AMD Ryzen 5 5500 Review

Mid-range Desktop processor released in 2022 with 6 cores and 12 threads. With base clock at 3.7GHz, max speed at 4.2GHz, and a 65W power rating. Ryzen 5 5500 is based on the Cezanne 7nm family and part of the Ryzen 5 series.
Price 100%
Speed 63%
Productivity 47%
Gaming 89%
Category Desktop
Target mid-range
Socket Compatibility AM4
Integrated Graphics N/A
Cooler Included Yes
Overclock Potential 1 %
Year 2022 Model
Price 159.99 USD
Number of Cores 6 Cores
Number of Threads 12 Threads
Core Frequency 3.7 GHz
Boost Frequency 4.2 GHz
Max Stable Overclock 4.3 GHz
Power Consumption 65 W
Manufacturing Process 7 nm
L3 Cache 16 MB
Maximum Supported Memory 128 GB
Price-Value Score 100 %
Speed Score 63 %
Productivity Score 47 %
Gaming Score 89 %
Max 1080p Bottleneck 22.6 %
Max 1440p Bottleneck 11.3 %
Max 4K Bottleneck 5.7 %
Overall Score 51/100

Take a look at the Ryzen 5 5500! This Desktop processor from AMD's mid-range range is a real game-changer. Launched in 2022, it boasts 6 cores and 12 threads. With a base clock speed of 3.7GHz, a max speed of 4.2GHz, and a power rating of 65W, it's all set to supercharge your gaming setup. The Ryzen 5 5500 is a proud member of the powerful Cezanne 7nm family and the legendary Ryzen 5 series.

And guess what? The Ryzen 5 5500 is the ultimate successor to AMD's previous-gen gaming champion, the Ryzen 5 3500. The Ryzen 5 3500 was based on the legendary Zen 2 and 7nm process, and it made its grand entrance into the gaming scene back in 2019. But now, it's time for the Ryzen 5 5500 to take the throne and conquer the gaming world!

The best CPUs are the ones that slay frames at a price that won't make you ragequit. The Ryzen 5 5500 totally wins this game.

So, the switch to 7nm silicon is pretty epic! This lets AMD cram a ton more cache into the CPU. We're talking a combined L2 and L3 cache of 512K (per core) and 16MB. Since the cores are on separate chiplets, they were able to fit way more in – a whopping 512K (per core) and 16MB! This means much faster performance, especially when you're chasing those sweet high FPS in 1080p games. You'll especially notice the difference in classics like Counter Strike: Global Offensive. Git gud noobs!

AMD just unleashed its Zen 3 (Cezanne) 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!

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

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500, like all the other CPUs in AMD's Cezanne family, is built on a tiny 7nm manufacturing process – the smallest you can find right now. This means it uses less power and runs much faster than previous CPUs.

The high number of threads (over 7!) in the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 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 5500 will give you a noticeable performance boost.

For gamers, both the Core i5-11400 and Ryzen 5 5500 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 5500's base performance can be achieved with cheaper RAM (around $90), whereas the Core i5-11400 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

One of the best things about the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is that it comes with a free CPU cooler! You can grab the Ryzen 5 5500 for $159.99 without having to spend extra on cooling.

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 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 gaming tests with an RTX 2080 Ti were surprising! The budget-friendly AMD Ryzen 5 5500 (only 159.99)managedtooutperformthemoreexpensiveCore i5-11500(192) in three games we tested. We know three games aren't everything, but it shows that even a 6 core CPU can still hold its own today. You can even play modern games and stream to Twitch on the Ryzen 5 5500 (playable results, not amazing). As games get more demanding, a 6 core CPU might not be ideal, but the Ryzen 5 5500 can hold its own for now in a pinch.

The top-of-the-line AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a beast! This mid-range CPU packs 6 cores and a whopping 12 threads. It clocks in at 3.7GHz base speed and can boost up to 4.2GHz. It beats everything in its path, including Intel's Core i5 and Core i5 processors, and even outperforms the 6-core series.

For a 6-core CPU, the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a steal at $159.99! It seems crazy cheap compared to its main competitor, the 6-core Intel Core i5-11400 which costs $182. Basically, you get extra cores for almost nothing.

Looking at the competition, Intel's current 6-core processor, the Core i5-11500, is much more expensive at $192. Even going back a generation to Comet Lake, the 6-core Intel Core i5-10500 isn't much cheaper at $192.

With Ryzen 5, AMD brings new innovation with its new architecture and a 7nm manufacturing process. Similar to Ryzen 5, Ryzen 5 is built for the AM4 platform with support for all the latest features like DDR4 RAM, super-fast NVMe SSDs, and Thunderbolt 3 ports.

Can you game on AMD's Ryzen 5 CPU? Absolutely! We got a solid 89% score in our gaming benchmarks.

The Ryzen 5 5500 is a great choice for both gaming and content creation, thanks to its high performance (1.23%) and at least 12 threads. Live streaming, eSports, and uploading gameplay videos are becoming increasingly popular, and this CPU can handle it all.

The Ryzen 5 5500 boosts up to the advertised 4.2 GHz, and with AMD's software you can push one core even higher to 4.2+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 5500!

Building on the success of mainstream Ryzen 5 CPUs, AMD is now attacking the mid-range market with the Ryzen 5 5500 processors, available since Apr 4th, 2022.

The included cooler with the Ryzen 5 5500 is rated for 65W and doesn't have fancy features like a copper base or LED lights. But it keeps the CPU cool enough to reach its XFR-boosted speeds, which is an extra 200 MHz! We were even able to overclock it to 4.2 GHz + 0.2 GHz without overheating. The cooler fan also blows down onto the motherboard, providing extra cooling around the CPU socket. If you want more RGB bling, you can buy a separate LED cooler from AMD.

Which GPU to Pick for AMD Ryzen 5 5500

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 5500.

Graphics Card Price Cost Per Frame Avg 1080p Avg 1440p Avg 4K
AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT 8GB $ 399 $ 3.2 124.4 FPS
107.1 FPS
67.2 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT 16GB $ 1,099 $ 4.8 228.3 FPS
196.6 FPS
120.5 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 7600 8GB $ 269 $ 2.2 123.5 FPS
106.4 FPS
66.5 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT 20GB $ 899 $ 3.6 251.3 FPS
216.3 FPS
132.5 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX 24GB $ 999 $ 3.6 276.4 FPS
237.9 FPS
146 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti 24GB $ 1,999 $ 8.9 224.5 FPS
196.8 FPS
132.6 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 8GB $ 200 $ 1.9 107.7 FPS
92.8 FPS
60.7 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8GB $ 299 $ 2.4 123.6 FPS
107.6 FPS
70.3 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB 8GB $ 399 $ 2.9 138 FPS
119.5 FPS
78.2 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 12GB $ 599 $ 3 200.7 FPS
171.6 FPS
114.2 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12GB $ 799 $ 3.1 255 FPS
223.4 FPS
150.5 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 16GB $ 1,199 $ 4.5 265.4 FPS
232.6 FPS
156.7 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Ti 20GB $ 799 $ 2.8 285.8 FPS
250.6 FPS
168.9 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 24GB $ 1,599 $ 5.2 306.2 FPS
268.6 FPS
181 FPS
AMD Radeon R7 265 2GB $ 149 $ 5.7 26.1 FPS
19.8 FPS
12.7 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 280 3GB $ 279 $ 8.1 34.4 FPS
28.8 FPS
16.9 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 285 2GB $ 249 $ 7 35.5 FPS
29.5 FPS
17.6 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 295X2 4GB $ 1,499 $ 16.5 91 FPS
75.2 FPS
50 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB $ 149 $ 6.4 23.3 FPS
17 FPS
10.9 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN BLACK 6GB $ 999 $ 16.4 61 FPS
49.9 FPS
32.6 FPS
AMD Radeon R7 370 2GB $ 149 $ 5.7 26.3 FPS
20.5 FPS
13.1 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 380 2GB $ 199 $ 5.6 35.3 FPS
29.2 FPS
17.6 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 380X 4GB $ 229 $ 5.8 39.6 FPS
32.7 FPS
20.7 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 390 8GB $ 329 $ 6.2 53.4 FPS
44.4 FPS
26.4 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 390X 8GB $ 429 $ 7.5 57.2 FPS
48.7 FPS
30.7 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 FURY 4GB $ 549 $ 9.2 59.4 FPS
50.8 FPS
31.9 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 FURY X 4GB $ 649 $ 9.4 69.1 FPS
60.3 FPS
38.6 FPS
AMD Radeon R9 Nano 4GB $ 649 $ 10.3 62.9 FPS
53.9 FPS
34.3 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 2GB $ 159 $ 5.9 26.8 FPS
21.8 FPS
13.8 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 2GB $ 199 $ 5.9 34 FPS
28 FPS
17.2 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB $ 329 $ 5.9 55.3 FPS
44.9 FPS
29.1 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 4GB $ 549 $ 8.4 65.3 FPS
53.8 FPS
33.7 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB $ 649 $ 8.5 76.1 FPS
63.5 FPS
39.5 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X 12GB $ 999 $ 11.4 87.5 FPS
72.4 FPS
45.2 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 460 4GB $ 140 $ 5.8 24.2 FPS
19.7 FPS
12.2 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 470 4GB $ 179 $ 3.8 47 FPS
39.3 FPS
24.4 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 480 8GB $ 400 $ 7.4 53.8 FPS
45.3 FPS
28.9 FPS
AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 8GB $ 399 $ 4.7 85.1 FPS
72.2 FPS
44.9 FPS
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 8GB $ 499 $ 5.5 90.7 FPS
77.3 FPS
48 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 2GB $ 79 $ 4.3 18.2 FPS
14.9 FPS
8.8 FPS
NVIDIA TITAN V 12GB $ 2,999 $ 24.2 123.7 FPS
108 FPS
70.3 FPS
NVIDIA TITAN Xp 12GB $ 1,199 $ 10.7 112.1 FPS
96.1 FPS
62.3 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 550 2GB $ 79 $ 4.1 19.1 FPS
15.7 FPS
9.5 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB 8GB $ 199 $ 3 65.5 FPS
53.3 FPS
32.4 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 4GB 4GB $ 169 $ 2.9 58.7 FPS
47.9 FPS
29 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 560 4GB $ 99 $ 3.6 27.3 FPS
22.3 FPS
13.6 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT 6GB $ 279 $ 3 94.3 FPS
79.6 FPS
49.5 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB $ 169 $ 3.2 52.7 FPS
43.9 FPS
26.7 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 5700 8GB $ 349 $ 3.5 100 FPS
85.2 FPS
53 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 8GB $ 399 $ 3.7 109.1 FPS
92.8 FPS
57.8 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB $ 229 $ 3.6 63.9 FPS
51.9 FPS
31.4 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 590 8GB $ 279 $ 3.9 72.1 FPS
58.6 FPS
35.7 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 3GB $ 169 $ 5.7 29.6 FPS
24.3 FPS
14.9 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB $ 169 $ 4.9 34.7 FPS
28.9 FPS
17.9 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB $ 254 $ 4.3 59.3 FPS
48.6 FPS
30.3 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB $ 170 $ 3 56.2 FPS
46.2 FPS
28.8 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB $ 399 $ 4.8 82.8 FPS
68.8 FPS
42.5 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB $ 409 $ 4.5 90 FPS
75.4 FPS
46.9 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB $ 499 $ 5.1 97.1 FPS
81.4 FPS
50.8 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB $ 759 $ 6.6 114.3 FPS
99.5 FPS
63.2 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB $ 149 $ 3 50.4 FPS
41.9 FPS
26 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER 4GB $ 160 $ 2.4 66.1 FPS
55.3 FPS
34.4 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 6GB $ 220 $ 2.9 75.9 FPS
63.7 FPS
39.6 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6GB $ 229 $ 2.8 80.7 FPS
67.7 FPS
42.2 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB $ 279 $ 3.3 85.6 FPS
71.7 FPS
44.6 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB $ 350 $ 3.6 95.9 FPS
76.9 FPS
47.6 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8GB $ 400 $ 3.9 101.9 FPS
83.6 FPS
52.7 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 8GB $ 499 $ 4.6 107.7 FPS
89.8 FPS
57.6 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8GB $ 499 $ 4.4 113.6 FPS
96.1 FPS
60.9 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 8GB $ 699 $ 5.7 121.9 FPS
104.4 FPS
65.7 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8GB $ 699 $ 5.4 129 FPS
111.6 FPS
70.8 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11GB $ 1,299 $ 9.1 142.2 FPS
124.2 FPS
79.2 FPS
NVIDIA TITAN RTX 24GB $ 2,499 $ 17.1 146 FPS
127.5 FPS
81.4 FPS
AMD Radeon VII 16GB $ 699 $ 6.2 112.1 FPS
95.4 FPS
59.5 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT 8GB $ 379 $ 3.2 116.8 FPS
100 FPS
62.3 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT 12GB $ 479 $ 3.4 140.4 FPS
120.2 FPS
74 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 6800 16GB $ 579 $ 3.5 166.8 FPS
141.8 FPS
88.4 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT 16GB $ 649 $ 3.1 210.5 FPS
179.1 FPS
111.7 FPS
AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB $ 999 $ 4.5 223.6 FPS
190.2 FPS
118.6 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti 6GB $ 249 $ 2.8 88 FPS
73.2 FPS
46.4 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB $ 329 $ 3.1 106.9 FPS
90.7 FPS
58 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8GB $ 399 $ 3.1 130.3 FPS
113.1 FPS
73.1 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 8GB $ 499 $ 3.1 159 FPS
134.5 FPS
85.3 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 10GB $ 599 $ 3.4 178.4 FPS
152.1 FPS
98.2 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB $ 699 $ 3.4 207.9 FPS
175.8 FPS
111.5 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 20GB $ 799 $ 3.8 207.9 FPS
179.4 FPS
118 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 24GB $ 1,499 $ 6.3 238.6 FPS
201.7 FPS
127.9 FPS
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