AMD Ryzen 5 8600G
The chip of choice for gamers on the tightest budgets.
If you care little for 4K with ray tracing and just like to enjoy a bit of gaming in your spare time or online with friends, the Ryzen 5 8600G could be exactly what you’re looking for.
The 8600G is an affordable six-core variant of AMD’s exciting Phoenix range of desktop APUs. It’s based on the Zen 4 architecture, with a monolithic 4nm die. It comes with a base clock of 4.3GHz, a boost clock of 5.0GHz and a 65W TDP. Apart from having half the L3 cache, it’s not dissimilar to the Ryzen 5 7600 and in fact its base clock is a surprising 500MHz higher, though the 7600 has a 100MHz higher boost clock.
The key feature of the 8600G is its graphics capabilities. It includes RDNA 3-based Radeon 760M integrated graphics, with eight CUs activated. Its 512 shader units is enough for it to be considered a 1080p gaming option. It obliterates its predecessors.
The 8600G includes AMD’s XDNA Neural Processing Unit. As you’ve no doubt seen and read, AI is all the rage and local AI processing will surely become more relevant as the software ecosystem matures.
Sadly, I didn’t have a Ryzen 5 7600 on hand to test with. The 7600X has a higher 105W TDP and double the L3 cache, so it’s expected to be faster. Still, the 10-15% difference between the 8600G and the 7600X is not too drastic given the TDP difference. Enabling PBO on the 8600G would eat up a good chunk of that gap.
The low temperatures and power consumption levels of the 8600G are a bright spot. It’s a solid option for a small form factor or media PC.
But the real highlight is the 8600G’s gaming performance. It’s good enough to make the claim that it can play games at 1080p with medium settings. If your threshold for ‘playable’ is 30fps on more demanding titles. Enabling FSR gives the 8600G a big performance boost. Let’s not forget we’re talking about a $379 APU here. To get this kind of performance for so little money is really quite extraordinary.
There’s nothing stopping you from installing a discrete GPU at any time. However, if you are planning to install one at the same time as a new CPU, a 7600 or any one of a number of Intel 12th, 13th or 14th Gen options will deliver superior all round performance. Gaming included.
In the end, our general conclusions for the 8700G apply here. The 8600G is a chip you should buy if you plan to make use of its integrated graphics. If not, there are better options. But if you care little for high core counts, the 8600G will make for an excellent general purpose processor. The differences between modern CPUs are hardly noticeable if you’re more into internet browsing with a hundred open tabs, consume social media, play YouTube videos or work from home. The $379 8600G will gobble it all up with ease.
The Ryzen 5 8600G is a fantastic option for gamers on the tightest of tight budgets. Its combination of very good gaming performance, excellent value for money, power efficiency with the bonus of AI functionality make it the only option in this price range with such capabilities.
VERDICT
If your budget is tight, the Ryzen 5 8600G cannot be beaten. You’ll get the ability to play just about any game at 1080p, albeit at lower settings.
Chris Szewczyk
“The real highlight is the 8600G’s gaming performance. It’s good enough to make the claim that it can play games at 1080p with medium settings.”