Think Ryzen 9000 CPUs are still a bit pricey? AMD just revealed a cheaper Zen 5 chip that could be perfect for your budget PC build

Date:
Wed, 08 Jan 2025 10:44:55 +0000

Description:
We dont have a launch price for the new Ryzen 9600 yet, but we can hope for the CPU to retail at around $200.

FULL STORY ======================================================================AMD has announced a new Ryzen 5 9600 processor at CES 2025 This is a slightly slower version of the already existing Ryzen 5 9600X It has a boost speed thats 200MHz slower, but itll be cheaper though we dont have a launch price yet

AMD will doubtless be launching a few fresh Zen 5 processors this year there are only four models in the Ryzen 9000 range thus far, after all and CES
2025 has seen the company quietly introduce a new CPU to take the title of
the most affordable chip.

This is the Ryzen 5 9600, a slightly tamed version of the existing Ryzen 5 9600X, dropping the X from the name.

What does that mean in practice? The Ryzen 9600 is exactly the same as the 9600X in terms of its cores and cache (its a 6-core, 12-thread chip), the
only difference is slightly reduced clock speeds.

The Ryzen 9600 processor drops the base clock from 3.9GHz to 3.8GHz, and the boost speed is reduced from 5.4GHz to 5.2GHz.

This processor can still be overclocked, its worth noting unlike Intels
non-K silicon, Ryzen CPUs of the non-X variety can be juiced up with some
BIOS tinkering but obviously dont expect as much room to push clocks with
the vanilla flavor of the 9600.

Sadly, we dont yet have a release date, and oddly, not even an official
price, and it appears AMD is keeping this launch on the down-low for now. Thats possibly a hint that the processor may not arrive in the very near future, but it shouldnt be too far out now that its been officially
announced. (Image credit: AMD) Analysis: Coolly cheap (with any luck)

Its good to see a new value champ for the Ryzen 9000 range, and we hope that AMD doesnt hang around too long with getting the Ryzen 9600 onto shelves, especially since super-budget Ryzen 3 chips seem to be completely AWOL nowadays. Itll be a useful option for those looking to build ( or buy ) a
more budget-conscious PC, for sure, particularly as therell be some extra value proposition because AMD has put in a further twist here.

The Ryzen 9600 will come with a Wraith Stealth cooler, saving PC builders a bit of money because they wont need to buy a separate CPU cooling solution.
No other Ryzen 9000 processors come with AMDs own cooler bundled - gone are the days when every Ryzen chip came packaged with a Wraith air cooler.

As for the pricing and where that could end up, we have to bear in mind that the Ryzen 9600X arrived with an MSRP of $279 / 269.99 / AU$479 , so you might think that the vanilla Ryzen 9600 could come in at $229 / 219 / AU$399,
maybe? After all, thats the price at which AMD launched the Ryzen 7600.

However, AMD dropped the price of the 9600X compared to its predecessor, and also given that the 9600X is now at around $220 to $240 at big retailers in the US, the hope is you might be able to pick up the 9600 for closer to $200 or even less - fingers crossed.

This could help generate more goodwill around the Ryzen 9000 series with consumers as the Zen 5 range got off to a shaky start and ensure this is a great option for a budget PC build (alongside the new more affordable B840
and B850 AM5 motherboards which also launched at CES 2025).

Via Toms Hardware

TechRadar will be extensively covering this year's CES , and will bring you all of the big announcements as they happen. Head over to our CES 2025 news page for the latest stories and our hands-on verdicts on everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.

And dont forget to follow us on TikTok and WhatsApp for the latest from the CES show floor! You might also like AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D announced at CES 2025 Intel may not have any new desktop chips coming until Nova Lake
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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/cpu/think-ryzen-9000-cpus-are-still-a-bit- pricey-amd-just-revealed-a-cheaper-zen-5-chip-that-could-be-perfect-for-your-b udget-pc-build


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