Sunnyvale decided to respond to the arrival of Alder Lake-S with new low-cost mid-range and low-end processors Zen 2 and Zen 3. Among the new models that were launched, the Ryzen 5 5500, a chip that is based on the Zen 3 architecture, attracted a lot of interest and which maintains a count of 6 cores and 12 threads. However, when we compare it to the Ryzen 5 5600, we realize this its performance is noticeably lowerand this has created a lot of doubt among consumers who do not fully understand why this is happening.

The truth is that the explanation is simpler than it seems. AMD has two CPU-level core designs that it currently uses, monolithic designpresent in the company’s APU, a chiplet-based MCM design and are used in the rest of their products. In the first case, we find an architecture in which Shared CPU and GPU packageor, which reduces the available space at the silicon level and limits the amount of L3 cache that AMD is able to attach.

On the other hand, in the second case, we only have one CPU installed chiplet that shares encapsulation with a larger amount of L3 cache, and which can be connected to other chiplets for scaling in configurations up to 64 cores and 128 threads. The construction of the monolithic core can have up to 16 MB of L3 cachewhile LCM design delivers 32 MB of L3 cache per core.

With this clear I think it is obvious where the problem is. Ryzen 5 5500 is a Radeon 5600G APU with disabled GPU, meaning it uses this monolithic core design and only has 16MB of L3 cache, while the Ryzen 5 5600 uses a chiplet-like design and has 32MB of L3 cache. This cache difference is such a difference that the Ryzen 5 5500 ends up falling behind the Ryzen 5 5500.

The Ryzen 5 5500 performs at the level of the Ryzen 5 3600

Ryzen 5 5500 performance (hardware unpacked)

The Hardware Unboxed tests are very clear in this regard and match all the performance comparisons I’ve had the chance to read on other trusted media. I’m not surprised, they’re actually expected, because we all know how important it was to AMD a jump from the 16MB L3 cache that the Ryzen 1000 and 2000 had to the 32MB L3 cache of the Ryzen 3000 series. This increase in cache was one of the main reasons for the significant increase in IPC in this generation of processors.

Although the performance difference between Ryzen 5 5500 and Ryzen 5 5600 is large, the truth is that the price difference between the two is so well tuned which makes the first one a lot of sense, especially for those who want to build a cheap but powerful gaming PC, and also for those who need to upgrade their equipment but are on a tight budget and don’t want to change the motherboard.

The Ryzen 5 5500 is priced at 139.98 euros, while the Ryzen 5 5600 is around 212 euros. For example, if you have a Ryzen 3 1200, Ryzen 5 1400, or even Ryzen 5 1600-based PC, the Ryzen 5 5500 would be a cheap and interesting upgrade, especially if you’re selling your old processor for mitigate the cost of a new one a bit.