Best gaming CPU: what is the top CPU for gaming in 2020?

It’s at this time rather complicated to get dangle of the one gaming CPU – there are honest too many substantial alternatives in 2020. Not like about a years within the past, four cores and eight threads is now par for the direction, and of us can purchase cheap CPUs that dish out substantial single core gaming efficiency no longer only in much less intensive games care for CS:GO, but additionally in loads of triple-A games care for Call of Responsibility: Warzone and CPU-intensive capabilities that utilise all cores. This signifies that more and more of us can now designate stutter material, traipse, play games, and expend CPU-intensive capabilities for a relatively inexpensive value.
Since AMD has made up our minds to buy the fight to Intel in phrases of core count, even six-core CPUs are turning into more and more accepted ensuing from this Intel vs. AMD fight. Nonetheless despite the dominance of multi-core CPUs in on the present time’s gaming rigs, the concern in optimising games and capabilities for chips with a whole lot of cores has meant we’re peaceful no longer seeing many fashionable game engines taking fleshy benefit of the extremely fantastic CPUs many americans now believe in our machines.
Having the only graphics card for gaming is peaceful the one formulation to carry out games bustle as soft as butter on your gaming rig. Nonetheless that doesn’t suggest any historical processor will fabricate – you proceed to favor a high-quality chip to win essentially the most out of your graphics card.
Right here are the one gaming CPUs:

AMD Ryzen 5 3600
The only gaming CPU is AMD’s Ryzen 5 3600.
The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 isn’t dazzling a substantial gaming CPU with severe multi-threading chops, it’s additionally incredibly trusty value. The earlier Ryzen 5 2600 stays a solid alternative for the value-oriented PC builder while shares closing and costs are low, but the Zen 2 structure adds bigger than enough value to interpret the most fresh and finest chip. And while the Ryzen 5 3600X has a relatively increased clock tempo than its non-X runt brother, in games this interprets to easily a minute carry out bigger in body rates for a first price chunk more cash.
With a 15% IPC carry out bigger over 2d-gen Ryzen and Zen , the Ryzen 5 3600 brings even more cheap gaming strength to the mainstream market. At this label point, it doesn’t dazzling tear up shut to Intel’s gaming lead, it outruns it – and does so with out demanding a bucket of strength or pennies. And its multi-core/threaded efficiency makes it a substantial performer in areas diversified than gaming, too.
What we care for Effective value
Impossible single core efficiency
Multithreaded
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 specs | |
Cores | 6 |
Threads | 12 |
Clock tempo | 3.6GHz / 4.2GHz |
Socket | AM4 |
Read the PCGamesN AMD Ryzen 5 3600 evaluate for our fleshy verdict and rating.

Ryzen 9 3900X
The only high-pause CPU is AMD’s Ryzen 9 3900X
The AMD Ryzen 9 3900X at this time principles the Zen 2 roost and the multithreaded market. With 12 cores split into 24 threads, it’s got the raw strength to chomp via nearly any inventive or educated workload. And ensuing from Zen 2’s distinctive compose, the 3900X’s dual chiplets put collectively to clock as much as an excellent 4.6GHz. That’s enough to force impressive body rates in games, too.
There’s additionally runt need to splash out on the most fresh motherboard. With an AM4 socket equipment fit for most Ryzen motherboards within the market, the Ryzen 9 3900X is rarely any longer only in a league of its contain, but an most important value proposition, too. And while Intel’s Core i9 9900Good enough and AMD’s Ryzen 9 3950X are sooner, the Ryzen 9 3900X can’t be beaten for value on the stay pause of the market.
What we care for 12 cores and 24 threads
Easiest value high-pause processor
PCIe 4.0 enhance
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X specs | |
Cores | 12 |
Threads | 24 |
Clock tempo | 3.8GHz / 4.6GHz |
Socket | AM4 |
Read the PCGamesN Ryzen 9 3900X evaluate for our fleshy verdict and rating.

Intel Core i9 9900Good enough
The fastest CPU for gaming is the Intel Core i9 9900Good enough.
The Intel Core i9 9900Good enough is the sector’s fastest gaming CPU, but its painfully high label designate plan it doesn’t buy the station because the outright only CPU for gaming. Nonetheless if money in actuality isn’t a thing for then you surely the octa-core from Intel is the one processor to pair along with your high-pause graphics card. Nonetheless it’s inevitably briefly present dazzling now, which plan costs are dazzling grotesque.
By formulation of GPU-dawdle games, that are the huge majority of titles, even with one among the only graphics playing cards there isn’t a huge quantity of difference between the in-game efficiency of Intel’s prime chip and AMD’s high-pause octa-core CPU, the Ryzen 7 3700X, especially at 4K. It is a substantial chip from a technical and efficiency point of glimpse, but as a label proposition – especially within the face of fierce competition from AMD – it’s comparatively of a no longer easy one to indicate.
What we care for The fastest gaming processor around
Good CPU for RTX 2080 Ti
Impossible single core gaming efficiency
Intel Core i9 9900Good enough specs | |
Cores | 8 |
Threads | 16 |
Clock tempo | 3.6GHz / 5GHz |
Socket | LGA 1151 |
Read the PCGamesN Intel Core i9 9900Good enough evaluate for our fleshy verdict and rating.

Intel Core i5 9600Good enough
The only CPU for overclocking is Intel’s Core i5 9600Good enough
This CPU could maybe maybe be first in line as a dawdle-to advice for most PC gamers. Nonetheless due to the Ryzen 5 3600 has the multithreaded chops, and peaceful manages to withhold up with the i5 9600Good enough in most games, all with out costing as grand, there’s nearly no need to use the extra on the 9600Good enough.
The establish the 9600Good enough does believe relevance is its overclocking abilities. It is in a position to delivering the same stage of multi-threaded CPU efficiency because the competing 12-thread Ryzen 5, and to surpass it in single threaded gaming efficiency, with a accurate and modest overclock. To be dazzling, that looks to were this processor’s raison d’être – beating Ryzen at all fees, but you wish a high-pause Z370 or Z390 board to win there.
What we care for Excessive overclocking
Classic Intel gaming efficiency
Easiest mid-vary CPU for Intel motherboards
Intel Core i5 9600Good enough specs | |
Cores | 6 |
Threads | 6 |
Clock tempo | 3.7GHz / 4.6GHz |
Socket | LGA 1151 |

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
The only CPU for productiveness is AMD’s Ryzen 7 3700X.
Whenever you’re after a combine of high-pause multi-threaded computational chops, first price gaming efficiency, and substantial value then glimpse no extra than the Ryzen 7 3700X. It’s a successfully-priced Zen 2 CPU that drastically improves on the general efficiency of its predecessor, the 2700X, and yet requires formulation much less strength. Importantly it’s additionally significantly more inexpensive than both Intel’s or eight-core 9700Good enough or i9 9900Good enough.
Nonetheless it’s peaceful got gaming efficiency that’s comparable with Intel’s prime chips within the event you’re gaming at 1440p or 4K. That makes it a substantial chip in productiveness phrases and a CPU with gaming efficiency that’s practically indistinguishable from the Intel competition in any GPU-dawdle game.
What we care for Excessive multi-threaded efficiency
Effective value for a 16-thread CPU
Top gaming efficiency
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X specs | |
Cores | 8 |
Threads | 16 |
Clock tempo | 3.6GHz / 4.4GHz |
Socket | AM4 |
Read the PCGamesN AMD Ryzen 7 3700X evaluate for our fleshy verdict and rating.

AMD ryzen 3 3300x
The only value range CPU is AMD’s Ryzen 3 3300X.
Previously, the station for the one low value gaming CPU became reserved for AMD’s Ryzen 5 2600, the predecessor to the fresh only CPU for gaming: the AMD Ryzen 5 3600. Nonetheless AMD has dazzling launched the ‘low value as chips’ Ryzen 3 3300X, and it’s attempting too tasty to head away off the charts on the pricetag range pause.
This 3rd-gen Ryzen processor is a four-core, eight-thread machine in a position to boosting as much as 4.3GHz, all at a low strength value of 65W TDP. Not only that, but it supports PCIe 4.0., giving it longevity above and previous alternative the fresh only CPUs for gaming. While its multi-core efficiency must peaceful be comparatively of on the encourage of the Ryzen 5 2600, its single core efficiency is some distance greater – and that’s what issues for gaming.
What we care for PCIe 4.0 enhance
Effective longevity
Impossible gaming efficiency for the value
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X specs | |
Cores | 4 |
Threads | 8 |
Clock tempo | 3.8GHz / 4.3GHz |
Socket | AM4 |
Straightforward methods to set up a cpu
Right here’s our to hand video handbook on suggestions on how to traipse a CPU in to your PC. PCGamesN additionally has a fleshy handbook on suggestions on how to set up your fresh CPU.
CPU procuring handbook
The establish for most of our PC gaming lives we’ve been recommending whichever Intel processor fantastic your value range it’s no longer that simple. And that’s all the plan in which down to the engineering efforts AMD has establish into rising its most modern Ryzen lineup of CPUs.
AMD has made it very complicated to indicate an Intel processor because the general only CPU for gaming, given the indisputable fact that you win so plan more to your money with an AMD chip dazzling now. That and the gaming efficiency delta between them is now so itsy-bitsy as to be fully inconsequential.
At the mainstream pause it’s the six-core, 12-thread Ryzen 5 3600 for the favor. It’s a substantial-value, processing monster – enough so that the 3600X is nearly beside the purpose.
The Intel i5 8400 comes shut, but ensuing from Intel’s 14nm production woes, its pricing continues to fluctuate, making it no longer value the money when the Ryzen 5 3600 is on the desk. And, if you’re doing severe PC work alongside your gaming ardour, its six-core, six-thread compose sits on the encourage of the AMD chips in pure multithreaded computational phrases.
At the high-pause, the eight-core, 16-thread Intel Core i9 9900Good enough has lost out to the Ryzen 9 3900X. The Intel chip is simply more expensive and only in actuality affords a tangible efficiency difference in CPU-dawdle games. Of which there are few. Nonetheless over time, as GPU strength will increase, that can alternate and the 9900Good enough could maybe maybe in actuality begin to shine.
And on the pricetag range pause, the fresh Ryzen 3 3300X will elevate a substantial stage of hyperthreaded CPU efficiency, amazing single core efficiency for gaming, and substantial longevity ensuing from PCIe 4.0 enhance, fascinated with a dazzling low value. A bona fide gash value.
Leave a comment