AMD Ryzen 5 5500GT socket: AM4

What the Ryzen 5 5500GT is

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500GT is a six core, twelve thread desktop APU in the Ryzen 5000 series built on the Zen 3 core design with the Cezanne codename. It runs at 3.6 GHz base and boosts to 4.4 GHz, and it carries 16 MB of shared L3 cache with 3 MB of L2 and 384 KB of L1 on a single 180 mm² die made with TSMC 7 nm FinFET. AMD rates it at 65 W default TDP with a 95 °C maximum temperature, and the multiplier is unlocked.

AMD launched the 5500GT on January 8, 2024 next to the 5600GT as the lower priced of the two late AM4 refreshes. The two share the die, the Vega 7 graphics with 7 graphics cores at up to 1900 MHz, and the 65 W rating, and differ only in 200 MHz of boost clock. Memory support is DDR4 at up to 3200 MT/s across two channels with room for up to 128 GB, and the expansion link is PCIe 3.0.

The boxed version ships with the Wraith Stealth cooler. As a budget APU it targets card free office and home PCs and cheap upgrades of older AM4 systems where the board and memory stay in place.

Socket and motherboard compatibility

The Ryzen 5 5500GT fits the AM4 socket, a pin grid array design with 1,331 pins on the processor. Late production 500 series boards accept it with the BIOS they ship with, while older 400 and 300 series boards need a BIOS update from the board maker that adds support for these late Cezanne parts. The maker CPU support page confirms the version per board.

The board must also wire display outputs to the socket so the integrated graphics can reach a monitor. Most mainstream AM4 boards include HDMI or DisplayPort for this purpose, but boards aimed purely at CPU only builds sometimes wire fewer outputs, so the board specifications page is worth a look.

Memory, PCIe and cooling

The memory controller supports DDR4 at up to 3200 MT/s across two channels and up to 128 GB total. Two matched sticks in dual channel mode feed both the cores and the Vega graphics from the same pool, which lifts graphics results well beyond what a single stick allows. Faster kits work through an XMP or DOCP profile, and there is no DDR5 path on AM4.

PCIe stays at PCIe 3.0 on every board, so a separate graphics card or a fast SSD added later runs at 3.0 speed even on X570 and B550. Cooler mounting uses the AM4 pattern of holes spaced 54 × 90 mm described in the CPU cooler compatibility by socket guide. The bundled Wraith Stealth cooler handles the 65 W rating at stock settings.

Upgrade paths

On the same socket, adding a separate graphics card makes a Vermeer based chip such as the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X a sensible next step, with its larger 32 MB L3 cache and PCIe 4.0 support on 500 series boards. The board, memory and cooler all carry over in that move.

Moving past AM4 means a new board and DDR5 memory on AM5. Between the two GT models the buying logic is simple: the 5500GT trails the 5600GT by 200 MHz of boost, so whichever boxed part costs less at the time is usually the better buy for a card free build.