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Ryzen 5 5500 vs Ryzen 5 9600X — Specs & Performance Compared

Verdict: The Ryzen 5 9600X is ahead of the Ryzen 5 5500 on all 2 shared benchmarks on file, by 61% to 75%, including 61% in Cinebench R23 single (2,192 vs 1,365).

Side-by-side CPU comparison of the Ryzen 5 5500 and the Ryzen 5 9600X. Released 2022 (Ryzen 5 5500), 2024 (Ryzen 5 9600X). MSRP range: $159 · $279. Specs, synthetic benchmarks, AI inference tok/s, and Amazon availability below; each column header links to that part's benchmark page.

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*Price sourced from Amazon.com. Price and availability subject to change.

Where to buy

A listing for each part; the current price and stock are on the retailer's page.

Specs side-by-side

SpecRyzen 5 5500Ryzen 5 9600X
cores 66
threads 1212
base clock ghz 3.6—
boost clock ghz 4.25.4
tdp w 6565
l3 cache mb 1632
process nm 7—
socket AMD Socket AM4AM5

Synthetic benchmarks

Each row says whether a higher or a lower number is better (ranks and times are lower-is-better). Scores come from NanoReview, TechPowerUp, Tom's Hardware, StorageReview, GadgetVersus, CGDirector, PCSpecs.io, PCGamesN, Geekbench Browser, HardwareDB, PassMark and Puget Systems; each row links its sources, and where they differ the cell shows their median. Empty cells mean we don't yet have that benchmark on file for the SKU.

BenchmarkRyzen 5 5500Ryzen 5 9600X
Cinebench 2024 Multi-Core (higher is better)
Source: NanoReview		 588 pts—
Cinebench 2024 Single-Core (higher is better)
Source: NanoReview		 82 pts—
Cinebench R23 multi (higher is better)
Source: TechPowerUp, Tom's Hardware, StorageReview, GadgetVersus, CGDirector, PCSpecs.io, PCGamesN		 10,561 points29,442 pts
Cinebench R23 single (higher is better)
Source: TechPowerUp, StorageReview, GadgetVersus, CGDirector, PCSpecs.io, Tom's Hardware, PCGamesN		 1,365 points2,192 pts
Geekbench 6 multi (higher is better)
Source: Tom's Hardware, Geekbench Browser, StorageReview, PCSpecs.io, HardwareDB, GadgetVersus		 7,745 points14,869 pts
Geekbench 6 Multi-Core (higher is better)
Source: NanoReview		 8,220 pts—
Geekbench 6 single (higher is better)
Source: Tom's Hardware, StorageReview, Geekbench Browser, PCSpecs.io, HardwareDB, GadgetVersus		 1,902 points3,330 pts
Geekbench 6 Single-Core (higher is better)
Source: NanoReview		 1,961 pts—
PassMark CPU Mark (higher is better)
Source: PassMark, Puget Systems		 19,267 pts30,069 pts
PassMark Single Thread (higher is better)
Source: PassMark		 —4,571 pts
PassMark Single Thread Rating (higher is better)
Source: PassMark		 3,060 points—
PassMark single-thread (higher is better)
Source: PassMark		 —4,571 points

AI inference (tokens/sec)

Top community-reported tokens-per-second results for popular LLMs whose weights fit the card's memory, each linked to its source. See the per-SKU benchmark page for the full set including quantization and prompt length.

Ryzen 5 5500

No verified AI inference results on file. See the Ryzen 5 5500 benchmark page →

Ryzen 5 9600X

All Ryzen 5 9600X AI benchmarks →

Quick answers

Which is faster, the Ryzen 5 5500 or the Ryzen 5 9600X?

The Ryzen 5 9600X is ahead of the Ryzen 5 5500 on all 2 shared benchmarks on file, by 61% to 75%, including 61% in Cinebench R23 single (2,192 vs 1,365).

What did the Ryzen 5 5500 and the Ryzen 5 9600X cost at launch?

The Ryzen 5 5500 launched at a $159 MSRP and the Ryzen 5 9600X at $279. Street prices drift from launch pricing; the Where to buy section links current listings.

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