Linux Gaming Performance With AMD Ryzen 5 2600X / Ryzen 7 2700X
Today the Ryzen+ "Pinnacle Ridge" processors begin shipping and we can now share with you the initial performance results for the Ryzen 5 2600X and Ryzen 7 2700X processors. One of the most common questions I've received about these improved Zen processors since showing them off last week was inquiries/hopes about the Linux gaming performance, so those numbers are first up today followed by other Linux benchmark results forthcoming.
As a quick refresher, the Ryzen 5 2600X is a six-core / 12 thread part with 3.6GHz base frequency, 4.2GHz boost frequency, 95 Watt TDP, and supports dual-channel DDR4-2933 memory while costing today $229 USD. The Ryzen 7 2700X meanwhile is the new flagship AMD Ryzen 7 series CPU with eight cores / sixteen threads, 3.7GHz base clock, 4.3GHz turbo clock, 105 Watt TDP, dual-channel DDR4-2933 memory support, and costing $329 USD at launch.
The Ryzen 7 2700X currently comes in at just below the Intel Core i7 8700K pricing of $350~360, which is six cores / 12 threads, 3.7GHz base clock, 4.7GHz turbo clock, 95 Watt TDP, and supports dual channel DDR4-2666 memory.
For this launch-day Linux benchmarking I ran some gaming tests using a Ryzen 7 1800X, Ryzen 5 2600X, Ryzen 7 2700X, and Intel Core i7 8700K. During this testing each of the systems had 2 x 8GB Corsair DDR4-3200MHz memory (at DDR4-3200 speeds), Samsung 950 PRO NVMe SSD with 525GB Crucial CT525MX3 for the Steam game storage, and was using a Radeon RX Vega 64 graphics card. The Ryzen 7 2700X was being tested with the ASUS CROSSHAIR VII HERO motherboard and the Ryzen 5 2600X with the MSI X470 GAMING M7 AC motherboards. All CPUs were tested at their stock/default speeds.
On the software side was Ubuntu 17.10 x86_64 while manually upgrading to the Linux 4.16.2 kernel and using Mesa 18.1-devel from the Padoka PPA. During the testing the CPU frequency scaling driver on each platform was also forced to the performance governor.
Via the Phoronix Test Suite a range of Linux gaming benchmarks were carried out with a wide variety of titles, some supporting the Vulkan graphics API while others using OpenGL. Following these initial raw results are also performance-per-dollar metrics.