The best processors for gaming

If you’re a gamer, you know that having the right processor is vital. That’s why we trust Intel and AMD processors — they deliver the best performance and speed. Both brands offer a variety of options, and the best choice for you will depend on your unique gaming needs.

Read on to find the right processor for your personal preferences, whether you’re on a budget or looking for a processor that can handle 4K gaming.

Best processor for mid-level gaming

Thanks to AMD’s Ryzen CPUs lighting a fire under Intel, the current crop of mainstream CPUs are some of the best gaming chips we’ve seen in years. Better yet, they’re affordable. You can have some of the best chips from both companies for just a few hundred dollars, so if you’re looking for top-gaming performance without breaking the bank, these are your best bets.

Both Intel’s Core i7-9700K and AMD’s Ryzen 7 3700X are amazing gaming chips that can go blow for blow in most games. While the Intel CPU might pip the 3700X in the odd game, they’re pretty comparable when it comes to frame rates. Outside of games, the simultaneous multithreading support with the 3700X gives it a huge edge, often delivering big performance gains in video rendering and Photoshop tasks.

Thanks to big efficiency improvements in AMD’s Zen 2 architecture and its 7nm die shrink, the 3700X is a far more efficient processor, requiring a thermal design power of just 65 watts when boosting. The Intel chip, on the other hand, requires 95 watts when at its base frequency.

There are many motherboard options available to the AMD Ryzen 3700X, as AMD’s AM4 socket works across multiple generations of Ryzen-branded chips and related boards. The only real reason to opt for the x570 platform is if you want support for PCIe 4.0 storage drives. The x470 and B450 boards should be fine, but make sure that you update the BIOS (use an AMD bootkit if needed) — otherwise, the new chip may not work.

You could also consider the Intel 8700K, which has hyperthreading supporting 16 threads. That gives it an advantage in multithreaded workloads over the 9700K, but it’s not quite as quick in games, though it’s often priced identically.

If you want an alternative AMD option, the last-generation 2700X is still an excellent gaming chip that’s available at amazing prices. It has the same eight cores and 16 threads as the 3700X but costs far less. It won’t be as good as the 3700X in games, as the Zen+ architecture doesn’t have the same clock speed and instructions per clock improvements.

Best bang for the buck: AMD Ryzen 3700X

Best processor for gaming on a budget

Budget gaming today doesn’t mean poor performance, as there are some powerful options at the low end of Intel and AMD’s lineups. Intel’s Core i5-9400F is one of its most affordable gaming processors released in years. It ups the ante of traditional Core i5 chips with six cores, and though it doesn’t have hyperthreading, six threads are plenty to work with, especially when it can hit 4.1GHz with Intel Max Turbo.

AMD’s Ryzen 5 3600, however, is arguably the more capable of the two chips at only a $25 premium. It has the same six cores as the Intel chip but supports up to 12 threads thanks to simultaneous multithreading. Its boost clock is higher, too, and with the Zen 2 gains in instructions per clock, it should outpace the 9400F by up to 15% in games.

It also dominates the 9400F in multithreaded productivity workloads, so if you want to work and game with your new, sub-$200 CPU, the 3600 will be far more capable.

If you can stretch your budget a little further, the Intel Core i5-9600K is fantastic for gaming and is much more ready to go head to head with the 3600. AMD has a chip at that same price in the form of the 3600X, but the extra $25 there only gives you a little more boost clock, which doesn’t give you more than a few percents of additional performance. AMD’s automated overclocking tends to pull the 3600 nearly up to the 3600X’s clock speed anyhow.

At this price, it’s not worth looking last-generation, especially when it comes to gaming.

Best bang for the buck: AMD Ryzen 5 3600

Best processor for streaming and 4K gaming

If you’re a gamer who wants ultimate power or someone who works and plays hard on the same machine, these are the chips for you. For everyone else, buying a cheaper chip and investing more in a better graphics card would likely be a smarter move.

Both Intel and AMD offer some amazing chips in this category, from the $1,000 Intel 10980XE to AMD’s third-generation Threadripper 3990X with its ludicrous 64 cores, 128 threads, and $3,900 price. Those would be complete overkill for even this category, as no consumer applications can benefit from such multithreaded performance. More mainstream parts tend to be better suited to gaming.

There is a middle ground to be found, though. Both Intel and AMD have super-powerful (and expensive) high-end desktop chips that are great at gaming and productivity, making them fantastic chips for streaming while you game.

Note: If you opt for an x470 motherboard for the Ryzen 3950X, make sure to upgrade its BIOS first, which adds third-generation Ryzen support.

The Intel Core i9-9900KF is one of the best raw gaming chips ever made. Its progenitor, the 9900K, beat out AMD Threadripper chips in our testing and offered amazing performance for both gaming and multithreaded tests. The 9900KF is effectively a clone of that same chip, with the same specs as the standard 9900K, but without an onboard graphics chip. That gives it a serious leg up over anything else when it comes to frame rate, even if it is older hardware.

AMD’s new Ryzen 3900X gives it a serious run for its money, however, and even pulled ahead in some of our tests — and the 3950X is even more competitive! The 3950X’s lower clock speed means that some gamers prefer the Intel CPU, especially when it’s overclocked, but it’s close enough that the other benefits of the AMD chip start to look attractive.

When it comes to productivity tasks, or multitasking — like gaming and streaming — that’s where the 3950X can truly shine. Its 16 cores and 32 threads give it a serious multithreading advantage over the 9900KF, allowing it to deliver a much smoother streaming experience for viewers without sacrificing game frame rates. With twice as many cores and threads, you’ll see a big performance advantage for the AMD chip if you work with recorded video.

There isn’t much in the way of alternatives at this price on the Intel front, with only HEDT chips like the 10920X offering more cores and threads — but that costs over $700, and amazingly, Intel is the value option here.

The 3950X is between $100 and $250 more expensive than the 9900KF, making it a harder sell, even with its additional cores. The 3900X is an option, however, but’s not quite as good at gaming. Its 12 cores and 24 threads mean it isn’t quite as big of a multithreaded leg-up over the 9900KF, but it’s still a better all-around chip.

If you can take advantage of the extra cores the 3950X offers, it’s worth spending the extra cash. If you’re going to be gaming and doing a smidge of streaming in the background, then the 9900KF represents the better option.

Best bang for the buck: AMD Ryzen 3950X

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