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.
Note: If you buy something from our links, we might earn a commission. See our affiliate disclosure statement.
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.
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:
| 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.
- Also Read: Top AMD Ryzen Threadripper Socket TR4 Motherboards
- Also Read: Best DDR4 Memory for AMD Ryen CPU’s
- Also Read: Top CPU Coolers for Intel Core i9 X Series Processors
- Also Read: Core i5 8600K Vs AMD Ryzen 5 1600X
ryzen 1600 does not have 12 cores……
6 core 12 threads?