AMD A10-9700 vs Intel Pentium Gold G5600 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a remarkably close contest between the AMD A10-9700 and the Intel Pentium Gold G5600. Across all five Cinebench workloads tracked in the database, the AMD part takes the win, but by margins that are almost imperceptible in real-world terms. The largest gap appears in the Cinebench R20 single-core test, where the A10-9700 scores 178 against the Pentium's 175, a delta of 1.7%. That is the widest spread in the entire comparison, and it still amounts to just three points on the scale.

In the multi-core workloads, the pattern holds. The Cinebench R15 multi-core test shows the A10-9700 at 302 and the Pentium Gold G5600 at 299, a 1% advantage for AMD. The Cinebench R20 multi-core result repeats that story: 1261 for the A10-9700 versus 1247 for the Pentium, a 1.1% edge. The Cinebench R23 multi-core benchmark, which is the most demanding of the set, sees the A10-9700 post 3004 against the Pentium's 2971, again a 1.1% lead. Single-core in R23 follows the same trajectory: 424 for AMD versus 419 for Intel, a 1.2% margin.

What stands out is the consistency. The AMD A10-9700 wins all five head-to-head matchups, but the average benchmark score tells a slightly different story. The A10-9700 carries an average score of 1034 across its tested workloads, while the Pentium Gold G5600 sits at 1022. That 12-point gap in the aggregate is small enough that the two processors occupy the same 28th percentile among all CPUs in the database. In practical terms, these are near-identical performers, with the AMD chip holding a razor-thin but uniform advantage.

The nearest rivals for each chip further contextualize the results. The A10-9700's closest competitor is the AMD A12-9800E, which scores 1033, a 0.1% delta. The Intel Pentium G4560 also sits nearby at 1031, just 0.3% behind the A10-9700. For the Pentium Gold G5600, the nearest rival is the Intel Core i7-975 at 1023, a 0.1% gap, with the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 2500U and the AMD Phenom II X6 1075T both at 1024, each about 0.1% to 0.2% off. These proximity figures underscore how tightly packed this performance tier is; the A10-9700 and G5600 are not outliers in either direction.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data offers a clear but narrow verdict: the AMD A10-9700 wins in every recorded workload. The five head-to-head tests, spanning Cinebench R15, R20, and R23 in both single-core and multi-core variants, all favor the AMD part. The margins range from 1% to 1.7%, so the AMD chip does not dominate in any single metric, but it never loses one either.

For users prioritizing multi-threaded applications, the A10-9700's four physical cores give it a structural advantage that shows up consistently. In the R23 multi-core test, the 33-point lead (3004 versus 2971) is the largest absolute margin in the dataset. The R20 multi-core test similarly favors AMD by 14 points (1261 versus 1247). These are the sorts of workloads, such as video encoding or 3D rendering, where the extra cores can matter, and the data reflects that edge.

Single-core performance is a closer call. The A10-9700 wins both single-core tests, but the R20 single-core margin of 1.7% is the biggest relative gap anywhere, while the R23 single-core margin shrinks to 1.2%. For lightly threaded tasks like web browsing or office productivity, the difference is effectively negligible. The Pentium Gold G5600's higher base clock of 3.90 GHz against the A10-9700's 3.50 GHz does not translate into a win in the recorded tests, but it keeps the Intel part competitive.

The Intel part does hold advantages outside raw compute benchmarks. It supports ECC memory, a feature absent from the AMD A10-9700, and it offers 16 PCIe Gen 3 lanes from the CPU compared to the AMD's 8 lanes. For users building a system around a discrete GPU or multiple NVMe drives, that extra PCIe lane count could be a deciding factor. The Pentium also draws less power, with a 54 W TDP versus the A10-9700's 65 W, though the database does not include thermal or efficiency benchmarks to quantify the impact.

Architecture Differences

The two processors come from fundamentally different design philosophies. The AMD A10-9700 is built on the Excavator architecture, codenamed Bristol Ridge, using a 28 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It packs 3,100 million transistors into a 250 mm² die. The Intel Pentium Gold G5600 uses the Coffee Lake architecture on Intel's 14 nm process, with a much smaller 126 mm² die. The process node difference of 14 nm versus 28 nm explains much of the power and efficiency gap, even if the benchmark scores are similar.

Core counts differ significantly. The A10-9700 has four physical cores and four threads, while the Pentium Gold G5600 has two physical cores and four threads via Hyper-Threading. The AMD part's extra physical cores help it edge ahead in multi-core tests, but the Intel part's higher base clock of 3.90 GHz (the Pentium has no boost clock listed) compensates in single-threaded scenarios. The A10-9700 has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 3.80 GHz.

Cache hierarchies also diverge. The AMD A10-9700 has 320 KB of L1 cache and 2 MB of L2 cache, with no L3 cache present. The Intel Pentium Gold G5600 has 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and a shared 4 MB L3 cache. The Intel part's L3 cache is a notable advantage for workloads that repeatedly access a working set of data, even if the benchmark results do not show a decisive benefit.

Memory support is similar on paper: both support DDR4 in dual-channel mode with a theoretical bandwidth of 38.4 GB/s. However, the AMD A10-9700 does not support ECC memory, while the Intel Pentium Gold G5600 does. PCIe connectivity also differs: the AMD part offers 8 PCIe Gen 3 lanes from the CPU, while the Intel part offers 16. Both have integrated graphics, with the AMD side using Radeon R7 and the Intel side using UHD Graphics 630, though the database does not include graphics benchmarks for either.

The sockets are incompatible, as expected: the A10-9700 uses AMD Socket AM4, and the Pentium Gold G5600 uses Intel Socket 1151. Both are listed as end-of-life products, with the AMD part released in July 2017 and the Intel part in April 2018. Neither has an unlocked multiplier. The Intel part has a launch MSRP of $86; no launch MSRP is recorded for the AMD part.

The Verdict

The data points to a straightforward conclusion: the AMD A10-9700 is the slightly faster processor in every benchmark recorded, but the differences are so small that they would be difficult to notice outside controlled testing. The A10-9700 wins all five head-to-head matchups, with deltas ranging from 1% to 1.7%. Its average benchmark score of 1034 is 12 points higher than the Pentium Gold G5600's 1022, and both chips sit at the 28th percentile among all CPUs.

Users who prioritize multi-core performance should lean toward the AMD A10-9700. Its four physical cores deliver consistent, if modest, wins in Cinebench R15, R20, and R23 multi-core tests. The largest margin in the dataset, the 33-point lead in R23 multi-core, comes from this chip. For rendering or encoding workloads that scale with core count, the AMD part is the safer choice.

Users who need ECC memory support or more PCIe lanes should pick the Intel Pentium Gold G5600. The database shows that the Pentium supports ECC memory, a feature the A10-9700 lacks, and offers 16 PCIe Gen 3 lanes versus the AMD's 8. These are not performance metrics, but they are real functional differences that can matter for specific builds, such as a low-cost NAS or a workstation with multiple expansion cards.

The Intel part also has a lower TDP of 54 W against 65 W for the AMD part, which could matter in compact or passively cooled systems, though the database does not quantify thermal performance. The Pentium's launch MSRP is $86, providing a reference point for its market positioning.

In short, the AMD A10-9700 is the benchmark winner, but the Intel Pentium Gold G5600 is the more feature-complete package for certain use cases. The recorded data does not support declaring a decisive victor; it supports a choice based on platform needs rather than raw compute scores.

FAQ

Q: Which processor has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD A10-9700 has an average benchmark score of 1034, while the Intel Pentium Gold G5600 has 1022, a 12-point difference.

Q: Does the Intel Pentium Gold G5600 win any benchmarks in the head-to-head data?

A: No. The AMD A10-9700 wins all five head-to-head tests, with deltas from 1% to 1.7%.

Q: What is the core and thread count for each processor?

A: The AMD A10-9700 has 4 cores and 4 threads. The Intel Pentium Gold G5600 has 2 cores and 4 threads.

Q: Which processor supports ECC memory?

A: The Intel Pentium Gold G5600 supports ECC memory. The AMD A10-9700 does not.

Q: How do the PCIe lane counts compare?

A: The Intel Pentium Gold G5600 has 16 PCIe Gen 3 lanes from the CPU, while the AMD A10-9700 has 8 PCIe Gen 3 lanes.

Q: Are both processors currently in production?

A: No. Both are listed as end-of-life products. The AMD A10-9700 was released in July 2017, and the Intel Pentium Gold G5600 was released in April 2018.