PassMark CPU Mark evaluates processor speed through complex mathematical computations. It provides a reliable metric to compare multi-core performance, where higher scores indicate faster processing for multitasking, gaming, and heavy workloads.

Head-to-Head Verdict, Benchmarks, Value & Long-Term Outlook

This comparison brings together gaming FPS, productivity performance, platform differences, power efficiency, pricing context, and upgrade path so you can see which CPU actually makes more sense.

Ryzen 5 5600

2022

Why buy it

✅+3.3% higher PassMark.
✅+132.7% larger total L3 cache (32 MB vs 14 MB).
✅Costs $1,241 less on MSRP ($199 MSRP vs $1,440 MSRP).
✅Delivers 647.6% more PassMark for each dollar spent, at 108.3 vs 14.5 PassMark/$ ($199 MSRP vs $1,440 MSRP).
✅Draws 65W instead of 140W, a 75W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Less compelling for workstation-style loads than Xeon W-2155, which brings 10 cores / 20 threads.

Xeon W-2155

2017

Why buy it

✅Better for workstations and heavier parallel workloads: 10 cores / 20 threads.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark (20,858 vs 21,550).
❌Smaller total L3 cache (14 MB vs 32 MB).
❌Lower PassMark per dollar, at 14.5 vs 108.3 PassMark/$ ($1,440 MSRP vs $199 MSRP).
❌115.4% higher power demand at 140W vs 65W.
❌No boxed cooler included, unlike Ryzen 5 5600.

Ryzen 5 5600

2022

Xeon W-2155

2017

Why buy it

✅+3.3% higher PassMark.
✅+132.7% larger total L3 cache (32 MB vs 14 MB).
✅Costs $1,241 less on MSRP ($199 MSRP vs $1,440 MSRP).
✅Delivers 647.6% more PassMark for each dollar spent, at 108.3 vs 14.5 PassMark/$ ($199 MSRP vs $1,440 MSRP).
✅Draws 65W instead of 140W, a 75W reduction.

Why buy it

✅Better for workstations and heavier parallel workloads: 10 cores / 20 threads.

Trade-offs

❌Less compelling for workstation-style loads than Xeon W-2155, which brings 10 cores / 20 threads.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark (20,858 vs 21,550).
❌Smaller total L3 cache (14 MB vs 32 MB).
❌Lower PassMark per dollar, at 14.5 vs 108.3 PassMark/$ ($1,440 MSRP vs $199 MSRP).
❌115.4% higher power demand at 140W vs 65W.
❌No boxed cooler included, unlike Ryzen 5 5600.

Quick Answers

So, is Ryzen 5 5600 better than Xeon W-2155?

Not in a simple one-size-fits-all way. Xeon W-2155 makes more sense for workstation-style multi-core throughput, while Ryzen 5 5600 is the better mainstream desktop choice for gaming, platform cost, and day-to-day practicality.

Which one is better for streaming, content creation, and heavy multitasking?

For streaming, content creation, and heavier multitasking, Ryzen 5 5600 is the better fit. You are getting 3.3% better PassMark, backed by 6 cores and 12 threads. It also carries the larger cache pool with 132.7% larger total L3 cache (32 MB vs 14 MB).

Which one is the smarter buy today, not just the cheaper CPU?

Ryzen 5 5600 is the smarter buy today. Ryzen 5 5600 is $1,241 cheaper on MSRP at $199 MSRP versus $1,440 MSRP, and it gives you 3.3% better PassMark. The trade-off is that Xeon W-2155 is still the better pure gaming CPU with a 1.3% average FPS lead across 4 shared CPU game tests in our data. It is also 647.6% better value on MSRP (108.3 vs 14.5 PassMark/$), so the better CPU is not just faster, it is also the cleaner value play on paper.

Which one is more future-proof for 2026 and beyond?

Ryzen 5 5600 is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting a newer CPU generation (2022 vs 2017), 132.7% larger total L3 cache (32 MB vs 14 MB), and more multi-core headroom with 6 cores / 12 threads instead of 10/20. That extra compute headroom should age better as games, background tasks, and creator workloads get heavier.

Games Benchmarks

Paired with RTX 4090

To accurately isolate CPU performance, all benchmarks below use an NVIDIA RTX 4090 as the reference GPU. This eliminates GPU-side bottlenecks and highlights pure processing throughput differences between the CPUs.

Note: Real-world results may vary based on your actual GPU. CPU performance impact is more visible in processing-intensive titles and high-refresh-rate gaming scenarios.

Ryzen 5 5600 Benchmark Check

Xeon W-2155 Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	Ryzen 5 5600	Xeon W-2155
1080p
low	161 FPS	166 FPS
medium	130 FPS	144 FPS
high	112 FPS	117 FPS
ultra	93 FPS	99 FPS
1440p
low	141 FPS	141 FPS
medium	113 FPS	120 FPS
high	95 FPS	97 FPS
ultra	78 FPS	81 FPS
4K
low	79 FPS	76 FPS
medium	69 FPS	70 FPS
high	55 FPS	55 FPS
ultra	44 FPS	43 FPS

Open Ryzen 5 5600 Open Xeon W-2155

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	Ryzen 5 5600	Xeon W-2155
1080p
low	508 FPS	327 FPS
medium	419 FPS	282 FPS
high	351 FPS	260 FPS
ultra	310 FPS	232 FPS
1440p
low	447 FPS	291 FPS
medium	375 FPS	253 FPS
high	323 FPS	236 FPS
ultra	277 FPS	206 FPS
4K
low	313 FPS	229 FPS
medium	268 FPS	202 FPS
high	243 FPS	192 FPS
ultra	209 FPS	163 FPS

Open Ryzen 5 5600 Open Xeon W-2155

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	Ryzen 5 5600	Xeon W-2155
1080p
low	539 FPS	521 FPS
medium	526 FPS	521 FPS
high	483 FPS	521 FPS
ultra	414 FPS	521 FPS
1440p
low	539 FPS	521 FPS
medium	434 FPS	521 FPS
high	396 FPS	521 FPS
ultra	339 FPS	521 FPS
4K
low	371 FPS	508 FPS
medium	298 FPS	426 FPS
high	255 FPS	379 FPS
ultra	197 FPS	312 FPS

Open Ryzen 5 5600 Open Xeon W-2155

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	Ryzen 5 5600	Xeon W-2155
1080p
low	539 FPS	521 FPS
medium	539 FPS	521 FPS
high	539 FPS	521 FPS
ultra	539 FPS	521 FPS
1440p
low	539 FPS	521 FPS
medium	539 FPS	521 FPS
high	539 FPS	521 FPS
ultra	493 FPS	521 FPS
4K
low	501 FPS	521 FPS
medium	448 FPS	521 FPS
high	398 FPS	521 FPS
ultra	349 FPS	437 FPS

Open Ryzen 5 5600 Open Xeon W-2155

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Ryzen 5 5600 and Xeon W-2155

Ryzen 5 5600

The Ryzen 5 5600 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in 20 April 2022 (3 years ago). It is based on the Vermeer (2020−2025) architecture. It features 6 cores and 12 threads. Base frequency is 3.5 GHz, with boost up to 4.4 GHz. L3 cache: 32 MB (total). L2 cache: 512K (per core). Built on 7 nm process technology. Socket: AM4. Thermal design power (TDP): 65 Watt. Memory support: DDR4-3200. Passmark benchmark score: 21,550 points. Launch price was $299.

Xeon W-2155

The Xeon W-2155 is manufactured by Intel. It was released in 29 August 2017 (8 years ago). It is based on the Skylake (server) (2017−2018) architecture. It features 10 cores and 20 threads. Base frequency is 3.3 GHz, with boost up to 4.5 GHz. L3 cache: 13.75 MB (total). L2 cache: 1 MB (per core). Built on 14 nm process technology. Socket: LGA2066. Thermal design power (TDP): 140 Watt. Memory support: DDR4-1600, DDR4-1866, DDR4-2133, DDR4-2400, DDR4-2666. Passmark benchmark score: 20,858 points. Launch price was $1,440.

⚡

Processing Power

The Ryzen 5 5600 packs 6 cores / 12 threads, while the Xeon W-2155 offers 10 cores / 20 threads — the Xeon W-2155 has 4 more cores. Boost clocks reach 4.4 GHz on the Ryzen 5 5600 versus 4.5 GHz on the Xeon W-2155 — a 2.2% clock advantage for the Xeon W-2155 (base: 3.5 GHz vs 3.3 GHz). The Ryzen 5 5600 uses the Vermeer (2020−2025) architecture (7 nm), while the Xeon W-2155 uses Skylake (server) (2017−2018) (14 nm). In PassMark, the Ryzen 5 5600 scores 21,550 against the Xeon W-2155's 20,858 — a 3.3% lead for the Ryzen 5 5600. L3 cache: 32 MB (total) on the Ryzen 5 5600 vs 13.75 MB (total) on the Xeon W-2155.

Feature	Ryzen 5 5600	Xeon W-2155
Cores / Threads	6 / 12	10 / 20+67%
Boost Clock	4.4 GHz	4.5 GHz+2%
Base Clock	3.5 GHz+6%	3.3 GHz
L3 Cache	32 MB (total)+133%	13.75 MB (total)
L2 Cache	512K (per core)	1 MB (per core)+100%
Process	7 nm-50%	14 nm
Architecture	Vermeer (2020−2025)	Skylake (server) (2017−2018)
PassMark	21,550+3%	20,858
Cinebench R23 Multi	11,077	—
Geekbench 6 Single	2,052	—
Geekbench 6 Multi	8,600	—

🧠

Memory & Platform

The Ryzen 5 5600 uses the AM4 socket (PCIe 4.0), while the Xeon W-2155 uses LGA2066 (PCIe 3.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard.

Feature	Ryzen 5 5600	Xeon W-2155
Socket	AM4	LGA2066
PCIe Generation	PCIe 4.0+33%	PCIe 3.0
Max RAM Speed	DDR4-3200	—
Max RAM Capacity	128 GB	—
RAM Channels	2	—
ECC Support	Yes	—
PCIe Lanes	24	—

🔧

Advanced Features

Virtualization: AMD-V (Ryzen 5 5600) / not specified (Xeon W-2155). Primary use case: Ryzen 5 5600 targets Desktop.

Feature	Ryzen 5 5600	Xeon W-2155
Integrated GPU	No	—
Unlocked	Yes	—
AVX-512	No	—
Virtualization	AMD-V	—
Target Use	Desktop	—

💰

Value Analysis

The Ryzen 5 5600 launched at $199 MSRP, while the Xeon W-2155 debuted at $1440. On MSRP ($199 vs $1440), the Ryzen 5 5600 is $1241 cheaper. In terms of value on MSRP (PassMark points per dollar), the Ryzen 5 5600 delivers 108.3 pts/$ vs 14.5 pts/$ for the Xeon W-2155 — making the Ryzen 5 5600 the 152.8% better value option.