Core i7-5820K vs Ryzen 3 1300X

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

On our gaming index the Core i7-5820K scores 24 and the Ryzen 3 1300X scores 23, about 4% faster for gaming. That gap is small and mostly shows up at 1080p with a very fast graphics card.

The Core i7-5820K has 6 cores and 12 threads, and the Ryzen 3 1300X has 4 cores and 4 threads. The extra cores of the Core i7-5820K help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 3.6 GHz and 3.7 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Core i7-5820K uses the LGA2011-3 socket and the Ryzen 3 1300X 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 140 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.

At launch the Core i7-5820K cost $396 and the Ryzen 3 1300X $129, which gives 6.1 and 17.8 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 i7-5820K can feed a card up to the GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Ryzen 3 1300X reaches the Arc A580. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Core i7-5820K if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Ryzen 3 1300X if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.