Introduction

AMD had been written off as a serious processor maker before it made a spectacular comeback in 2017 with the Ryzen and EPYC series based on the new "Zen" micro-architecture. These chips disrupted Intel's 7th generation Core "Kaby Lake" family enough to force their premature exit from the market, which had Intel introduce their 8th generation Core "Coffee lake" processors with 50%–100% increases in core-counts. The Core i7-8700K took back the performance crown from the Ryzen 7 1800X, and the Core i5-8600K won back the $200-$250 segment, which some refer to as the "sweetspot" segment, from the Ryzen 5 1600X. It's now time for AMD's fightback with the new Ryzen 5 2600X and Ryzen 7 2700X.

The first wave of AMD's Ryzen 2000 series "Pinnacle Ridge" processor family is rather brief with only four SKUs, two 8-core and two 6-core. The 8-core parts compete with Intel's 8th generation Core i7, while the 6-core parts compete with its latest Core i5 series. Leading the pack is the 8-core Ryzen 7 2700X followed by the Ryzen 7 2700. The 6-core Ryzen 5 2600X and Ryzen 5 2600 follow those.


The six-core Ryzen 5 2600X is an important product for AMD as it clashes with the Core i5-8600K in the heart of the "price-performance sweetspot" segment gamers tend to run after. The idea here is that a product from this middle-of-the-market segment will set you up for a high-end gaming PC build and shouldn't bottleneck any enthusiast-segment graphics card. It should also pack sufficient performance for most creativity and productivity tasks without breaking the bank.

The biggest change with Ryzen 5 2600X is what's under the hood—the new 12 nanometer "Pinnacle Ridge" silicon based on the "Zen+" architecture, which gives AMD's product designers freedom to increase clock speeds. AMD is also said to have improved the on-die cache and memory sub-systems for a small but welcome IPC uplift, in addition to multi-core-centric improvements made to the Precision Boost and XFR features.

This 6-core/12-thread chip has the same nominal clock speed as its predecessor, the 1600X, with its core clocked at 3.60 GHz, but marginally increased boost frequency at 4.20 GHz, and new XFR 2.0 rewarding effective cooling with automatic overclocks beyond the boost frequency. You also get 512 KB of L2 cache per core and the full 16 MB of shared L3 cache available on the chip.


Priced at $229, the Ryzen 5 2600X is cheaper than its predecessor, the 1600X, which debuted at $249. Unlike the 1600X, and competing Core i5-8600K, AMD is including a Wraith Spire cooling solution with this chip, so you don't have to spend money on an aftermarket cooler, lowering its effective cost even further.

This review uses our updated test suite for processors in 2018, which includes the latest BIOS updates with microcode fixes for recent security issues, Windows 10 Fall Creators Update with all updates, and new software tests and games, which are all using the latest versions as well.

A Closer Look

The Ryzen 7 2600X comes in a big cubical box characteristic of Ryzen.


AMD is including a Wraith Spire cooling solution with the 2600X. The cooler features a large cylindrical heatsink with radially projecting fins, which is ventilated by a large fan. AMD has optimized the fan for low noise.


The Ryzen 5 2600X package looks just like any other Ryzen socket AM4 processor. It comes with a soldered IHS (like 1st gen Ryzen, unlike Raven Ridge APUs and unlike Intel). AMD claims to be using a high-grade indium-alloy solder which works to lower temperatures by as much as 10°C.


AMD continues to use the AM4 socket, which means all existing Ryzen motherboards will be compatible with the new Ryzen 2000 series (after a BIOS update). The company also plans to stick to AM4 for the rest of this decade, so there's a pretty long upgrade path ahead for this platform.

AM4 still has a rectangular cooler-mount-hole layout (as opposed to the square ones on Intel LGA platforms). AMD should have switched to a square layout to make it easier to orient tower-type coolers to blow hot air out the rear of the case. Current AM4-ready tower coolers have elaborate retention module kits that let you do so. Most popular cooler vendors are either already including AM4 retention kits with their latest coolers or will send you a mounting kit for free if you want to continue using a cooler you have. You often also have to remove the plastic retention module motherboards ship with to install certain kinds of coolers.

Architecture

At the heart of the Ryzen 5 2600X is the new 12 nm "Pinnacle Ridge" silicon by AMD. This chip is based on the new "Zen+" micro-architecture, in which the "+" denotes refinement rather than a major architectural change.


AMD summarizes the "+" in "Zen+" as the coming together of the new 12 nm process that enables higher clock-speeds, an updated SenseMI feature-set, the updated Precision Boost algorithm that sustains boost clocks better under stress, and physical improvements to the cache and memory sub-systems, which add up to an IPC uplift of 3 percent (clock-for-clock) over the first-generation "Zen."


The biggest change of "Pinnacle Ridge" remains its process node. The switch to 12 nm resulted in a 50 mV reduction in Vcore voltage at any given clock speed, enabling AMD to increase clocks by around 0.25 GHz across the board. The switch also enables all-core overclocks well above the 4 GHz mark, to around 4.20 GHz.

AMD also deployed faster cache SRAM and refined the memory controllers to bring down latencies significantly. L3 cache latency is 16 percent lower, L2 cache latency is lower by a staggering 34 percent, L1 latencies by 13 percent, and the DRAM (memory) latencies by 11 percent. This is where almost all of the IPC uplift comes from. AMD also increased the maximum memory clocks. The processor now supports up to DDR4-2933 (JEDEC) and is capable of DDR4-3400.


Updates to the chip's on-die SenseMI logic include Precision Boost 2, and Extended Frequency Range (XFR) 2. Precision Boost 2 now switches from arbitrary 2-core and all-core boost targets to a perpetually all-core boosting algorithm that elevates the most stressed cores to the highest boost states in a linear fashion (i.e. boost frequency increases with load). Every core is running above nominal clock when the processor isn't idling, which contributes to a multi-core performance uplift. Besides load, the algorithm takes into account temperature, current, and Vcore. Granularity is 0.25X base clock (25 MHz).


Extended Frequency Range 2 (XFR 2) builds on the success of XFR with a new all-core uplift beyond the maximum boost clock. If your cooling is good enough (60°C), XFR will now elevate all cores beyond the boost state as opposed to just the best few cores. AMD claims that with the most ideal cooling, XFR 2.0 will give you a staggering 7 percent performance uplift without any manual overclocking on your part.

The AM4 Platform and New X470 Chipset

What sets "Pinnacle Ridge" apart from Intel dies, such as "Coffee Lake," is that it is a full-fledged SoC (system-on-chip). It integrates both the northbridge and southbridge. In addition to memory and PCIe, socket AM4 processors also put out USB 3.0 and two SATA 6 Gb/s ports. The platform still has something called a "chipset," but it only serves to increase connectivity options, such as adding more SATA ports, USB 3.1 ports, and a few more general-purpose PCIe lanes (which are PCIe Gen 2). On Intel's platforms, the PCH (platform controller hub) serves the functions of the southbridge, while the northbridge is fully integrated with the processor.


The new AMD X470 chipset, which is being launched today alongside the Ryzen 2000 "Pinnacle Ridge" series, succeeds the X370 chipset. It has the same exact feature-set as the X370, but with lower power draw. Although not directly related to the chipset, X470 specifications prescribe higher CPU VRM standards for motherboards.


The X470 also comes with AMD StoreMI technology out of the box (something even X370 has, but through a BIOS update). The only reason X470 probably exists is to clear the compatibility confusion for first-time buyers. You're assured that an X470 motherboard will support AMD "Pinnacle Ridge" chips out of the box. Regardless, every AM4 motherboard ever launched is capable of running "Pinnacle Ridge," and most motherboard vendors have started rolling out BIOS updates.