Last Updated on July 7, 2024
I am writing this blog post for the readers who are still waiting for the price drop on graphic cards. Two months ago, I was in the same boat and was searching for the best budget build for my new PC. I waited a long time for the price of graphics cards to drop while also anticipating the release of AMD Ryzen 5 5600G. You will find mixed reviews of the 5600G all over the internet. Some would say it is costly, not made for gamers, there are better alternatives, etc.
I explored many options before going for Ryzen 5 5600G, and bookmarked lots of PartsPicker lists, but eventually I settled with 5600G last month. You may find it useful if you are considering 5600G as your horsemen.
Should You Buy an AMD Ryzen 5 5600G?
If you’re on a tight budget but still want to have a lot of computing power, the 5600G is your best bet. The price of the 5600G has dropped significantly since its release and may fall even further. In my opinion, it’s now a good time to buy. Before building your PC, you must know your usage.
If you are looking for hard core gaming (AAA titles) or 4K editing, then you will be disappointed. You have to buy a high-end discrete graphics card for that. The 5600G Vega 7 graphic performs well compared to the GT 1030 series graphic cards, which cost between $120 to $140. You can watch many comparisons on YouTube to eliminate this query from your list.
At the time of writing, the 5600X (299 $) price is higher compared to the 5600G (239 $) for an equivalent number of threads but slightly less computing power. So, if you’re considering buying a 5600X and a low-end graphics card, the 5600G could save you a lot of money.
You can also pair your overpriced graphic card in the future with the 5600G for hardcore gaming. For normal usage, you can disable your discrete graphic card and use Vega graphics to save some wattage, wink.
5600X vs 5600G Comparison
| 5600G | 5600X | |
|---|---|---|
| No of CPU cores | 6 | 6 |
| No of Threads | 12 | 12 |
| Base Clock | 3.9GHz | 3.7GHz |
| Max. Boost Clock | 4.4GHz | 4.6GHz |
| L2 Cache | 3MB | 3MB |
| L3 Cache | 16MB | 32MB |
| TDP Rating | 65W | 65W |
| Unlocked for Overclocking | Yes | Yes |
| PCI Express® Version | PCIe® 3.0 | PCIe® 4.0 |
| Graphic Model | Radeon Vega 7 | NA |
| Graphic Core Count | 7 | NA |
| Graphic Frequency | 1900 MHz | NA |
So now you are reading further, which means you have at least considered the 5600G in your list. For a full setup, I will try to answer all possible queries in this post. Let’s begin
Which motherboard is best for the Ryzen 5 5600G?
Note: Prices are shown for a rough idea and taken from pcpartpicker.com at the time of writing. (18.11.2021).
Here we are considering only B550 motherboards. You can also use compatible B450 or A520 motherboards to cut down on the cost. If you are building from scratch, then go for the B550 board. The below list is for those who are not going to use a graphic card for their setup. Some of them work great with graphic cards, but you must choose them as per their thermals and VRMs. The listed motherboards have reasonable thermals and features.
List of Recommended Ryzen 5 5600G Compatible Motherboards for less than $150
| Motherboard | Price | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| ASRock B550M Pro4 | $89.99 | Excellent connectivity and a great general-purpose board.The m.2 E key is a really nice feature that allows you to add a WIFI m.2 module and antennas (needs 25CM NGFF pigtails) and save money over a PCIE WIFI card and keep your PCIE slot open. - PCIE Gen 4, USB-C and VRMs |
| Gigabyte B550M DS3H | $89.99 | This board is wildly all over the place. For everything I like about it, it has something I dislike. It has no type C but overkill RGB. Its VRMs are good enough for the Ryzen 5600G. I wish it had USB type C instead of the outdated 12v RGB headers. Q-Flash Plus to Update BIOS |
| ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming 4 | $89.99 | This board lacks USB-C. A nicely priced ATX board. |
| MSI B550M PRO-VDH WIFI | $109.99 | One of the better, cheaper, reasonable boards with WIFI. Recommended for builds where people require wifi at a low cost. |
| ASRock B550M Steel Legend | $109.99 | This is an excellent midrange board, nicely balanced. |
| ASRock B550 Pro4 | $131.99 | It actually has slightly fewer features than the mATX version for a lot more money. Still, decent. |
| Gigabyte B550 AORUS ELITE | $134.99 | Nice, but outcompeted by better boards in the 140-160 price point. If you get it on sale, it’s a great board. Most people at that price point can fit better mobos into their systems. The lack of USB-C at this price point hurts it. |
| MSI B550-A PRO | $139.99 | Nice, but outcompeted by better boards in the 140-160 price point. The lower-end audio and LAN chip hurt it. |
| ASRock B550 Steel Legend | $149.99 | Excellent connectivity and a great general-purpose board. The m.2 E key is a really nice feature. |
- The price may differ for other regions.
There are many other better boards you may find which are not included in the list. For over $150 motherboards, you can read this document for a better understanding. This reddit post explains much more in depth if you are willing to spend some time reading it. The above post and sheet contain some good B450 and A520 MOBOs.
Important: You may need to update the BIOS of motherboards to work with 5600G. Gigabyte and MSI motherboards provide a USB flashing feature, which is handy. Other motherboards require an AMD CPU to flash the BIOS. So do your homework before building it yourself.
The Best RAM for the 5600G?
Select a minimum of 16GB (8×2) of dual-channel (3200MHz) DDR4 RAM. Don’t go for a single 16GB or 32GB stick; for better performance, go for dual-channel. If you have a budget, then you can pick 3600MHz ram also. Multi-channel RAM has higher performance and if any of your sticks dies for some reason, it still gets your work done.
Make sure your motherboard supports the higher frequency and has good thermals if you are planning to overclock your RAM.
Recommended Ram:
- Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2×8) DDR4 3200MHz – 10ns
- G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2×8) DDR4 3200MHz – 10ns
- Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2×8) DDR4 3200MHz – 10ns
- Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB 16 GB (2×8) DDR4 3600MHz – 10ns
- G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16 GB 16 GB (2×8) DDR4 3600MHz – 10ns
Most motherboards set the BIOS frequency to 2133 MHz by default. You should enable the XMP (or DOCP) profile in the BIOS to get the most out of it. From there, you can fine tune timings, bus frequencies, and voltage to achieve your desired frequency.
The 5600G’s power supply
Since you are not using a discrete graphic card in your system, a 550 W power supply is recommended. If you have a budget, then you can, of course, go for a higher rating and an 80+ Gold efficiency rating. For a budget build, 80+ bronze would just work fine.
You may want to check modular, non-modular, or semi-modular for your needs. For those who do not know these terms,
- Modular PSU: All cables can be removed from the PSU.
- Semi-Modular PSU: cables for your GPU, CPU, and motherboard are not detachable, while SATA/Molex power and extra GPU cables are.
- Non-Modular: None of the cables are removable.
In most cases, semi-modular PSUs are preferred considering the cabinet size.
Recommended PSU-from cheaper to more costly
- Corsair CV 550 80+ Bronze
- EVGA B5 550 80+ Bronze
- Cooler Master MWE 550 80+ Bronze
- EVGA G3 80+ Gold
- Corsair CXM 80+ Bronze
- SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Gold 80+ Gold
If you are still confused with your choice, then you can read a post here about the PSU tier list. The post is old, but you will have some good info to filter out your doubts.
SSD Storage For AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
For SSDs, the NVME m.2 500gb is recommended. You can go for an HDD+SSD combo for optimal use. I am not going in depth on this.
Recommended SSD 500GB
- Western Digital Blue SN550
- Crucial P2
- Samsung 970 Evo Plus
- Crucial MX500
There are more resources here about SSD if you are interested in this.
AMD Ryzen 5 5600G Best Budget Build Under 600$
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 5600G 3.9 GHz 6-Core Processor | $239.00 |
| Motherboard | MSI B550M PRO-VDH WIFI Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $109.99 |
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory | $63.99 |
| Storage | Western Digital Blue 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | $49.99 |
| Case | Phanteks Eclipse P400 ATX Mid Tower Case | $54.99 |
| Power Supply | EVGA G3 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply | $59.99 |
| Total | $577.95 |
Read Also: What Is PSN Resolver?
F.A.Q.
Is AMD Ryzen 5 5600G good for gaming?
The AMD Ryzen 5 5600g is suitable for practically all tasks and can run almost all new titles at low graphics settings.
It’s better suited to 720P and 900P gameplay than 1080P. The 5600G allows you to create a decent gaming setup for considerably less than 4 GB of overpriced graphics cards. At low settings, you can easily play multiplayer games like GTA V, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, or Valorant.
How to Improve the 5600G’s Performance
Overclocking and combining a 5600G with faster system RAM are the only ways to increase the performance of the integrated graphics on a 5600G.
Furthermore, due to the single-die architecture of the 5600G, they may run at a higher FCLK than standard 5000 series CPUs (2000–2200 normal).
Verify your BIOS to see how much RAM is assigned to your iGPU as VRAM. When set to auto, it only allots 512MB, which is not what you really need. You can test it out with a maximum of 2GB of VRAM.
You can try 3600MHz 2×16 dual-channel RAM and manually overclock it for an approx. 5% gain. Anything above 3600MHz RAM is mostly overkill.
Your CPU can operate two DIMMS in dual channel mode. Dual-channel may access each DIMM bank with read/write operations at the same time. This results in a 5% increase in performance.
Is 5600G good for graphic design?
The 5600G has 6 cores and 12 threads, which runs most of the graphic design applications very smoothly. I regularly use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator CC 2021 on my 5600G without any problems.
If your daily workflow involves 4K video editing, then you should add a capable graphic card that can handle your workload fast. In terms of CPU, you will not face any issues with certain tasks.
Make sure you have at least 16GB of dual-channel RAM. You don’t actually require a discrete graphics card for editing. Concentrate more on the CPU and RAM.
Should You Buy 5600G Over 5600X?
In terms of performance, the 5600G is an excellent chipset. It’s about 5–7% slower than the 5600x, but you can recover those 5 percent by using fast RAM (3600 MHz CL16).
And, to be honest, it’s only a benchmark as you don’t notice the difference in daily use.
Currently, the 5600G is less expensive than the 5600x. As of now, I feel the 5600G is the best value for money for budget users. This is the type of chip that will stay stronger for at least 5 years and may provide very decent performance for the next 8 years.
Also, you have to buy a discrete graphic card for the 5600X build, which further increases the cost for just an approx. 5-7% performance gain.
If PCIE 4.0 is important to you, the 5600X has it while the 5600G has PCIE 3.0.
