Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably know that AMD is celebrating its 50th anniversary today. In addition to commemorative editions of the Ryzen 7 2700X and Radeon VII, there are also many AMD deals out there. One that particulay caught our eye is the Ryzen 5 2600 processor, which is currently on sale at Newegg for $150 with the promotional code EMCTYWT23.
What makes the Ryzen 5 2600 an even sweeter deal is the included AMD50 game bundle, which has a $139 value. Upon purchase, you'll receive two games codes to redeem free copies of Tom Clancy's The Division 2 Gold Edition and World War Z.
The Ryzen 5 2600 is AMD's current mid-range consumer desktop processor. The chip features six cores, 12 threads and 16MB of L3 cache. The processor has a 3.4GHz base clock speed and a 3.9GHz turbo. Like AMD's other second-generation Ryzen processors, the Ryzen 5 2600 comes unlocked for overclocking.
Other notable specs of the Ryzen 5 2600 include support for 16 high-speed PCIe 3.0 lanes, dual-channel DDR4 memory modules up to 2,933MHz and a 65W TDP (thermal design power). AMD's Wraith Stealth CPU cooler accompanies the processor.
Below is a table comparing the Ryzen 5 2600 among other similar CPUs.
AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Specs Comparison
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Row 0 - Cell 0
Cores /Threads
Base /Boost Clock Speed (GHz)
Cache(MB)
PCIe 3.0
Interface / Chipset
Unlocked Multiplier
DRAM
TDP
Price (at time of writing)
PricePer Core
Intel Core i7-8700K
6 / 12
3.7 / 4.7
12
16
1151 / Z370
Yes
Dual DDR4-2666
95W
$369.99
$61.67
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X
6 / 12
3.6 / 4.2
16
16
AM4 / X470
Yes
Dual DDR4-2933
95W
$179.99
$30
AMD Ryzen 5 2600
6 / 12
3.4 / 3.9
16
16
AM4 / X470
Yes
Dual DDR4-2933
65W
$149.99
$25
AMD Ryzen 5 1600X
6 / 12
3.6 / 4
16
16
AM4 / X370
Yes
Dual DDR4-2666
95W
$150.89
$25.15
AMD Ryzen 5 1600
6 / 12
3.2 / 3.6
16
16
AM4 / X370
Yes
Dual DDR4-2666
65W
$119.89
$19.98
At the current pricing, the Ryzen 5 2600 is the most cost-effective option for a six-core, 12-thread processor. The Ryzen 5 2600 is approximately $25 per core at this price, which is even cheaper than AMD's last-generation Ryzen 5 1600X.
Should You Buy This CPU?
We highly recommend you check out our in-depth AMD Ryzen 5 2600 review before opening your wallet.
Zhiye Liu is a news editor, memory reviewer, and SSD tester at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.
