When purchasing for the very best gaming CPU, you will need to steadiness efficiency and options together with your PC funds. Our suggestions and picks under will allow you to select the very best CPU for gaming. You may also see how all of those processors stack up in our CPU Benchmarks Hierarchy which incorporates CPU overclock benchmarks. However for detailed assistance on choosing the very best processor to your gaming rig, you’ll be able to try our 2022 CPU Shopping for Information. And if you happen to’re on the fence about which CPU firm to go together with, our AMD vs. Intel article dives deep into the subject and comes up with a winner.
Intel not too long ago launched the Core i9-12900KS, however its price-and-power-be-damned method to making an attempt to guide our gaming efficiency charts is not definitely worth the premium. As a substitute, AMD’s new Ryzen 7 5800X3D joins our listing of Greatest CPUs for gaming, taking the title because the quickest gaming CPU available on the market along with being the very best AMD CPU for gaming.
As you’ll be able to see within the gaming efficiency album under, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D lives as much as AMD’s declare that 3D V-Cache delivers a rise in gaming efficiency equal to what we’d usually solely see from a brand new microarchitecture. Nonetheless, the 58000X3D is not as quick as comparable chips in different sorts of single- and multi-threaded work past gaming. So you will want to concentrate on the professionals and cons earlier than shopping for this particular chip. Additionally, its $449 value level is a bit increased than we sometimes advocate for many gaming-centric builds.Â
Should you’re in search of the hands-down finest CPU for gaming with a extra accessible value level, the Alder Lake six-core 12-thread Core i5-12400 is your chip. Current value cuts have made this chip an excellent larger deal for a mere $160, catapulting it to the highest of our listing of suggestions.
Should you’re in search of the quickest mix of gaming and software efficiency available on the market, you should take a look at our evaluate of the Core i9-12900K and Core i5-12600K. The $589 Intel Core i9-12900K delivers unbelievable ranges of threaded efficiency, usually rivaling or beating the $599 Ryzen 9 5950X. Nonetheless, the $380 Core i7-12700K provides primarily the identical gaming efficiency because the $589 flagship Core i9-12900K — however for ~$200 much less. The 12900K serves up additional cores and additional increase pace for these in search of the utmost in productiveness efficiency, however the Core i7-12700K is a well-rounded chip that gives spectacular pricing and efficiency in each gaming and purposes. Â
The $280 Intel Core i5-12600K is well the very best CPU for gaming in its $260 to $300 value bracket. The 12600K delivers as much as 38% extra threaded efficiency than the Ryzen 5 5600X and seven% greater than the Ryzen 7 5800X. In the meantime, the Core i3-12100 serves as the very best funds gaming CPU available on the market with an outstanding mix of value and efficiency.
AMD’s Ryzen 7 5700G and Ryzen 5 5600G APUs have the quickest built-in GPUs available on the market, providing practically twice the efficiency of Intel’s iGPUs. The $259 Ryzen 5 5600G’s is the very best worth, with efficiency that lands inside 4% of the $359 Ryzen 7 5700G, however for 30% much less money, making it the very best AMD APU processor for gaming.Â
Should you’re in search of the short blow-by-blow, you’ll be able to see all of those chips in devoted head-to-head comparisons in our latest faceoffs:
Our AMD Zen 3 Ryzen 5000 article has all the main points on AMD’s newest CPUs, however you’ll be able to verify our full lineup of detailed critiques of every mannequin, just like the Ryzen 9 5950X and Ryzen 9 5900X, Ryzen 7 5800X, and Ryzen 5 5600X, for the detailed rundown that may allow you to suss out which is the very best AMD CPU for gaming. AMD additionally has its Ryzen 7000 processors coming to market with its Zen 4 structure this yr, which ought to reinvigorate its lineup.Â
Greatest CPUs for Gaming at a look (extra information under):
General Greatest CPU for Gaming:
Intel Core i5-12400 (opens in new tab)
Alternate: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X (opens in new tab)
Excessive Efficiency Worth Greatest CPU for Gaming:
Intel Core i9-12900K (opens in new tab)
Alternate: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (opens in new tab)
General Worth Greatest CPU for Gaming:
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (opens in new tab)
Alternate: Intel Core i7-12700K (opens in new tab)
Mid-Vary Greatest CPU for Gaming:
Intel Core i5-12600K (opens in new tab)
Price range Greatest CPU for Gaming:
Core i3-12100 (opens in new tab)
Entry-Degree Greatest CPU for Gaming:
AMD Ryzen 5 5600G (opens in new tab)
Selecting the Greatest Gaming CPU for You
For an inventory of all processors by efficiency, try our CPU Benchmarks Hierarchy for CPU comparisons backed by processor benchmarks. We additionally keep an inventory of finest CPUs for workstations, for many who regularly sort out high-end content material creation, or different duties that profit from excessive core counts. Greater-end chips profit probably the most from the finest thermal paste, so try our information if you happen to’re purchasing for a brand new processor. However if you happen to’re after the very best gaming CPU, you are in the correct place.
In case your principal aim is gaming, you after all cannot neglect concerning the graphics card. Getting the absolute best gaming CPU will not allow you to a lot in case your GPU is under-powered and/or outdated. So remember to try Greatest Graphics Playing cards web page, in addition to our GPU Benchmarks Hierarchy to be sure to have the correct card for the extent of gaming you are trying to obtain.     Â
CPU Gaming Benchmarks
We rank all of the Intel and AMD processors primarily based on our in-depth CPU benchmarks. You possibly can see a few of these numbers within the charts above, together with overclocked efficiency outcomes (marked as PBO for AMD processors) and benchmark leads to Home windows 10 and Home windows 11. Â
This group of outcomes contains solely the chips which have handed by means of our latest take a look at suite, whereas the tables in our CPU benchmark hierarchy embrace rankings primarily based on previous CPU benchmarks, and likewise embrace breakdowns of single- and multi-threaded efficiency throughout a broad spate of processors. Lastly, bear in mind that the pricing within the charts above can fluctuate.
When selecting the very best gaming CPU in 2022, think about the next:
- You possibly can’t lose with AMD or Intel: As famous in our latest AMD vs. Intel function, Intel tends to make the very best CPUs for mainstream PCs recently.Â
- For gaming, clock pace is extra necessary than the variety of cores: Greater CPU clock speeds translate to snappier efficiency in easy, frequent duties similar to gaming, whereas extra cores will allow you to get by means of time-consuming workloads sooner. Ultimately, the quickest CPUs of any household of processors have the best clock speeds.Â
- Price range for a full system: Do not pair a robust CPU with weak storage, RAM and graphics.
- Overclocking isn’t for everybody: If you wish to simply get to gaming, it’d make extra sense to spend extra and purchase a higher-end chip, relatively than spending cash on a higher-end cooler.
Greatest CPUs for Gaming 2022
Should you’re in search of the hands-down finest CPU for gaming, the mid-range Alder Lake six-core 12-thread Core i5-12400 is your chip, particularly after latest value reductions that convey it right down to an unbelievable $160. With the correct tuning, it is even sooner at gaming than the previous-gen $549 Core i9-11900K flagship, so it ought to go with out saying that it is also sooner than the $230 Ryzen 5 5600X in gaming.
The chip comes with six P-cores that assist hyper-threading that function at a 2.5 GHz base and 4.4 GHz increase pace. The 12400 helps modern connectivity with assist DDR4-3200 or as much as DDR5-4800 reminiscence, together with 16 lanes of PCIe 5.0 and an extra 4 lanes of PCIe 4.0 from the chip for M.2 SSDs.
Our testing reveals that the Core i5-12400 serves up stable efficiency in all method of threaded productiveness purposes, and its snappy single-threaded efficiency beats even the quickest Ryzen 5000 processors. Moreover, the Core i5-12400 delivers unbelievable ranges of gaming efficiency however at a a lot lower cost level than any comparable AMD processor, setting a brand new bar for funds gaming chips.
The Core i5-12400 comes with a succesful cooler that may deal with its 65W/117W base/peak energy ranking, however you will additionally want a brand new 600-series motherboard. Most players will benefit from the lower cost and comparable efficiency of DDR4, however you’ll be able to step as much as the dearer DDR5 if you happen to want entry to extra reminiscence throughput. Fortunately, Intel’s companions now have B- and H-series motherboards obtainable, and a B660 motherboard plus Core i5-12400 CPU will make a killer gaming combo.
Learn Extra: Intel Core i5-12400 Overview
The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X takes the highest spot as the very best AMD CPU for gaming with a stable mix of efficiency in each gaming and software workloads. You possibly can usually discover this six-core 12-thread chip at $200, a deep low cost introduced on by aggressive strain from Intel. The Ryzen 5 5600X even beats the Intel Core i9-10900K at gaming, which is an unbelievable feat given its value level. To not point out that it is among the many most power-efficient desktop PC processors we have ever examined.Â
AMD’s Zen 3 microarchitecture leads to a shocking 19% improve in IPC, which floats all boats by way of efficiency in gaming, single-threaded, and multi-threaded purposes. In actual fact, our testing reveals that the chip typically matches the gaming efficiency of its dearer sibling, the ~$310 Ryzen 7 5800X. That makes the 5600X an extremely well-rounded chip that may deal with any sort of gaming, from competitive-class efficiency with excessive refresh charge screens to streaming, whereas additionally serving up greater than sufficient efficiency for day-to-day software workloads.  Â
The Ryzen 5 5600X has a 3.7 GHz base and 4.6 GHz increase clock, however with the correct cooling and motherboard, you’ll be able to count on increased short-term boosts. The chip additionally has a 65W TDP ranking, which means it runs exceptionally cool and quiet given its capabilities (the previous-gen mannequin was 95W). Current AMD house owners with a 500-series motherboard will breathe a sigh of aid because the 5600X drops proper into current 500-, 400-, and 300-series motherboards. Should you want a brand new motherboard to assist the chip, AMD’s AM4 motherboards are plentiful and comparatively inexpensive, with the B-series lineup providing the very best general worth for this class of chip.Â
Learn: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Overview
The Intel Core i9-12900K as soon as held the title of the quickest gaming processor on the planet. At $589, it even outperforms AMD’s Ryzen 9 5950X in our gaming testing and even heavily-threaded content material creation duties, making it an distinctive worth for high-end recreation streaming, too. It is also the uncontested chief in x86 single-threaded efficiency.Â
The 12900K additionally helps modern connectivity with assist DDR4-3200 or as much as DDR5-4800 reminiscence, together with 16 lanes of PCIe 5.0 and an extra 4 lanes of PCIe 4.0 from the chip for M.2 SSDs.
The chip comes with eight P-cores that assist hyper-threading, and eight single-threaded E-cores for a complete of 24 threads. The P-cores have a 3.2 GHz base, and peak frequencies attain 5.2 GHz with Turbo Increase Max 3.0 (this function is simply energetic on P-cores). In the meantime, the E-cores have a 2.4 GHz base and stretch as much as 3.9 GHz by way of the usual Turbo Increase 2.0 algorithms. The chip can also be geared up with 30MB of L3 cache and 14MB of L2.
This 12900K has a 125W PBP (base) and 241W MTP (peak) energy ranking, however we recorded significantly decrease energy consumption than its prior-gen counterpart. You get industry-leading efficiency in change.Â
You may want to purchase a succesful cooler for the chip, and you may additionally want a brand new 600-series motherboard. You will discover a wide array of high-end motherboards that assist DDR5 reminiscence, and though you will solely discover lower-end and mid-range DDR4 motherboards, there’s nonetheless loads of choice obtainable. Most players will benefit from the lower cost and comparable efficiency of DDR4, however you’ll be able to step as much as the dearer DDR5 if you happen to want entry to extra reminiscence throughput.
Learn: Core i9-12900K Overview
Excessive finish desktop processors have lengthy supplied the last word in efficiency, so long as you had been prepared to pay the worth. Apart from excessive MSRPs, the chips additionally require costly lodging, like beefy motherboards and the added price of totally populating quad-channel reminiscence controllers. Add within the inevitable trade-offs, like diminished efficiency in lightly-threaded purposes and video games, and most cost-conscious customers who may gain advantage from the threaded horsepower of a HEDT chip simply accept mainstream choices.
AMD’s Ryzen 9 5950X, with 16 cores and 32 threads, expanded on its predecessors’ mission of bringing HEDT-class efficiency to mainstream motherboards, reducing the bar for entry. The 5950X carries a $550 price ticket, however that’s downright inexpensive in comparison with competing HEDT processors that do not supply the identical class of efficiency.
We typically do not advocate HEDT processors for lovers which can be solely fascinated about gaming. Players are finest served by mainstream processors (with fewer cores and better clocks) which can be usually sooner in video games; our testing reveals the Ryzen 9 5950X additionally falls into the identical class — AMD’s lesser 5000-series fashions are a greater worth for players. Nonetheless, if you happen to’re after a chip and platform that may do severe work severely quick, however nonetheless be nimble sufficient to ship high-refresh gameplay on the finish of the day, the Ryzen 9 5950X matches the invoice like no different CPU earlier than it.
Learn: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X Overview
The $449 Ryzen 7 5800X3D‘s 3D V-Cache tech represents an progressive engineering effort that conquered the technical challenges related to bringing the primary desktop PC chip with 3D-stacked SRAM to market, yielding a chip with an unbelievable 96MB of L3 cache, and to nice impact: The top result’s a relatively low-power chip that delivers unbelievable gaming efficiency, dethroning Intel’s $589 Alder Lake Core i9-12900K and $739 Core i9-12900KS from the highest of our gaming charts.
On common at 1080p gaming, the $449 Ryzen 7 5800X3D is ~9% sooner than the  $589 Core i9-12900K, which prices 30% extra, and ~7% sooner than the $739 Core i9-12900KS, which prices a whopping 64% extra. Which means the Ryzen 7 58000X3D is each the very best AMD CPU for gaming in our take a look at suite and sooner for gaming than any Intel mannequin.
Nonetheless, you’ve to concentrate on the tradeoffs with this highly-specialized chip — our gaming benchmarks present that the 3D V-Cache would not increase efficiency in all video games, although we discovered that it impacted practically each single title we examined. Moreover, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D is optimized particularly for gaming, however it will possibly’t hold tempo with similarly-priced chips in productiveness purposes. The Core i9-12900K is 29% sooner in single-threaded work and 62% sooner in threaded purposes, and the 12900KS is even sooner nonetheless.
Should you’re in search of a extra balanced chip that does effectively at each gaming and purposes, our exams present that the $385 Core i7-12700K listed under is a stable selection. The Core i7-12700K is 28.8% sooner in single-threaded work and 40% sooner in multi-threaded work than the 5800X3D, displaying that it’s the finest all-rounder on this value vary.
The 5800X3D drops into current socket AM4 motherboards relationship all the best way again to the 300-series that debuted in 2017, so it’ll make an amazing high-performance drop-in improve for Ryzen house owners. Bear in mind that AM4 is on the best way out to make room for the 5nm Ryzen 7000 ‘Raphael’ Zen 4 CPUs within the AM5 socket. Additionally, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D additionally would not assist Alder Lake’s modern connectivity choices, like DDR5 and PCIe 5.0.
The Ryzen 7 5800X3D has a lot decrease energy consumption than the Core i9-12900KS and 12900K, making it a far cooler processor that will not require as costly lodging, like a beefy cooler, motherboard, and energy provide. Which means the 5800X3D delivers top-notch gaming efficiency together with a cooler, quieter, and cheaper system than you will get with a Core i9.
Should you’re prepared to just accept the decrease however nonetheless competent efficiency in desktop PC purposes, and likewise do your homework to ensure the Ryzen 7 5800X3D accelerates the sorts of video games you play regularly, it is laborious to go unsuitable with this chip — particularly for upgraders with AMD methods. When you have a style for higher-end fare and a great understanding of the strengths and weaknesses, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D is a formidable chip that delivers modern gaming efficiency and leaves room for future GPU upgrades.
Learn: Ryzen 7 5800X3D Overview
At $385, the 12700K totally beats the $330 Ryzen 7 5800X and even unseats the dear $550 Ryzen 9 5900X, all whereas delivering primarily the identical gaming efficiency as Intel’s personal $589 flagship Core i9-12900K — however for considerably much less.
Our testing reveals that in 1080p gaming, the Core i7-12700K is a formidable 12% sooner than the Ryzen 7 5800X. Nonetheless, the $449 Ryzen 7 5800X3D is 13% sooner at 1080p than the inventory Core i7-12700K, however solely 3.6% sooner than an overclocked 12700K config.Â
Nonetheless, our benchmarks present the Core i7-12700K is a a lot better all-rounder if you happen to’re in search of efficiency in productiveness work, so it is best to choose the 5800X3D if you happen to’re solely fascinated about gaming efficiency within the $400 to $475 value bracket, and the 12700K if you happen to’re extra fascinated about a balanced mix of value and efficiency.
The 12700K has severe chops in productiveness work: In lightly-threaded apps, the 12700K is ~17% sooner than the 5800X and 5900X. In threaded work, the Core i7-12700K is 2.5% sooner than the Ryzen 9 5900X, although the 5900X does carve out a number of wins in heavily-threaded apps. The competitors is not even shut with the Ryzen 7 5800X3D —The Core i7-12700K is 28.8% sooner in single-threaded work and 40% sooner in multi-threaded work, displaying that it’s the finest all-rounder on this value vary.
The Core i7-12700K has eight P-cores (high-performance) and 4 E-cores (Effectivity), for a complete of 20 threads. The P-cores run at a 3.6 / 5.0 GHz base/increase whereas the E-cores weigh in at 2.7 / 3.8 GHz. As well as, the chip is fed by 25MB of L3 cache and 12MB of L2.
The 12700K additionally helps modern connectivity with assist DDR4-3200 or as much as DDR5-4800 reminiscence, together with 16 lanes of PCIe 5.0 and an extra 4 lanes of PCIe 4.0 from the chip for M.2 SSDs. The 12700K has a 125W PBP (base) and 190W MTP (peak) energy ranking. Nonetheless, we recorded significantly decrease energy consumption than its prior-gen counterpart, and also you get ultra-competitive efficiency in change.Â
You may want to purchase a succesful cooler for the chip, and you may additionally want a brand new 600-series motherboard. You will discover a wide array of high-end motherboards that assist DDR5 reminiscence, and though you will solely discover lower-end and mid-range DDR4 motherboards, there’s nonetheless loads of choice obtainable. Most players will benefit from the lower cost and comparable efficiency of DDR4, however you’ll be able to step as much as the dearer DDR5 if you happen to want entry to extra reminiscence throughput.
Learn: Core i7-12700K Overview
Our in-depth testing reveals that the $280 Core i5-12600K offers main gaming efficiency at its value level, outshining the $210 Ryzen 5 5600X. The 12600K provides as much as 38% extra threaded efficiency than the Ryzen 5 5600X, too, and even 7% extra efficiency than the $330 Ryzen 7 5800X. Coupled with the snappy single-threaded efficiency, this is without doubt one of the finest gaming CPUs available on the market.
The 12600K comes with six threaded P-cores that function at 3.7 / 4.9 GHz and 4 E-cores that run at 2.8 / 3.6 GHz, for a complete of 16 threads. That is paired with 20MB of L3 and 9.5MB of L2 cache.Â
The chip helps 16 lanes of the modern PCIe 5.0 interface and an extra 4 PCIe 4.0 lanes for a speedy M.2 SSD port. The modern connectivity would not cease there, although: The Core i5-12600K additionally helps both DDR4 or DDR5 reminiscence. Most players will benefit from the lower cost and comparable efficiency of DDR4, however you’ll be able to step as much as the dearer DDR5 if you happen to want entry to extra reminiscence throughput.Â
The 12600K comes with a most energy ranking of 150W, however the chip sucks considerably much less energy than its prior-gen counterpart whereas delivering way more efficiency in gaming. The lowered energy consumption permits the chip to work effectively with all kinds of normal air and water coolers, however you will want to ensure your mannequin helps the LGA 1700 socket.
Talking of which, you will additionally want a brand new 600-series motherboard for the processor, and Z690 fashions are presently your solely possibility. You will discover a wide array of high-end fashions that assist DDR5 reminiscence, and though you will solely discover lower-end and mid-range DDR4 motherboards, there’s nonetheless loads of choice obtainable.
Learn: Core i5-12600K OverviewÂ
Like the remainder of the Alder Lake household, the $130 Core i3-12100 involves market with disruptive pricing. The chip additionally comes as a $104 F-series Core i3-12100F that Intel ships with deactivated built-in graphics for $25 lower than the full-featured mannequin. In actual fact, with no clear current-gen competitor from AMD and stellar efficiency for its value level, the Core i3-12100 simply leads our CPU benchmark hierarchy within the $105 to $130 bracket. General, our testing reveals that the quad-core i3-12100’s potent mixture of value, efficiency, and improved inventory cooler dominates the $100 to $130 value vary whereas punching up in opposition to dearer opponents.
The Core i3-12100 now reigns because the quickest funds gaming CPU available on the market and it is loads spectacular in lightly-threaded apps, too: None of AMD’s chips match the 12100 in single-threaded work, so you will must look to different Alder Lake chips to search out sooner efficiency. The Core i3-12100 can also be spectacular in threaded productiveness workloads for its value level.
The Core i3-12100 comes with a 60W PBP (base) and 89W MTP (peak) energy ranking. The chip clocks in with a 3.3 GHz base and boosts as much as 4.3 GHz. It additionally comes with 12 MB of L3 cache. Intel’s Alder Lake drops into Socket 1700 motherboards from the 600-series, together with Z690, H670, B660, and H610. The Core i3-12100 is a locked chip, which means it is not overclockable. Nonetheless, Intel helps reminiscence overclocking on Z690, B660 and H670 motherboards (Z690 would not make sense for this class of chip, although).
The Core i3-12100 would not have a similarly-priced competitor from AMD that may hold tempo. Nonetheless, regardless of a complete lack of competitors, it nonetheless brings spectacular generational efficiency features to the desk. In actual fact, our 1080p gaming benchmarks present the $129 Core i3-12100 delivers 88% of the $299 Core i5-12400’s efficiency, however for 56% much less money. That is a successful mix of value and efficiency.
Learn: Intel Core i3-12100 Overview
The Ryzen 5 5600G steps into the sector as the brand new worth champ for APUs, that are chips that include sturdy sufficient built-in graphics that they do not require a discrete GPU for mild gaming, albeit if you happen to’re prepared to just accept lowered high quality settings.
At $259, the Ryzen 5 5600G provides you 96% of the gaming efficiency on built-in graphics than its dearer sibling, the $359 Ryzen 7 5700G, however for 30% much less money. Our testing reveals that its stage of efficiency makes it the very best worth APU available on the market. So long as you are prepared to sacrifice constancy and backbone, and hold your expectations in verify, the Ryzen 5 5600G’s Vega graphics have surprisingly good efficiency in gaming.Â
The 5600G’s Vega graphics served up comparatively nice 1280×720 gaming throughout quite a few titles in our exams, however choices grow to be extra restricted at 1080p. In fact, you will get away with 1080p gaming, however you will must severely restrict the constancy settings with most titles.
With eight cores and 16 threads that function at a 3.9 GHz base and increase as much as 4.4 GHz, the Ryzen 5 5600G additionally provides stable efficiency for its value level in commonplace desktop PC purposes. The chip additionally comes with a bundled Wraith Stealth cooler, sweetening the worth prop, and drops into current 500-series and a few 400-series motherboards, although assist on the latter will fluctuate by vendor.
Learn: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G Overview
In case your funds is tight and also you’re trying to construct a system for modest gaming, it is best to try our Greatest Low cost CPUs function. A few of these chips can ship satisfactory gaming efficiency with no graphics card, and their costs begin at simply $55 (£40). Additionally, bear in mind that Intel has its Raptor Lake processors coming to market this yr, and AMD has its Zen 4 Ryzen 7000 within the works, too.Â
