AMD Launches Ryzen 5 7500 And 5500F CPUs For Great Value Focused Builds

There are two new AMD CPUs on the block, and normally that would be bigger news, but both of these chips are based on previous-generation processor technology, and one of them is yet another new SKU for the decade-old Socket AM4 platform. Both parts are budget-oriented processors based on reclaimed silicon with slight variations from previous parts, but the names could be confusing, so let's go over what they actually are.

First up, the AMD Ryzen 5 7500. The Ryzen 5 7500F already exists, and as you might expect, the Ryzen 5 7500 is basically just the same chip with the integrated graphics fully enabled. This makes it an attractive option for low-budget builds, as while the integrated graphics are nothing write home about (just a single RDNA 2 Workgroup Processor), they're plenty sufficient for desktop duty, and so this chip becomes a completely viable option for entry-level desktops. It's also a solid option for discrete GPU upgrades, with six Zen 4 CPU cores at up to 5 GHz and the full 32MB of L3 cache, as well as PCI Express 5.0 support.


Connectivity is key in discussion of the other CPU, the Ryzen 5 5500F, because it's actually considerably misleading based on the name. The original, extant Ryzen 5 5500 is a slightly underwhelming CPU; instead of being based on the "Vermeer" silicon that underpins most of the Ryzen 5000 series, it's actually based on "Cezanne," which was the primary mobile silicon for that generation. Cezanne is monolithic, which is good for memory overclocking, and bad for nearly everything else. To make the die small and economical, AMD cut the L3 cache down from 32MB to 16MB, and also cut PCIe 4.0 support, leaving the chip limited to PCIe 3.0. The firm had to do this because Cezanne normally includes a large Vega GPU, but the Ryzen 5 5500 doesn't have it enabled, leaving it as just sort of a mangled mobile chip repurposed for the desktop.

So, the new Ryzen 5 5500F is actually based on Vermeer, which solves all these problems, right? Well... no; the Ryzen 5 5500F actually still only has 16MB of L3 cache. However, it does gain 200 MHz of CPU boost clock over the Ryzen 5 5500 (from 4.2 GHz to 4.4 GHz) and it also regains the full 24 usable lanes of PCI Express 4.0, considerably improving connectivity for fast storage devices and modern GPUs. Still no integrated graphics, of course, but standard Ryzen 5000 desktop CPUs didn't have any graphics to begin with.


AMD didn't give us suggested pricing when it e-mailed us about these chips. We weren't able to find the Ryzen 5 5500F at retail yet, but the Ryzen 5 7500 is available on Amazon for $225, which doesn't make a lot of sense considering the faster Ryzen 5 7600X is just $158.95 right now. The current-gen Ryzen 5 9600X, with higher clocks and full-speed AVX-512 thanks to its Zen 5 architecture, is just $15 more. Alternatively, for $229.99 you can grab a Ryzen 5 7600X3D, which will have superior gaming performance to anything else we've discussed in this post and honestly presents an awesome gaming value.


On the other hand, if you're really trying to stretch your dollars, we did find a couple of Ryzen 5 5500 motherboard-and-CPU combos. One has an entry-level ASRock board that will get the job done for $159.99. The other comes with a significantly nicer Gigabyte B550 motherboard that includes Wi-Fi 6, dual M.2 SSD slots, dual USB Type-C ports, and Q-Flash Plus. That combo is $197.99, 10% off from its list price for a limited time. These boards take relatively affordable DDR4 memory, and while the performance won't match newer DDR5-based machines, it's hard to complain about the value!