AMD Ryzen 5 Mid-Range CPUs to Launch on April 11: Price, Speed, and More Revealed

Just over three weeks after taking the world by storm with its high-end Ryzen 7 CPUs, AMD is ready to cement its return to form with four more mid-range models under the Ryzen 5 brand. The company had previously announced a Q2 2017 target for the launch of Ryzen 5, and there is now a specific date: April 11.

There are four new CPUs, two of which have six physical cores and two of which have four. All of them feature support for simultaneous multithreading, allowing each core to run two threads. The fastest of the quartet is the new 6-core/12-thread Ryzen 5 1600X, which will have a base clock of 3.6GHz and a boost target of 4GHz; similar to the Ryzen 7 1800X but with fewer cores. It is priced at Rs. 18,199 ($249 in the US) and will go head to head with Intel's Core i5-7600K. The Ryzen 5 1600 will run at 3.2GHz with boost target of 3.6GHz, and also has six cores for twelve effective threads. This model is priced at Rs. 15,799 ($219).

The Ryzen 5 1500X and Ryzen 5 1400 are both quad-core/8-thread CPUs. The faster of the two runs at 3.5-3.7GHz while the lowest-end model runs at 3.2-3.4GHz. The prices are Rs. 13,799 ($189) and Rs 12,199 ($169) respectively. AMD might release more models over time to flesh out this lineup. 

AMD expects these CPUs will be just as disruptive as the Ryzen 7 models have been, and will also appeal to a wider audience. They are based on the same underlying Zen microarchitecture as Ryzen 7 as well as the upcoming low-end Ryzen 3 line and server-bound processors codenamed "Naples". 

The Ryzen 7 (Review) was a huge success for AMD, marking its return to competitiveness in the high-end CPU space after nearly a decade of lacklustre products. AMD is quick to point out that the 8-core/16-thread Ryzen 7 1800X, priced at Rs. 37,999, can hold its own against Intel's Core i7-6900K, which sells for roughly Rs. 85,000, in most tests and scenarios. The 6-core/12-thread Ryzen 6 models could show significant performance advantages over the non-Hyper-Threaded quad-core Intel Core i5 range in content creation and other highly parallel workloads. AMD has only shared one such projection, which shows a 69 percent gain when using CineBench R15 in multi-threaded mode. 

All AMD Ryzen CPUs have unlocked multipliers allowing them to be overclocked, although you'll need a motherboard with a B350 or X370 chipset to ensure platform stability. The Ryzen 5 lineup shares all the architectural features of the Ryzen 7, including the "core complex" layout, Infinity Fabric interconnects, and embedded sensors which allow for dynamic voltage, temperature and clock speed adjustments. XFR, or eXtended Frequency Range is also supported, and these CPUs can push above their rated boost speeds for brief periods if there is adequate cooling headroom.

AMD Ryzen CPUs, Motherboards, and Coolers: Your Complete Guide

Speaking of cooling, the Ryzen 5 1600X ships without a cooler, just like the Ryzen 7 1800X and 1700X. The Ryzen 5 1600 and 1500X ship with the same Wraith Spire cooler that the 65W Ryzen 7 1700 does. The Ryzen 5 1400 is the only model to ship with the smaller Wraith Stealth cooler.