AMD expanded the offerings for its Ryzen 2000 series with two new quad-core CPUs, the 2500X and 2300X. Their specifications aren’t too different front one another, with identical core counts and only a slight bump in base frequency for the 2500X. However, the Ryzen 5 options do come with simultaneous multithreading (SMT) giving it eight threads to work with, rather than the Ryzen 3 model’s four.
Aimed more at manufacturers and system builders, the new Ryzen CPUs flesh out the existing range of chips, which includes the 2600, 2600X, 2700, and 2700X, as well as second-generation Threadripper CPUs. They will sit just under the mainstream portion of the main line up and will provide more options for those buying pre-built systems for mid-level gaming and general usage. Like most Ryzen systems, they should offer strong multithreaded capabilities.
The Ryzen 2500X is a four core, eight-thread CPU with a base clock of 3.6GHz and a boosted frequency of 4.0GHz. Like most of its contemporary desktop CPU in the Ryzen range, it doesn’t sport an onboard graphics core, but thanks to its “X” designation, it does support AMD’s performance boost overdrive feature for potentially greater performance if the cooling headroom is there.
The Ryzen 3 2300X also supports that feature and has the same 65w power requirement as the Ryzen 5 CPU. However, it doesn’t have SMT support, so has only four threads powered by its four cores.
Both chips enjoy the enhancements of the second-generation Zen+ architecture, which added greater efficiency and clock speeds than the first-generation Ryzen CPUs. They can both be overclocked automatically by the system using PBO and XFR, but also manually if system builders wish to do a little tweaking themselves, or indeed the eventual system buyers.
These chips are available now, with the first system sporting the option for their inclusion being the Acer Nitro 50. It comes with the quad-core Ryzen 2500X, between 8GB and 64GB of DDR4, and an AMD RX 580 graphics card. With a starting price of $900, the system could prove a great mid-range gaming system for those not wanting to build one themselves.
If you are interested in putting together your own Ryzen system, you have to opt for one of the more mainstream CPUs. These are the best Ryzen chips you can buy right now.
