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AMD Ryzen 5 8600G Discrete GPU Gaming Performance — The TLDR
This class of chip isn't meant to be paired with a discrete GPU, but these benchmarks are useful info if you plan to upgrade to a more powerful GPU in the future. We include these results for the sake of being complete, but the iGPU benchmarks on the preceding page are far more relevant for the Ryzen 8000G APUs.
Below, you can see the geometric mean of our gaming tests at 1080p and 1440p, with each resolution split into its own separate chart. Per our standard policy, we tested with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 to reduce GPU-imposed bottlenecks as much as possible. Still, differences between test subjects will shrink with less powerful cards or higher resolutions.
These are cumulative metrics of our dGPU test suite, so individual wins vary on a per-title basis, which you can see further below. Some of these same benchmarks appeared in our integrated GPU testing on the prior page, but we used much higher quality settings for the tests below.
We have a somewhat different test grouping for this series of benchmarks. We added a few AMD Ryzen 7000 models to the mix, and they clearly have much higher overall performance with a discrete GPU than the Ryzen 8000G models.
For instance, the price-comparable six-core $249 Ryzen 5 7600X is 15% faster than the Ryzen 5 8600G. An overclock does help the latter improve its standing, but the 7600X is also overclockable, which would provide it a further lead. Notably, the 7600X also comes as a 'non-X' model, the Ryzen 5 7600, which is ~$30 less than the X-equipped counterpart yet provides nearly the same performance. The performance is so close that we use the 'X' models as proxies, but you can find an even better deal and similar performance from the Zen 4 camp for less than shown here.
The 8600G is 22% faster than the Core i3-13100 but also carries a premium. The Intel Core i5-13400 lands between the Ryzen 5 8600G and the Ryzen 7 8700G, with slim margins separating the chips on either side. In contrast, the Core i5-14600K is on another level, delivering 30% more performance than the Ryzen 5 8600G.
The Ryzen 5 8600G is 20% faster than the previous-gen Ryzen 5 5600G. Overclocking can also squeeze out an extra 8% performance, but you'll have to balance that with the cost it will add to your build.
The Ryzen 5 8600G isn't the best option if you use a discrete graphics card. Both AMD and Intel have much better chips for systems focused on discrete GPUs.
We've included the full gaming benchmarks below, but given that this isn't the targeted use case for this chip, we'll skip the commentary.
Borderlands 3 on AMD Ryzen 5 8600G
Cyberpunk 2077 on AMD Ryzen 5 8600G
F1 2023 on AMD Ryzen 5 8600G
Far Cry 6 on AMD Ryzen 5 8600G
Hitman 3 on AMD Ryzen 5 8600G
Minecraft on AMD Ryzen 5 8600G
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2021 on AMD Ryzen 5 8600G
Watch Dogs Legion on AMD Ryzen 5 8600G
Factorio on AMD Ryzen 5 8600G
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