Ryzen 5 3600X vs Core i7-9700K

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The Ryzen 5 3600X and the Core i7-9700K are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The Ryzen 5 3600X has 6 cores and 12 threads, and the Core i7-9700K has 8 cores and 8 threads. The extra cores of the Core i7-9700K help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 4.4 GHz and 4.9 GHz.

Platform, power and price

The Ryzen 5 3600X uses the AM4 socket and the Core i7-9700K uses LGA1151, 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 95 W for the second. That is close enough that cooling needs will be similar.

At launch the Ryzen 5 3600X cost $249 and the Core i7-9700K $374, which gives 18.9 and 12.3 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 Ryzen 5 3600X can feed a card up to the Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core i7-9700K reaches the Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GB. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Ryzen 5 3600X if you want the faster gaming chip. Choose the Core i7-9700K if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.