AMD Ryzen 5 7600X smiles for the camera in Chinese marketplace listing

Intel hasn't done a particularly good job of containing leaks this release cycle. Its entire Raptor Lake SKU list got leaked and its processors got extensively benchmarked weeks before launch. An early Core i9-13900K sample also showed up on a Chinese marketplace, although Team Red has also had its Ryzen 7 7700X make an appearance like that. Now, the mid-range Ryzen 5 7600X (via HXL on Twitter) has joined its Ryzen 7 counterpart.

The seller in question has demanded an eye-watering RMB 9,999 (~US$1,400) for the processor, although they are open to negotiation. Markings on the CPU confirm that it is an early sample produced sometime in May 2022. It is unlikely that this stray Ryzen 5 7600X with a base clock of just 4,400 MHz (instead of the rumoured 4,700 MHz on the retail version) will find buyers other than hardcore enthusiasts, collectors or a wayward YouTuber. Besides, AMD will announce the Ryzen 7000 Raphael series of processors on August 29, so it makes little sense to buy an unstable/buggy chip now.

Those with the resources, however, could pick up the six-core, twelve-thread Ryzen 5 7600X and put it through the paces on Userbenchmark, where it caused quite a stir among the staff. It will, for the time being, confirm if the original listing was a fluke or if AMD has Intel's number this time around. AMD usually reigned supreme in multi-threaded workloads, but with the Core i9-13900K, Core i7-13700K and Core i5-13600K doubling up on the E cores, the contest could be a lot tougher this generation.

Buy the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X on Amazon