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 5600X

2020

Why buy it

✅Better for gaming: +29.2% higher average FPS across 4 shared CPU benchmark tests.
✅+166.7% larger total L3 cache (32 MB vs 12 MB).
✅100+% more PCIe lanes (24 vs 0) for storage and expansion-heavy builds.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark per dollar, at 73.1 vs 103.8 PassMark/$ ($299 MSRP vs $118 MSRP).
❌4233.3% higher power demand at 65W vs 1.5W.

Xeon W-10855M

2020

Why buy it

✅Costs $181 less on MSRP ($118 MSRP vs $299 MSRP).
✅Delivers 42.1% more PassMark for each dollar spent, at 103.8 vs 73.1 PassMark/$ ($118 MSRP vs $299 MSRP).
✅Draws 2W instead of 65W, a 64W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Worse for gaming: lower average FPS than Ryzen 5 5600X across 4 shared CPU benchmark tests.
❌Lower PassMark (12,249 vs 21,845).
❌Smaller total L3 cache (12 MB vs 32 MB).

Ryzen 5 5600X

2020

Xeon W-10855M

2020

Why buy it

✅Better for gaming: +29.2% higher average FPS across 4 shared CPU benchmark tests.
✅+166.7% larger total L3 cache (32 MB vs 12 MB).
✅100+% more PCIe lanes (24 vs 0) for storage and expansion-heavy builds.

Why buy it

✅Costs $181 less on MSRP ($118 MSRP vs $299 MSRP).
✅Delivers 42.1% more PassMark for each dollar spent, at 103.8 vs 73.1 PassMark/$ ($118 MSRP vs $299 MSRP).
✅Draws 2W instead of 65W, a 64W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark per dollar, at 73.1 vs 103.8 PassMark/$ ($299 MSRP vs $118 MSRP).
❌4233.3% higher power demand at 65W vs 1.5W.

Trade-offs

❌Worse for gaming: lower average FPS than Ryzen 5 5600X across 4 shared CPU benchmark tests.
❌Lower PassMark (12,249 vs 21,845).
❌Smaller total L3 cache (12 MB vs 32 MB).

Quick Answers

So, is Ryzen 5 5600X better than Xeon W-10855M?

Not in a simple one-size-fits-all way. Xeon W-10855M makes more sense for workstation-style multi-core throughput, while Ryzen 5 5600X is the better mainstream desktop choice for gaming, platform cost, and day-to-day practicality.

Which one is better for gaming?

If gaming is the priority, Ryzen 5 5600X is the better pick here. According to our tests, it delivers 29.2% more average FPS across 4 shared CPU game tests.

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

For streaming, content creation, and heavier multitasking, Ryzen 5 5600X is the better fit. You are getting 78.3% better PassMark, backed by 6 cores and 12 threads. It also carries the larger cache pool with 166.7% larger total L3 cache (32 MB vs 12 MB).

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

Ryzen 5 5600X is the smarter buy by a wide margin for any fresh desktop build. Ryzen 5 5600X is 153.4% more expensive on MSRP at $299 MSRP versus $118 MSRP, and it gives you a 29.2% average FPS lead across 4 shared CPU game tests in our data. Xeon W-10855M only looks good on raw value math because it is a cheap legacy laptop CPU, not because it is a serious desktop gaming option. It simply cannot keep up with modern games, especially when the gap is already 29.2% in the shared gaming data.

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

Ryzen 5 5600X is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting 166.7% larger total L3 cache (32 MB vs 12 MB) and more multi-core headroom with 6 cores / 12 threads instead of 6/12. 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 5600X Benchmark Check

Xeon W-10855M Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	Ryzen 5 5600X	Xeon W-10855M
1080p
low	203 FPS	275 FPS
medium	174 FPS	243 FPS
high	140 FPS	204 FPS
ultra	107 FPS	175 FPS
1440p
low	169 FPS	235 FPS
medium	141 FPS	187 FPS
high	113 FPS	153 FPS
ultra	86 FPS	135 FPS
4K
low	85 FPS	163 FPS
medium	76 FPS	132 FPS
high	60 FPS	102 FPS
ultra	47 FPS	89 FPS

Open Ryzen 5 5600X Open Xeon W-10855M

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	Ryzen 5 5600X	Xeon W-10855M
1080p
low	464 FPS	306 FPS
medium	387 FPS	280 FPS
high	324 FPS	254 FPS
ultra	291 FPS	221 FPS
1440p
low	397 FPS	300 FPS
medium	334 FPS	245 FPS
high	290 FPS	225 FPS
ultra	253 FPS	194 FPS
4K
low	263 FPS	251 FPS
medium	226 FPS	207 FPS
high	205 FPS	191 FPS
ultra	171 FPS	159 FPS

Open Ryzen 5 5600X Open Xeon W-10855M

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	Ryzen 5 5600X	Xeon W-10855M
1080p
low	546 FPS	306 FPS
medium	473 FPS	306 FPS
high	432 FPS	306 FPS
ultra	358 FPS	306 FPS
1440p
low	508 FPS	306 FPS
medium	413 FPS	306 FPS
high	375 FPS	306 FPS
ultra	312 FPS	306 FPS
4K
low	348 FPS	306 FPS
medium	292 FPS	306 FPS
high	255 FPS	306 FPS
ultra	199 FPS	294 FPS

Open Ryzen 5 5600X Open Xeon W-10855M

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	Ryzen 5 5600X	Xeon W-10855M
1080p
low	546 FPS	306 FPS
medium	546 FPS	306 FPS
high	546 FPS	306 FPS
ultra	546 FPS	306 FPS
1440p
low	546 FPS	306 FPS
medium	546 FPS	306 FPS
high	546 FPS	306 FPS
ultra	524 FPS	306 FPS
4K
low	529 FPS	306 FPS
medium	484 FPS	306 FPS
high	435 FPS	306 FPS
ultra	379 FPS	306 FPS

Open Ryzen 5 5600X Open Xeon W-10855M

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Ryzen 5 5600X and Xeon W-10855M

Ryzen 5 5600X

The Ryzen 5 5600X is manufactured by AMD. It was released in 5 November 2020 (5 years ago). It is based on the Vermeer (Zen 3) (2020−2022) architecture. It features 6 cores and 12 threads. Base frequency is 3.7 GHz, with boost up to 4.6 GHz. L3 cache: 32 MB. L2 cache: 512K (per core). Built on 7 nm, 12 nm process technology. Socket: AM4. Thermal design power (TDP): 65 Watt. Memory support: DDR4. Passmark benchmark score: 21,845 points. Launch price was $299.

Xeon W-10855M

The Xeon W-10855M is manufactured by Intel. It was released in 2015-01-01. It is based on the Comet Lake-H (2020) architecture. It features 6 cores and 12 threads. Base frequency is 2.8 GHz, with boost up to 4.9 GHz. L3 cache: 12 MB. L2 cache: 1.5 MB. Built on 14 nm process technology. Socket: BGA1440. Thermal design power (TDP): 45 Watt. Memory support: DDR4. Passmark benchmark score: 12,249 points. Launch price was $800.

⚡

Processing Power

Both the Ryzen 5 5600X and Xeon W-10855M share an identical 6-core/12-thread configuration. Boost clocks reach 4.6 GHz on the Ryzen 5 5600X versus 4.9 GHz on the Xeon W-10855M — a 6.3% clock advantage for the Xeon W-10855M (base: 3.7 GHz vs 2.8 GHz). The Ryzen 5 5600X uses the Vermeer (Zen 3) (2020−2022) architecture (7 nm, 12 nm), while the Xeon W-10855M uses Comet Lake-H (2020) (14 nm). In PassMark, the Ryzen 5 5600X scores 21,845 against the Xeon W-10855M's 12,249 — a 56.3% lead for the Ryzen 5 5600X. L3 cache: 32 MB on the Ryzen 5 5600X vs 12 MB on the Xeon W-10855M.

Feature	Ryzen 5 5600X	Xeon W-10855M
Cores / Threads	6 / 12	6 / 12
Boost Clock	4.6 GHz	4.9 GHz+7%
Base Clock	3.7 GHz+32%	2.8 GHz
L3 Cache	32 MB+167%	12 MB
L2 Cache	512K (per core)	1.5 MB+200%
Process	7 nm, 12 nm-50%	14 nm
Architecture	Vermeer (Zen 3) (2020−2022)	Comet Lake-H (2020)
PassMark	21,845+78%	12,249

🧠

Memory & Platform

The Ryzen 5 5600X uses the AM4 socket (PCIe 4.0), while the Xeon W-10855M uses BGA1440 (PCIe 5.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard.

Feature	Ryzen 5 5600X	Xeon W-10855M
Socket	AM4	BGA1440
PCIe Generation	PCIe 4.0	PCIe 5.0+25%
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 5600X) / not specified (Xeon W-10855M). Primary use case: Ryzen 5 5600X targets Desktop.

Feature	Ryzen 5 5600X	Xeon W-10855M
Integrated GPU	No	—
Unlocked	Yes	—
AVX-512	No	—
Virtualization	AMD-V	—
Target Use	Desktop	—

💰

Value Analysis

The Ryzen 5 5600X launched at $299 MSRP, while the Xeon W-10855M debuted at $118. On MSRP ($299 vs $118), the Xeon W-10855M is $181 cheaper. In terms of value on MSRP (PassMark points per dollar), the Ryzen 5 5600X delivers 73.1 pts/$ vs 103.8 pts/$ for the Xeon W-10855M — making the Xeon W-10855M the 34.8% better value option.