AMD’s two newest budget processors, the Ryzen 5 5500F and Ryzen 5 7500, are finally on sale in the US, but both cost $20 more than AMD’s own suggested prices. Here’s what changed, how the two chips differ, and whether it’s worth waiting for the price to settle.
Launch prices vs. what you pay today
AMD announced the Ryzen 5 5500F at $99 and the Ryzen 5 7500 at $190. At launch, the only US retailer selling either chip is Amazon, which lists them at $120 and $210 respectively. Both listings are sold and shipped by Amazon itself, not third-party resellers, so this isn’t simple scalping. It’s the going rate until more stores get stock.
Ryzen 5 5500F: more than a renamed Ryzen 5 5500
The names are almost identical, but the chips are not. The long-running Ryzen 5 5500, a fixture on Amazon’s best-seller list at around $90, is built on AMD’s Cezanne silicon. The new Ryzen 5 5500F uses Vermeer instead, the same family as the Ryzen 5000 desktop chips that don’t have integrated graphics.
Both are six-core, 12-thread Zen 3 processors, but the 5500F adds PCIe 4.0 support (the 5500 is limited to PCIe 3.0) and a higher 4.4 GHz boost clock, up from 4.2 GHz. Early indications point to roughly 5% to 10% better gaming performance, which would help the chip close the gap with Intel’s budget processors. As an “F” model, it has no integrated graphics, so you’ll need a dedicated graphics card.
Ryzen 5 7500: a Ryzen 5 7500F with graphics
The Ryzen 5 7500 is easier to explain: it’s the popular Ryzen 5 7500F with integrated Radeon graphics switched on. You get six Zen 4 cores and 12 threads, a 5 GHz boost clock, PCIe 5.0 support and a 65 W TDP. Because it uses the AM5 platform, it only supports DDR5 memory. Both new chips ship with AMD’s Wraith Stealth cooler in the box.
Key specs at a glance
Ryzen 5 5500F: Zen 3 (Vermeer) · 6 cores / 12 threads · up to 4.4 GHz · PCIe 4.0 · DDR4 (AM4) · no integrated graphics · 65 W · MSRP $99, currently $120
Ryzen 5 7500: Zen 4 · 6 cores / 12 threads · up to 5.0 GHz · PCIe 5.0 · DDR5 only (AM5) · integrated Radeon graphics · 65 W · MSRP $190, currently $210
Why AMD is doubling down on older platforms
Zen 3 is now several years old, but it has found a second life as memory prices keep climbing. AM4 motherboards run on DDR4, which costs far less than DDR5 right now, so budget builders can save more on RAM than they would on a newer CPU. The Ryzen 5 5500F follows AMD’s re-release of the Ryzen 7 5800X3D earlier this year, which was aimed at the same problem. For people already on AM4, a drop-in upgrade avoids replacing the motherboard and memory altogether.
Should you buy now or wait?
Our advice is simple: unless you need a CPU this week, wait. A $20 premium sounds small, but on a $99 processor it’s a 21% markup, and budget builds are exactly where every dollar counts.
We’ve seen this pattern before. Earlier this year, AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 briefly appeared on Amazon at $1,000, $100 over its MSRP, before falling back to its $899 list price once other retailers stocked it. Prices on the 5500F and 7500 are likely to follow the same path once Newegg and Micro Center list them.
Buy the Ryzen 5 5500F if you already own an AM4 motherboard and DDR4 memory and want a cheap, meaningful upgrade, ideally at or near $99.
Buy the Ryzen 5 7500 if you’re starting a new AM5 build and want integrated graphics as a backup, or you’re building a PC for office work, study or light gaming without a dedicated graphics card.
Skip both for now if the $20 premium pushes your build over budget. Patience will likely save you that money within a few weeks.
Retail pricing was first reported by Tom’s Hardware. Prices were correct at the time of writing and may change. For more updates like this, follow our tech news coverage.
