As AMD’s powerful Zen desktop CPU architecture keeps getting better, the rising tide that boosted the Ryzen 5000 Series has finally reached the Ryzen G Series, which has integrated graphics processors and is AMD’s most cost-effective CPU line (IGPs). Most AMD Ryzen processors don’t have on-chip graphics, which is a big deal in a time when video cards cost a fortune and people camp out to buy them.
With the release of the Ryzen 7 5700G and the Ryzen 5 5600G, which costs $259, AMD opens up its silicon treasure chest to meet a pressing need: powerful graphics for gaming and other tasks that don’t need a GPU, plus eight cores of CPU power. The 5700G really is a gem.
Specifications
- Core Count 8
- Thread Count 16
- Base Clock Frequency 3.8 GHz
- Maximum Boost Clock 4.6 GHz
- Socket Compatibility AMD AM4
- Lithography 7 nm
- L3 Cache Amount 16 MB
- Thermal Design Power (TDP) Rating 65 watts
- Integrated Graphics AMD Radeon RX Vega 8
- Integrated Graphics Base Clock 2000 MHz
- Bundled Cooler AMD Wraith Stealth
Where to get AMD Ryzen 7 5700G?
AMD’s IGP-enabled CPUs are no longer called APUs, which was their own old name (for “accelerated processing units,” to distinguish them from its IGP-less chips). But the name has stayed in the business world over the years. Now, technically speaking, these new APUs aren’t completely new.
The public will be able to buy either of these APUs on the open market on August 5. Today is just the launch day. Since their release in mid-2021, however, the chips have been available in a few OEM desktops, including some versions of HP’s Omen gaming towers.
AMD’s Ryzen 5000 Series has already impressed us all the way up and down the stack, so it’s not surprising that the Ryzen 7 5700G resets our expectations for what a processor in its class can do in 2021. Since GPUs are still hard to come by, the average PC builder might be looking at APUs again after a long time. (This is, in fact, the first new Ryzen APU that the company has put on the market since the fall of 2019.)
When they see what the 5700G can do in games like Rainbow Six: Siege, casual esports gamers should think hard about what they value most in their setups.
The Ryzen 7 5700G’s eight cores can sometimes feel like too many, but the price is good compared to other eight-core options. And if you are quick, the great performance quickly puts that worry to rest. AMD’s Ryzen 7 5700G easily earns its Editors’ Choice award as one of the fastest and best-value IGP-equipped desktop chips on the market today. This is true whether you’re building your first gaming PC on a budget that doesn’t allow for a graphics card or just need a content-creation engine that doesn’t need a GPU.
