | 79.6 FPS
|
82.3 FPS
|
57.4 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB | $ 299 | $ 3.3 | 91.3 FPS
|
95.4 FPS
|
66.6 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB 8GB | $ 399 | $ 3.9 | 102 FPS
|
105.9 FPS
|
74 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 12GB | $ 599 | $ 4 | 148.3 FPS
|
152 FPS
|
108.2 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12GB | $ 799 | $ 4.2 | 188.4 FPS
|
198 FPS
|
142.5 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16GB | $ 1,199 | $ 6.1 | 196.1 FPS
|
206.1 FPS
|
148.4 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Ti 20GB | $ 799 | $ 3.8 | 211.2 FPS
|
222.1 FPS
|
159.9 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 24GB | $ 1,599 | $ 7.1 | 226.3 FPS
|
238 FPS
|
171.4 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon R7 265 2GB | $ 149 | $ 7.7 | 19.3 FPS
|
17.6 FPS
|
12 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon R9 280 3GB | $ 279 | $ 11 | 25.4 FPS
|
25.5 FPS
|
16 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon R9 285 2GB | $ 249 | $ 9.5 | 26.2 FPS
|
26.1 FPS
|
16.7 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon R9 295X2 4GB | $ 1,499 | $ 22.3 | 67.2 FPS
|
66.6 FPS
|
47.3 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB | $ 149 | $ 8.7 | 17.2 FPS
|
15 FPS
|
10.3 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN BLACK 6GB | $ 999 | $ 22.2 | 45.1 FPS
|
44.2 FPS
|
30.9 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon R7 370 2GB | $ 149 | $ 7.7 | 19.4 FPS
|
18.2 FPS
|
12.4 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon R9 380 2GB | $ 199 | $ 7.6 | 26.1 FPS
|
25.9 FPS
|
16.7 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon R9 380X 4GB | $ 229 | $ 7.8 | 29.2 FPS
|
29 FPS
|
19.6 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon R9 390 8GB | $ 329 | $ 8.3 | 39.5 FPS
|
39.4 FPS
|
25 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon R9 390X 8GB | $ 429 | $ 10.1 | 42.3 FPS
|
43.1 FPS
|
29.1 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon R9 FURY 4GB | $ 549 | $ 12.5 | 43.9 FPS
|
45 FPS
|
30.2 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon R9 FURY X 4GB | $ 649 | $ 12.7 | 51.1 FPS
|
53.4 FPS
|
36.5 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon R9 Nano 4GB | $ 649 | $ 14 | 46.5 FPS
|
47.8 FPS
|
32.4 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 2GB | $ 159 | $ 8 | 19.8 FPS
|
19.3 FPS
|
13.1 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 2GB | $ 199 | $ 7.9 | 25.1 FPS
|
24.8 FPS
|
16.3 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB | $ 329 | $ 8 | 40.9 FPS
|
39.8 FPS
|
27.6 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 4GB | $ 549 | $ 11.4 | 48.2 FPS
|
47.7 FPS
|
31.9 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB | $ 649 | $ 11.5 | 56.2 FPS
|
56.2 FPS
|
37.4 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X 12GB | $ 999 | $ 15.5 | 64.6 FPS
|
64.2 FPS
|
42.8 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 460 4GB | $ 140 | $ 7.8 | 17.9 FPS
|
17.5 FPS
|
11.5 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 470 4GB | $ 179 | $ 5.1 | 34.8 FPS
|
34.8 FPS
|
23.1 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 480 8GB | $ 400 | $ 10.1 | 39.7 FPS
|
40.2 FPS
|
27.4 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 8GB | $ 399 | $ 6.3 | 62.9 FPS
|
64 FPS
|
42.6 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 8GB | $ 499 | $ 7.4 | 67.1 FPS
|
68.5 FPS
|
45.4 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 2GB | $ 79 | $ 5.9 | 13.5 FPS
|
13.2 FPS
|
8.3 FPS
|
| NVIDIA TITAN V 12GB | $ 2,999 | $ 32.8 | 91.4 FPS
|
95.7 FPS
|
66.6 FPS
|
| NVIDIA TITAN Xp 12GB | $ 1,199 | $ 14.5 | 82.8 FPS
|
85.2 FPS
|
59 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 550 2GB | $ 79 | $ 5.6 | 14.1 FPS
|
13.9 FPS
|
9 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB 8GB | $ 199 | $ 4.1 | 48.4 FPS
|
47.2 FPS
|
30.7 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 4GB 4GB | $ 169 | $ 3.9 | 43.4 FPS
|
42.4 FPS
|
27.5 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 560 4GB | $ 99 | $ 4.9 | 20.2 FPS
|
19.7 FPS
|
12.9 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT 6GB | $ 279 | $ 4 | 69.7 FPS
|
70.6 FPS
|
46.8 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB | $ 169 | $ 4.3 | 39 FPS
|
38.9 FPS
|
25.3 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 5700 8GB | $ 349 | $ 4.7 | 73.9 FPS
|
75.5 FPS
|
50.2 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 8GB | $ 399 | $ 4.9 | 80.7 FPS
|
82.3 FPS
|
54.8 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB | $ 229 | $ 4.9 | 47.2 FPS
|
46 FPS
|
29.8 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 590 8GB | $ 279 | $ 5.2 | 53.3 FPS
|
52 FPS
|
33.8 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 3GB | $ 169 | $ 7.7 | 21.9 FPS
|
21.6 FPS
|
14.1 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB | $ 169 | $ 6.6 | 25.7 FPS
|
25.6 FPS
|
17 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB | $ 254 | $ 5.8 | 43.8 FPS
|
43.1 FPS
|
28.7 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB | $ 170 | $ 4.1 | 41.6 FPS
|
41 FPS
|
27.3 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB | $ 399 | $ 6.5 | 61.2 FPS
|
61 FPS
|
40.3 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB | $ 409 | $ 6.2 | 66.5 FPS
|
66.8 FPS
|
44.5 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB | $ 499 | $ 6.9 | 71.8 FPS
|
72.1 FPS
|
48.1 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB | $ 759 | $ 9 | 84.5 FPS
|
88.2 FPS
|
59.8 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB | $ 149 | $ 4 | 37.2 FPS
|
37.1 FPS
|
24.6 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER 4GB | $ 160 | $ 3.3 | 48.9 FPS
|
49 FPS
|
32.5 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 6GB | $ 220 | $ 3.9 | 56.1 FPS
|
56.4 FPS
|
37.5 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6GB | $ 229 | $ 3.8 | 59.6 FPS
|
60 FPS
|
40 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB | $ 279 | $ 4.4 | 63.2 FPS
|
63.6 FPS
|
42.3 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB | $ 350 | $ 4.9 | 70.9 FPS
|
68.1 FPS
|
45 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8GB | $ 400 | $ 5.3 | 75.3 FPS
|
74.1 FPS
|
49.9 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 8GB | $ 499 | $ 6.3 | 79.6 FPS
|
79.6 FPS
|
54.6 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8GB | $ 499 | $ 5.9 | 84 FPS
|
85.2 FPS
|
57.6 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 8GB | $ 699 | $ 7.8 | 90.1 FPS
|
92.5 FPS
|
62.2 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8GB | $ 699 | $ 7.3 | 95.3 FPS
|
98.9 FPS
|
67.1 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11GB | $ 1,299 | $ 12.4 | 105.1 FPS
|
110 FPS
|
75 FPS
|
| NVIDIA TITAN RTX 24GB | $ 2,499 | $ 23.2 | 107.9 FPS
|
113 FPS
|
77.1 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon VII 16GB | $ 699 | $ 8.4 | 82.8 FPS
|
84.5 FPS
|
56.4 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT 8GB | $ 379 | $ 4.4 | 86.3 FPS
|
88.6 FPS
|
59 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT 12GB | $ 479 | $ 4.6 | 103.7 FPS
|
106.5 FPS
|
70.1 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 6800 16GB | $ 579 | $ 4.7 | 123.2 FPS
|
125.7 FPS
|
83.7 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT 16GB | $ 649 | $ 4.2 | 155.6 FPS
|
158.7 FPS
|
105.8 FPS
|
| AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB | $ 999 | $ 6 | 165.2 FPS
|
168.6 FPS
|
112.3 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti 6GB | $ 249 | $ 3.8 | 65 FPS
|
64.9 FPS
|
44 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB | $ 329 | $ 4.2 | 79 FPS
|
80.3 FPS
|
55 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8GB | $ 399 | $ 4.1 | 96.3 FPS
|
100.3 FPS
|
69.3 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 8GB | $ 499 | $ 4.2 | 117.5 FPS
|
119.2 FPS
|
80.8 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 10GB | $ 599 | $ 4.5 | 131.8 FPS
|
134.8 FPS
|
93 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB | $ 699 | $ 4.6 | 153.6 FPS
|
155.8 FPS
|
105.6 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 20GB | $ 799 | $ 5.2 | 153.7 FPS
|
158.9 FPS
|
111.7 FPS
|
| NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 24GB | $ 1,499 | $ 8.5 | 176.3 FPS
|
178.8 FPS
|
121.2 FPS
|
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