Photoshop CC 2018 CPU Performance: AMD Ryzen 2 vs Intel 8th Gen

Introduction

If you would like to skip over our test setup and benchmark result/analysis sections, feel free to jump right to the Conclusion section.

Test Setup & Methodology

Listed below are the test platforms and CPUs we will be using in our testing:

As we mentioned in the introduction, we will be using our Puget Systems Photoshop CC 2018 Benchmark which is currently available for public download. This benchmark tests a range of general tasks (open/save, resize, content aware fill, etc.), filters, as well as panorama photomerge. Full details on the benchmark are available on the benchmark download page.

Benchmark Results

While our benchmark presents an Overall Score based on the performance of each task, we also wanted to provide the individual result for each task in case there is a specific tasks someone may be interested in. Feel free to analyze the individual results below in more detail if you wish or skip to the next section for our benchmark analysis.

Benchmark Analysis

Download our Photoshop CC 2018 Benchmark!

Looking at the Overall Score, the first thing to notice is that the new 2nd generation Ryzen CPUs are much faster than the original Ryzen CPUs. Even the Ryzen 5 2600X is almost 8% faster than the Ryzen 7 1800X even though it's MSRP price is less than half. Speaking of the 2600X, it is also interesting to see that it is faster than the more expensive 2700 – likely due to the fact that Photoshop typically runs best with a higher CPU frequency rather than a higher core count.

Compared to the Intel 8th Gen CPUs, however, we still have to give a slight edge to Intel. At the top end, the Ryzen 7 2700X is about 4% slower than the Intel Core i7 8700 even though it is slightly more expensive. The Ryzen 5 2600X is much closer to Intel in terms of price/performance coming in at slightly slower and cheaper than the Intel Core i5 8600K. We didn't test the Intel Core i5 8600 in this article, but if we had to guess we would say that it is likely almost identical to the Ryzen 5 2600X in terms of price and performance.

Conclusion

AMD has made great improvements with the new 2nd generation Ryzen CPUs that really closes the gap between AMD and Intel for Photoshop users. In the $200-250 price range you can easily justify either brand so it is likely going to come down to which platform offers you the features you need and any sales you may be able to find. However, at the higher end the Intel Core i7 8700 edges out over the Ryzen 7 2700X (especially in general tasks) while also retailing for a slightly lower cost. And if you are looking for the best possible performance, the Intel Core i7 8700K is still the overall king and our current go-to recommendation for Photoshop.

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