Intel Core i5 8400K vs AMD Ryzen 5 1600

Intel Core i5 8400K vs AMD Ryzen 5 1600 Processor Spec Comparison

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As you would have guessed already, in this post, we are going to do an Intel Core i5 8400K vs AMD Ryzen 5 1600 comparison. Since both of these processors look attractive to potential customers, we are going to see both of them objectively. While most of us are used to 5% to 10% incremental performance boosts from Intel, a lot of hardware enthusiasts lost interest in the new parts. A 5-year-old system performed just fine, and an upgrade for 5% performance boost did not make much sense. The desktop market was stagnant for many years due to lack of competition in the enthusiast space. This changed with the release of AMD’s Ryzen processors. The HEDT (High-End Desktop) market was alive again, and fresh interest came in.

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Intel anticipated the early Zen performance numbers and was ready with their arsenal of resources. The birth of coffee lake was the result of just that. Intel broke their regular product cycle release and released their 8th Gen Coffee Lake CPU’s before time.

We like the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 because it has the perfect balance of price to performance ratio. The room for overclockability of the silicon made it attractive to the enthusiast market. Even in heavily multithreaded workloads, the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 excelled amongst all other processors in the same price category. The Intel Core i5 8400K on the other hand, with its higher turbo clock frequency of 4.0 GHz in the single-core mode made sure it wins the hearts and minds of gamers.

Core i5 8600K Vs AMD Ryzen 5 1600X

Now, enough with the introductions, let’s look at the specifications comparison table below:

Intel Core i5 8400K vs AMD Ryzen 5 1600

The AMD Ryzen 5 1600 is a six-core CPU with 12 threads, making it a multi-threaded performance king in its category. Whether it is gaming, content creation or VR, the performance is as smooth as butter. The processor has a base clock frequency at 3.2 GHz and a max turbo core speed of up to 3.6 GHz. The L1, L2, and the L3 cache memory are 576KB (L1), 3 MB (L2), and 16 MB (L3) respectively. Intel’s i5 8400K, on the other hand, has a lower base clock and a higher turbo frequency. See below:

Intel Core i5 8400K vs AMD Ryzen 5 – 1600

Processor Cores / Threads / Speed 6 Cores / 12 Threads

Base Clock: 2.8 GHz

Turbo Core Frequency: 4.0 GHz

 6 Cores / 12 Threads

Base Clock: 3.2 GHz

Turbo Core Frequency: 3.6 GHz

CPU Cache 

6 * 32 KB L1 Data Cache

6 * 32 MB L1 Instructions Cache

6 * 256 KB L2 Cache

9 * MB Shared ‘L3 Cache’

576 KB L1 Data Cache

3 MB L2 Cache

16 MB Shared ‘L3 Cache’

CPU Features Supported 

8th Gen Architecture (Formerly Coffee Lake)

Intel Optane Memory Support

Turbo Boost 2.0

AES, AVX2, FMA3, Intel-VT, & SSE4.1/4.2, TSX

PCI-Express: 3.0

Unlocked: Yes

Socket: ‘FCLGA1151’

Zen Architecture (Single Module)

AMD Ryzen ‘Master Utility’

‘SenseMI Technology’

AES, AVX2, FMA3, VT, & XFR (Extended ‘Frequency’ Range)

PCI-Express: 3.0

Unlocked: Yes

Socket: AM4

TDP 65 Watts  65 Watts @ 95 Degree C (Max)
Socket FCLGA1151 AM4
Manufacturing Technology 14  nm ++ 14 nm Global Founderies
Stock CPU Cooling Stock Intel-Cooler Wraith-Spire

It is also the first time in 10 years that Intel had upgraded their Core i5 (& i7) lineup from Quad-Cores to Hex-Cores. Even though the Core i5 8400 does not have Hyper-Threading enabled, we only expect a few applications can take advantage of 12 Cores which the Ryzen 5 1600 has to offer. Don’t get us wrong, the Ryzen 5 1600 is still a beast and can easily beat the Intel Core i5 8400k in workstation heavy or content creation tasks.

Power Consumption (Intel Core i5 8400K vs AMD Ryzen 5 1600)

When it comes to power consumption, the AMD Ryzen 1600 consumes about 70 Watts, compared to the Core i5 8400K which consumed only 50 Watts under heavy load. Typically, for the last two generations, Intel’s Core i5 always came below its marketed TDP ratings, and this one is no exception. For AMD, however, the TDP ratings are higher due to the extra cores that it has.

Conclusion

We expect AMD to cut prices of their Ryzen lineup, barring the Treadripper series. The Intel Core i5 is a bit cheaper than the Ryzen 5 1600 processor, and this makes the Intel part a better buy. However, if you look at the overall build cost, AMD’s motherboard offerings are broad and cheaper options are already available on the market. For Intel, however, only has the 300 series chipset lineup, namely the Z370 with Z360 to follow shortly after. Till then, if we look at the bigger picture we think this is a draw.

We hope you like our Intel Core i5 8400K vs AMD Ryzen 5 1600 comparison. Comments and feedbacks are welcome in the comments section below.

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I have over 15 Years of Experience in IT & Software. I love Technology & Gadgets. Yes, I am a so called "Millennial" and this is my creation.


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