Core i5-10600K vs Ryzen 5 4600

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

On our gaming index the Core i5-10600K scores 49 and the Ryzen 5 4600 scores 47.3, about 4% faster for gaming. That gap is small and mostly shows up at 1080p with a very fast graphics card.

The Core i5-10600K has 6 cores and 12 threads, and the Ryzen 5 4600 has 6 cores and 12 threads. Core counts are the same, so cache size and clock speed decide the difference. Boost clocks are 4.8 GHz and 4.2 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Core i5-10600K uses the LGA1200 socket and the Ryzen 5 4600 uses AM4, so they need different motherboards, and often different memory. When you compare prices, count the board as well as the chip.

Rated power is 125 W for the first and 65 W for the second. That difference changes the cooler you need, and it shows up in heat and noise.

We do not have launch prices for both chips, so we cannot compare value.

Which graphics cards each one can feed, and which to buy

At 1080p the Core i5-10600K can feed a card up to the Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Ryzen 5 4600 reaches the Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Core i5-10600K if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Ryzen 5 4600 if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.