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 5500U

2021

Why buy it

✅Better for gaming: +6.9% higher average FPS across 50 shared CPU benchmark tests.
✅+100% larger total L3 cache (8 MB vs 4 MB).
✅Draws 15W instead of 28W, a 13W reduction.
✅100+% more PCIe lanes (12 vs 0) for storage and expansion-heavy builds.
✅Integrated graphics onboard with AMD Radeon Graphics (Vega 7), while Ryzen AI 5 330 needs a discrete GPU.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark (12,736 vs 12,794).
❌Older platform position on FP6 with DDR4, while Ryzen AI 5 330 moves to FP8 and DDR5.

Ryzen AI 5 330

2025

Why buy it

✅+0.5% higher PassMark.
✅Newer platform on FP8 with DDR5 support instead of FP6 and DDR4.

Trade-offs

❌Worse for gaming: lower average FPS than Ryzen 5 5500U across 50 shared CPU benchmark tests.
❌Smaller total L3 cache (4 MB vs 8 MB).
❌Launch MSRP is still $350 MSRP, while Ryzen 5 5500U mostly shows up through inconsistent older-market listings.
❌86.7% higher power demand at 28W vs 15W.
❌No integrated graphics, while Ryzen 5 5500U can still boot and troubleshoot without a discrete GPU.

Ryzen 5 5500U

2021

Ryzen AI 5 330

2025

Why buy it

✅Better for gaming: +6.9% higher average FPS across 50 shared CPU benchmark tests.
✅+100% larger total L3 cache (8 MB vs 4 MB).
✅Draws 15W instead of 28W, a 13W reduction.
✅100+% more PCIe lanes (12 vs 0) for storage and expansion-heavy builds.
✅Integrated graphics onboard with AMD Radeon Graphics (Vega 7), while Ryzen AI 5 330 needs a discrete GPU.

Why buy it

✅+0.5% higher PassMark.
✅Newer platform on FP8 with DDR5 support instead of FP6 and DDR4.

Trade-offs

❌Lower PassMark (12,736 vs 12,794).
❌Older platform position on FP6 with DDR4, while Ryzen AI 5 330 moves to FP8 and DDR5.

Trade-offs

❌Worse for gaming: lower average FPS than Ryzen 5 5500U across 50 shared CPU benchmark tests.
❌Smaller total L3 cache (4 MB vs 8 MB).
❌Launch MSRP is still $350 MSRP, while Ryzen 5 5500U mostly shows up through inconsistent older-market listings.
❌86.7% higher power demand at 28W vs 15W.
❌No integrated graphics, while Ryzen 5 5500U can still boot and troubleshoot without a discrete GPU.

Quick Answers

So, is Ryzen AI 5 330 better than Ryzen 5 5500U?

It depends on what matters more to you. For gaming, Ryzen 5 5500U is ahead with a 6.9% average FPS lead across 50 shared CPU game tests in our data. For rendering, compiling, streaming, and heavier multitasking, Ryzen AI 5 330 pulls ahead with 0.5% better PassMark. Ryzen 5 5500U also has the bigger cache pool with 100% larger total L3 cache (8 MB vs 4 MB).

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

For streaming, content creation, and heavier multitasking, Ryzen AI 5 330 is the better fit. You are getting 0.5% better PassMark, backed by 4 cores and 8 threads.

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

Ryzen AI 5 330 is the smarter buy today. Ryzen AI 5 330 is at an unclear MSRP at $350 MSRP versus unclear MSRP, and it gives you 0.5% better PassMark. The trade-off is that Ryzen 5 5500U is still the better pure gaming CPU with a 6.9% average FPS lead across 50 shared CPU game tests in our data. It is also 100.0% better value on MSRP (36.6 vs 0.0 PassMark/$), 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 AI 5 330 is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting a newer CPU generation (2025 vs 2021), a healthier platform with FP8 and DDR5 instead of FP6, and more multi-core headroom with 4 cores / 8 threads instead of 6/12. That should give you a better long-term upgrade path for motherboard, RAM, and future CPU swaps.

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 5500U Benchmark Check

Ryzen AI 5 330 Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	Ryzen 5 5500U	Ryzen AI 5 330
1080p
low	179 FPS	169 FPS
medium	146 FPS	136 FPS
high	118 FPS	110 FPS
ultra	93 FPS	88 FPS
1440p
low	151 FPS	142 FPS
medium	122 FPS	113 FPS
high	97 FPS	91 FPS
ultra	76 FPS	74 FPS
4K
low	71 FPS	79 FPS
medium	61 FPS	67 FPS
high	48 FPS	53 FPS
ultra	38 FPS	42 FPS

Open Ryzen 5 5500U Open Ryzen AI 5 330

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	Ryzen 5 5500U	Ryzen AI 5 330
1080p
low	160 FPS	168 FPS
medium	137 FPS	142 FPS
high	125 FPS	128 FPS
ultra	99 FPS	111 FPS
1440p
low	137 FPS	142 FPS
medium	119 FPS	122 FPS
high	111 FPS	114 FPS
ultra	91 FPS	97 FPS
4K
low	118 FPS	101 FPS
medium	106 FPS	90 FPS
high	97 FPS	77 FPS
ultra	75 FPS	65 FPS

Open Ryzen 5 5500U Open Ryzen AI 5 330

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	Ryzen 5 5500U	Ryzen AI 5 330
1080p
low	318 FPS	320 FPS
medium	318 FPS	320 FPS
high	318 FPS	320 FPS
ultra	318 FPS	320 FPS
1440p
low	318 FPS	320 FPS
medium	318 FPS	320 FPS
high	318 FPS	320 FPS
ultra	318 FPS	320 FPS
4K
low	318 FPS	320 FPS
medium	318 FPS	320 FPS
high	300 FPS	286 FPS
ultra	240 FPS	226 FPS

Open Ryzen 5 5500U Open Ryzen AI 5 330

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	Ryzen 5 5500U	Ryzen AI 5 330
1080p
low	318 FPS	320 FPS
medium	318 FPS	320 FPS
high	318 FPS	320 FPS
ultra	318 FPS	320 FPS
1440p
low	318 FPS	320 FPS
medium	318 FPS	320 FPS
high	318 FPS	320 FPS
ultra	318 FPS	320 FPS
4K
low	318 FPS	320 FPS
medium	318 FPS	320 FPS
high	318 FPS	320 FPS
ultra	284 FPS	320 FPS

Open Ryzen 5 5500U Open Ryzen AI 5 330

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Ryzen 5 5500U and Ryzen AI 5 330

Ryzen 5 5500U

The Ryzen 5 5500U is manufactured by AMD. It was released in 12 January 2021 (4 years ago). It is based on the Lucienne-U (Zen 2) (2021) architecture. It features 6 cores and 12 threads. Base frequency is 2.1 GHz, with boost up to 4 GHz. L3 cache: 8 MB (total). L2 cache: 512K (per core). Built on 7 nm process technology. Socket: FP6. Thermal design power (TDP): 25 Watt. Memory support: DDR4. Passmark benchmark score: 12,736 points. Launch price was $149.

Ryzen AI 5 330

The Ryzen AI 5 330 is manufactured by AMD. It was released in 16 July 2025 (less than a year ago). It is based on the Krackan Point 2 (2025) architecture. It features 4 cores and 8 threads. Base frequency is 2 GHz, with boost up to 4.5 GHz. L3 cache: 4 MB. L2 cache: 1 MB (per core). Built on 4 nm process technology. Socket: FP8. Thermal design power (TDP): 28 Watt. Memory support: DDR5, LPDDR5X. Passmark benchmark score: 12,794 points. Launch price was $149.

⚡

Processing Power

The Ryzen 5 5500U packs 6 cores / 12 threads, while the Ryzen AI 5 330 offers 4 cores / 8 threads — the Ryzen 5 5500U has 2 more cores. Boost clocks reach 4 GHz on the Ryzen 5 5500U versus 4.5 GHz on the Ryzen AI 5 330 — a 11.8% clock advantage for the Ryzen AI 5 330 (base: 2.1 GHz vs 2 GHz). The Ryzen 5 5500U uses the Lucienne-U (Zen 2) (2021) architecture (7 nm), while the Ryzen AI 5 330 uses Krackan Point 2 (2025) (4 nm). In PassMark, the Ryzen 5 5500U scores 12,736 against the Ryzen AI 5 330's 12,794 — a 0.5% lead for the Ryzen AI 5 330. L3 cache: 8 MB (total) on the Ryzen 5 5500U vs 4 MB on the Ryzen AI 5 330.

Feature	Ryzen 5 5500U	Ryzen AI 5 330
Cores / Threads	6 / 12+50%	4 / 8
Boost Clock	4 GHz	4.5 GHz+13%
Base Clock	2.1 GHz+5%	2 GHz
L3 Cache	8 MB (total)+100%	4 MB
L2 Cache	512K (per core)	1 MB (per core)+100%
Process	7 nm	4 nm-43%
Architecture	Lucienne-U (Zen 2) (2021)	Krackan Point 2 (2025)
PassMark	12,736	12,794
Cinebench R23 Multi	6,900	—
Geekbench 6 Single	1,100	—
Geekbench 6 Multi	5,200	—

🧠

Memory & Platform

The Ryzen 5 5500U uses the FP6 socket (PCIe 3.0), while the Ryzen AI 5 330 uses FP8 (PCIe 4.0) — making them incompatible on the same motherboard.

Feature	Ryzen 5 5500U	Ryzen AI 5 330
Socket	FP6	FP8
PCIe Generation	PCIe 3.0	PCIe 4.0+33%
Max RAM Speed	DDR4 3200 MHz	—
Max RAM Capacity	64 GB	—
RAM Channels	2	—
ECC Support	No	—
PCIe Lanes	12	—

🔧

Advanced Features

Virtualization: true (Ryzen 5 5500U) / not specified (Ryzen AI 5 330). The Ryzen 5 5500U includes integrated graphics (AMD Radeon Graphics (Vega 7)), while the Ryzen AI 5 330 requires a dedicated GPU. Primary use case: Ryzen 5 5500U targets Mobile.