Some Ryzen 5 1600/X buyers have found their 6-core CPU has 8 cores

Some folks who've bought Ryzen 5 1600 or 1600X processors have found that their chips have two more cores than expected, which can only be described as a massive win on the CPU lottery.

These CPUs should have six cores and 12 threads, but reports on Korean forums (spotted by Wccftech) say some users have found they have eight cores (and 16 threads) out of the box.

The processors still run at the clock speeds quoted for the 1600X and 1600, but come with a pair of extra cores. And in the case of the former, the unlocked 1600X has the same clock speed as the 8-core 1800X, so buyers are effectively getting a much cheaper version of the latter (there are some other differences, though, like more cache in the flagship chip).

To give you an idea of just how lucky these buyers are, in the UK you can pick up the 1600X for as little as £190 (around $250, AU$320) now, whereas the 1800X will damage your wallet to the tune of £400 (around $530, AU$680).

Clocking up the cores

Normally, doing well on the so-called CPU lottery means you get a good chip which can be overclocked to a greater extent than the average model, not that you benefit from extra cores.

Quite how AMD has allowed this to happen is unclear, but it could be a (desperate) move to fulfil a shortfall on stock with the mid-range processor, meaning the firm decided to utilize (presumably less in-demand) 8-core parts instead. Or it’s some kind of a mistake, but that seems unlikely…

Whatever the answer to the mystery, note that all the unlocked processors were made in Malaysia in the same week, so this probably only applies to a very limited batch of CPUs.

Still, if you’re in the market for a Ryzen 5 1600/X, you never know – you might be one of the lucky few lottery winners.

In other recent Ryzen news, we can hopefully look forward to testing out AMD’s mobile processors with integrated Radeon Vega graphics before too long – these Ryzen offerings should juice up the power of notebooks nicely.