AMD Ryzen 5 5500F and Ryzen 5 7500: Price, Specs and Release Date

AMD has added two new six-core desktop processors to its budget lineup: the Ryzen 5 5500F for Socket AM4 and the Ryzen 5 7500 for Socket AM5. Both carry a launch date of 10 September 2026 on AMD’s own spec pages, and AMD’s suggested e-tailer prices are $99 for the 5500F and $189 for the 7500. The two chips are now showing up at US retail, though early listings sit above those suggested prices.

What did AMD launch?

AMD did not hold a launch event for these parts. The 5500F and 7500 simply appeared in AMD’s processor catalogue with a launch date of 9/10/2026, and pricing followed shortly afterwards. The suggested e-tailer prices of $99 and $189 were confirmed by AMD to the trade press, as Wccftech and others reported in the days after the launch date.

Neither chip is built on a new architecture. The Ryzen 5 5500F is a Zen 3 part from the Ryzen 5000 family, while the Ryzen 5 7500 is a Zen 4 chip from the Ryzen 7000 family. What they add is new price points and feature mixes on both of AMD’s current desktop sockets, which matters at a time when builders are trying to hold total system cost down.

The positioning is clear from the spec sheets alone. The 5500F gives owners of older AM4 boards a cheap six-core drop-in upgrade that still runs on DDR4 memory. The 7500 gives new AM5 builders a lower-cost entry point than the Ryzen 5 7600 while keeping integrated graphics, which the existing Ryzen 5 7500F lacks.

How much do the Ryzen 5 5500F and Ryzen 5 7500 cost?

AMD’s suggested e-tailer prices (SEP) in the US are:

• Ryzen 5 5500F: $99
• Ryzen 5 7500: $189

Actual shelf prices are running higher at the start. On 24 September, Amazon’s US listing for the boxed Ryzen 5 5500F showed $118.85, roughly $20 above AMD’s suggestion. Tom’s Hardware reported a similar premium on the Ryzen 5 7500 when both chips first appeared at US retail. Launch premiums like this often shrink once more retailers get stock, but there is no guarantee, and AMD does not set retail prices.

European pricing has not been announced by AMD. Early retailer listings in Europe have been reported, but they vary by country and by boxed versus tray packaging, so it is too early to quote a reliable euro figure.

Ryzen 5 5500F specs

AMD’s product page lists the Ryzen 5 5500F with the former codename Vermeer, the chiplet design used across AMD’s mainstream desktop Ryzen 5000 processors. That detail matters: according to AMD’s spec sheet, the chip pairs a compute die built on TSMC’s 7nm FinFET process with a separate 12nm GlobalFoundries I/O die, and the platform provides PCIe 4.0.

• 6 cores, 12 threads (Zen 3)
• 3.0GHz base clock, up to 4.4GHz boost
• 3MB L2 cache, 16MB L3 cache
• 65W default TDP, 95°C maximum operating temperature
• Two dies in the package: a 74mm² compute die and a 125mm² I/O die
• PCIe 4.0 with 24 lanes total, 20 usable
• DDR4 up to 3,200MT/s in a two-DIMM configuration, up to 128GB
• Unlocked for overclocking
• No integrated graphics: a discrete graphics card is required
• Wraith Stealth cooler included

The “F” suffix follows AMD’s usual convention for chips without integrated graphics. Anyone building a new PC around a 5500F therefore needs to budget for a graphics card from day one.

Ryzen 5 7500 specs

The Ryzen 5 7500 uses the Zen 4 Raphael design that has powered the Ryzen 7000 desktop family since the AM5 platform launched. Its clocks and cache match the existing Ryzen 5 7500F, but the new chip adds a small integrated Radeon GPU.

• 6 cores, 12 threads (Zen 4)
• 3.7GHz base clock, up to 5.0GHz boost
• 6MB L2 cache, 32MB L3 cache
• 65W default TDP, 95°C maximum operating temperature
• Compute die on TSMC 5nm FinFET (71mm²), I/O die on TSMC 6nm FinFET (122mm²)
• PCIe 5.0 with 28 lanes total, 24 usable
• DDR5 up to 5,200MT/s with two modules, up to 128GB
• AMD Radeon Graphics with 2 graphics cores at 2,200MHz
• Supports AMD EXPO memory profiles, Precision Boost Overdrive and Curve Optimizer
• AVX-512 support listed among the instruction set extensions
• Wraith Stealth cooler included

Ryzen 5 5500F vs Ryzen 5 7500 vs 7500F vs 7600

The table below puts the two new chips next to the two Ryzen 5 7000 parts they sit closest to. All figures come from AMD’s product pages. Prices are only included where AMD’s suggested price for the new chips has been confirmed.

On paper, the Ryzen 5 7500 is effectively a Ryzen 5 7600 with 100MHz lower base and boost clocks, or a Ryzen 5 7500F with the graphics switched back on. That makes it a straightforward pick for anyone who wants a working display output before buying a graphics card, or who wants a fallback GPU for troubleshooting.

Which motherboards support them?

AMD lists the following chipsets as supported. As with any processor released years after a socket launched, older boards may need a BIOS update from the board maker before they recognise the new chip:

• Ryzen 5 5500F (AM4): X570, X470, X370, B550, B450, B350 and A520
• Ryzen 5 7500 (AM5): X870E, X870, X670E, X670, B850, B840, B650E, B650 and A620

Before swapping a 5500F into an older 300- or 400-series board, check the board maker’s CPU support list for a BIOS version that names the 5500F, and flash it while the old processor is still installed. That is the step most likely to trip up an AM4 upgrade.

AM4 or AM5: which one makes sense in 2026?

The two launches sit on very different platforms, and the right choice depends on what you already own.

If you already have an AM4 PC

The 5500F is aimed squarely at you. It reuses your motherboard and, just as importantly, your DDR4 memory. AMD used Computex 2026 to mark ten years of Socket AM4, and in its Computex 2026 blog post it described AM4 as having let gamers “upgrade over time without rebuilding their systems from scratch.” A six-core Zen 3 chip at $99 is exactly that kind of upgrade for anyone still on an early AM4 processor, assuming their board has a supporting BIOS.

The trade-offs are the ones you would expect from an older platform: DDR4 rather than DDR5, PCIe 4.0 rather than 5.0, and no path to newer AMD architectures on the same socket.

If you are building a new PC

The Ryzen 5 7500 puts you on AM5, the platform AMD says it will support through 2029. At Computex, AMD said it was “extending support for the Socket AM5 platform through 2029,” which leaves room for a later processor upgrade without changing the motherboard. The catch is that AM5 requires DDR5, so budget for a new memory kit alongside the processor and motherboard. The integrated graphics on the 7500 at least let you get a system running while you wait for a graphics card deal.

“We’re committed to giving gamers high-performance technologies with the flexibility to upgrade their systems over time. Ultimately, our goal is to deliver unmatched ownership experiences for players around the world.”

What memory do they need?

Memory is where the two chips differ most in practice.

• The 5500F uses DDR4. AMD rates it for DDR4-3200 with two modules (single- or dual-rank), DDR4-2933 with four single-rank modules and DDR4-2667 with four dual-rank modules.
• The 7500 uses DDR5. AMD rates it for DDR5-5200 with two modules and DDR5-3600 with four. It supports AMD EXPO, the one-click memory overclocking profile standard for AM5, so faster kits can run at their rated speed once EXPO is turned on in the BIOS.

If you plan to use faster memory with the 7500, AMD’s Ryzen memory compatibility list shows which kits it has validated at their rated speed and latency, and which support EXPO.

Who should buy the Ryzen 5 5500F or Ryzen 5 7500?

• Buy the 5500F if you have a working AM4 system with an older Ryzen processor and a discrete graphics card, and want the cheapest meaningful CPU upgrade that keeps your motherboard and DDR4 memory.
• Buy the 7500 if you are starting a new build, want to stay on a platform AMD has committed to through 2029, and value having integrated graphics as a backup or a stopgap.
• Look at the 7500F or 7600 instead if you can find either at a lower street price than the 7500. Their core counts and cache are identical; the 7500F lacks graphics and the 7600 is clocked 100MHz higher.
• Wait if you need to see independent performance data first. AMD has not published benchmark claims for either chip, so gaming and application results will come from third-party reviews.

What AMD hasn’t said yet

A few questions remain open, and it is worth being clear about them before buying:

• Performance claims: AMD has not published its own gaming or productivity figures for either processor, so there is no official AMD comparison against the Ryzen 5 7600 or against Intel chips.
• Regional pricing: the $99 and $189 figures are US suggested e-tailer prices. AMD has not issued official prices for Europe, the UK or other regions.
• Tray versions: AMD’s pages list both boxed and tray product IDs for each chip (100-100001905BOX and 100-000001905 for the 5500F, 100-100002264BOX and 100-000002264 for the 7500). Tray chips come without the Wraith Stealth cooler, and retailers may price them differently.
• Longevity of supply: AMD has not said how long either chip will stay in production, which matters most for the AM4 part.

If you are comparing listings, the product IDs above are the quickest way to confirm you are looking at the genuine new part rather than an older Ryzen 5 with a similar name.

Bottom line

The Ryzen 5 5500F and Ryzen 5 7500 are not new technology, but they fill real gaps. The 5500F gives the huge installed base of AM4 owners a $99 six-core upgrade with PCIe 4.0, and the 7500 gives new AM5 builds a lower-priced chip that still has integrated graphics. With launch listings currently about $20 above AMD’s suggested prices, the smart move is to watch retail prices for a few weeks rather than pay the early premium, especially on the 5500F, where $20 is a fifth of the chip’s suggested price.

Written byMara Lindqvist

Mara Lindqvist edits the hardware desk. She covers graphics cards, processors, memory and storage, the foundries and chip designers behind them, and what the numbers on a spec sheet mean for people choosing a PC. Specifications in her stories come from manufacturer spec pages and datasheets.

More from Mara LindqvistAll Hardware coverage