4 core versus 6 core

For years, the 4 core/8 thread CPUs was all there was on the consumer high-end.

The first 4 core/8 thread CPU was released in November 2008 the Core i7 with the Nehalem (Socket 1366).

It was in 2017 when AMD released Ryzen and increased core count making Intel follow suit later with their 8th Gen series later that year.

For a few months, I was using the latest AMD Ryzen 3 3100 4 core/8 thread CPU to do everything.

It was OK …

I switched over to the first Gen Ryzen 5 1600X 6 core/12 thread CPU just a few days ago. It has about 10% less computational power in single-thread but 2 more cores (4 more threads).

I feel it is a tad slower when doing general tasks but when running more than one application, I can do more with less stuttering. I usually have 3-5 windows open and I prefer smoothness over choppiness.

Cool thing about this change is that I am running the Ryzen 5 1600X on a B550 motherboard. The B550 chipset was designed to run Ryzen 3000 series and above.

I got it running because AMD released AGESA combo V2 PI 1.0.8.0 that has support for first gen Ryzen Zen 1 and Zen 1 + support.

If AMD continues to offer this kind of backwards compatibility next year with AM5 socket, I will like this and buy one.

Good things happen when there is competition.