
AMD also keeps making its Ryzen 5000-series CPUs just that much more affordable, which is great if you already have an AM4 motherboard and need an upgrade.Įvery chip on this list has been tested through our intense CPU benchmarking suite on our PC Gamer test rigs.

Most of all the Core i5 13600K, but even on the more affordable side there's the Core i5 13400F. I'm happy to report that there are a ton of great affordable processors out there right now, too. So, maybe the best gaming CPU is the one which will support an RTX 4090 (opens in new tab) without breaking the bank. But the best CPU for gaming isn't all about raw frame rate metrics, because most of us game at resolutions where our graphics card is the dominant player in terms of deciding on game performance. Whether that will give AMD the title again remains to be seen.

AMD is also set to launch its new mega-cache X3D CPUs, too, which ought to give them a leg up in frame rates.
