Fantastic price to performance for this AMD Ryzen CPU. For around £150 you are getting 6 cores and 12 threads, which is useful for plenty of tasks including video editing,development and running virtual machines, as well as day-to-day work such as browsing the web or using office suites.
It is fully compatible with pretty much all A320/B350/X370 boards straight out of the box without needing any BIOS updates, as it was one of the original Ryzen 5 chips, unlike the newer APUs (namely 2200G and 2400G) which may need a BIOS update first. Installation is fairly straightforward, just release the latch on the motherboard, carefully place the CPU into the socket, and line it up with the golden triangle so you get it in the correct way around. As it relies on the pins at the bottom, be careful when handling it so as to not damage any pins - hold it around the sides if possible.
Once installed, it comes with the superb "Wraith Spire" cooler (included in the price), which does a good job of keeping the CPU at cool temperatures without the need for a third-party solution, and the thermal paste comes pre-applied. This is a little trickier to install depending on the motherboard, but it is 4 screws and if you cross (do one corner then the opposite) which ones you tighten, it is easier and prevents damage from putting too much pressure on one area. Once installed and plugged into the CPU fan header, it idles at around 33 degrees celcius on my machine (which is a good temperature for a stock cooler), however your own results may vary slightly. Even with lots of programs, including a game and a virtual machine running, it only reached 55 degrees celcius, so there will be some room for a mild overclock using this cooler, provided you are using a B350 or X370 chipset. It also runs quietly, you can barely hear the fans even when they are spinning fully.
The performance of the processor itself is great, it'll match or beat most Intel i5 offerings (and even some i7 chips), which is excellent considering the noticeable price difference and the better stock cooler that AMD provides. For multi-core workloads (such as video editing) it works perfectly, and while the single-core performance isn't quite as good (this isn't really too much of an issue), once software can fully optimise all of the cores, it'll perform drastically better. It also handles gaming well, paired with even a 750Ti it can handle games such as Rocket League on High/Ultra settings at 70-100FPS, so paired with a better GPU will yield great results in even modern triple-A titles.
Be sure to download the Ryzen Master software from AMD, where you can monitor the temperature accurately and adjust CPU settings, as well as the AMD Ryzen Chipset Drivers, which include a Windows power plan which is optimised for use with Ryzen CPUs.
In conclusion, I couldn't be happier with this Ryzen 5 1600. Smashes competition in terms of price to performance, includes a great cooler and runs pretty much anything you can throw at it with ease. I would highly reccommend this processor.
| Brand | AMD |
|---|---|
| Product Dimensions | 4.06 x 0.76 x 4.06 cm; 45.36 Grams |
| Item model number | YD1600BBAEBOX |
| Manufacturer | AMD |
| Series | YD1600BBAEBOX |
| Color | Silver |
| Processor Brand | AMD |
| Processor Type | A8-7600 |
| Processor Speed | 3.6 GHz |
| Processor Socket | Socket AM4 |
| Processor Count | 6 |
| RAM Size | 8 GB |
| Memory Technology | DDR4 |
| Computer Memory Type | DDR4 SDRAM |
| Hard Drive Size | 1 TB |
| Hard Drive Interface | ESATA |
| Wireless Type | 802.11b/n/ac |
| Wattage | 65 |
| Hardware Platform | Windows |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Are Batteries Included | No |
| Item Weight | 45.4 g |
