AMD Ryzen 5 8500G, 2C+4c/12T, 3.50-5.00GHz, boxed

After reviewing the Ryzen 7 8700G and the Ryzen 5 8600G as these new Zen 4 processors with RDNA3 integrated graphics, the latest AMD 8000G series CPU in the Linux benchmarking lab at Phoronix is the Ryzen 5 8500G. The Ryzen 5 8500G is a 6-core / 12-thread processor with RDNA3 graphics that retails for just $179 USD. Here's a look at how it's performing against other AMD and Intel processors on Ubuntu Linux. The Ryzen 5 8500G ends up being decent on the GPU side but making me genuinely excited is the Zen 4C prospects in the low-power space for AI workloads at the edge, low power servers, and other different deployments for great low-power performance. Under load this AVX-512 wielding budget desktop processor was typically pulling 50 Watts or less!

AMD Ryzen 5 8500G is the most affordable Socket AM5 processor that's available in the retail channel, making it the baseline for this platform, and the Zen 4 microarchitecture that it's based on. A 6-core processor with integrated graphics, the 8500G is intended to cover the widest demographic in the desktop PC market. Those who shop for processors around the $150-mark could otherwise end up getting either the current Core i3 SKU, or the cheapest Core i5 from the previous generation. PCs powered by the Ryzen 5 8500G are intended mainly for daily-driver productivity workloads with higher resolution displays, and a little richer non-gaming content, thanks to its feature-packed integrated graphics. The processor also debuts AMD's take on heterogeneous multicore (Hybrid).