Intel Core i5-9400F vs AMD Ryzen 5 9600

The Intel Core i5-9400F, based on the Coffee Lake S Refresh architecture, was introduced in the first quarter of 2019 and targeted users in the mainstream segment looking for solid performance for gaming and everyday productivity.

It is manufactured using the 14 nm process and features 6 cores and 6 threads. Its performance in the Geekbench 6 single-core test was lower than that of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600, while it also showed significantly lower performance in the multi-core test.

For gaming, it delivers acceptable performance thanks to its architecture but does not benefit from modern features like PCIe 5.0. The thermal design power (TDP) is 65W. Without an integrated graphics unit, a separate graphics card is mandatory. Its maximum memory bandwidth is 43 GB/s, and the L3 cache is 9 MB.

The processor is primarily attractive for older platforms and offers good value for money for basic applications. The AMD Ryzen 5 9600, a representative of the Zen 5 (Granite Ridge) architecture, was launched in the third quarter of 2024 and targets the mainstream to performance segment that demands modern features and high efficiency.

It is manufactured using an advanced 4 nm process and features 6 cores and 12 threads. In single-core benchmarks like Geekbench 6, it significantly outperforms the Intel Core i5-9400F. It also shows significantly higher performance in multi-core tests like Cinebench R23 and Geekbench 6.

For gaming, it is significantly better suited thanks to its architecture, higher IPC, and PCIe 5.0 support. The TDP is also 65W, with the 4 nm manufacturing promising higher energy efficiency per unit of performance. It features an integrated AMD Radeon Graphics (Raphael) graphics unit and offers a maximum memory bandwidth of 90 GB/s and 32 MB of L3 cache.