AMD launches new Ryzen 5 AM4 and AM5 CPUs to cater to budget users

AMD has quietly launched two new processors on Sept 10th: the Ryzen 5500F and the Ryzen 5 7500. Both processors target budget-conscious users and are priced accordingly. The Ryzen 5 5500F is another addition to AMD’s everlasting AM4 platform, while the Ryzen 5 7500 joins the AM5 lineup as a budget entry.

The Ryzen 5 5500F is a 6-core processor and, while it may sound like the inferior version of the Ryzen 5 5500, it is actually a lower-end variant of the Ryzen 5 5600. When comparing the three, all have the same core and thread count and no integrated graphics, but they differ in design, clock speeds, PCIe support, and L3 cache size.

The Ryzen 5 5500 has a base clock speed of 3.6 GHz and boosts up to 4.2 GHz. It also has 16 MB of L3 cache, supports PCIe 3.0, and uses the Cezanne (monolithic die) design. The retail price for the 5500 is around $75. By comparison, the Ryzen 5 5500F has a lower base clock of 3.0 GHz but a max boost of 4.4 GHz, plus PCIe 4.0 support, which provides considerably more bandwidth for users planning to use faster SSDs or newer GPUs. Instead of the Cezanne design, it uses the Vermeer (multi-chiplet) design, while the L3 cache matches the 5500. The 5500F's MSRP of $99, however, is its saving grace at a time when component prices are a key issue.

The higher-end Ryzen 5 5600 has almost the same feature set as the 5500F, except it has 32 MB of L3 cache, which can make a big difference for gaming and other memory-intensive tasks. However, it retails for around $160, making the 5500F a more affordable, value-for-money option, thanks to its PCIe 4.0 support that enables modern graphics cards and SSDs.

The Ryzen 5 7500 is an interesting addition to the AM5 budget lineup. It is another version of the Ryzen 5 7500F, with almost identical features: a base clock speed of 3.7 GHz that can boost to 5.0 GHz, 32 MB of L3 cache, PCIe 5.0 support, etc. The main difference is that the 7500 has integrated Radeon graphics, which the 7500F lacks. The Ryzen 5 7500F retails for around $150, while the newly announced Ryzen 5 7500 has an MSRP of $189.

The Ryzen 5 7600 is still the better option, though the performance gains might not justify the price increase. The Ryzen 5 7600 has almost the same features as the 7500, aside from a higher clock speed: a 3.8 GHz base clock with a maximum boost up to 5.1 GHz. This 100 MHz increase can mean better performance in certain CPU-intensive tasks, though the 7600 retails for around $225, barely different from its $229 MSRP. However, some retailers do offer some steal deals in-store.

Nonetheless, the launch of these processors is welcome, especially amid rising PC hardware costs. The Ryzen 5 7500 offers the best value-to-price ratio of the processors mentioned, but since it runs on the AM5 platform, budget-conscious users should still keep in mind the high cost of DDR5 RAM which could offset the savings the CPU offers otherwise.