Core i5-8600K vs Ryzen 7 2700X

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

On our gaming index the Core i5-8600K scores 40 and the Ryzen 7 2700X scores 38, about 5% faster for gaming. That gap is small and mostly shows up at 1080p with a very fast graphics card.

The Core i5-8600K has 6 cores and 6 threads, and the Ryzen 7 2700X has 8 cores and 16 threads. The extra cores of the Ryzen 7 2700X help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 4.3 GHz and 4.3 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Core i5-8600K uses the LGA1151 socket and the Ryzen 7 2700X 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 95 W for the first and 105 W for the second. That is close enough that cooling needs will be similar.

At launch the Core i5-8600K cost $257 and the Ryzen 7 2700X $329, which gives 15.6 and 11.6 points of gaming performance per $100. Today's prices will differ.

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

At 1080p the Core i5-8600K can feed a card up to the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 16GB before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Ryzen 7 2700X reaches the Radeon RX 6750 XT. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Core i5-8600K if you want the faster gaming chip. Choose the Ryzen 7 2700X if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.