Best CPU for gaming? Might sound redundant with the GPU being the core component of most rigs, but it’s more important than conventional gamer wisdom dictates. People often overlook the CPU and cheap out on it. If your build has a slow CPU, it can bottleneck your GPU and memory. Moreover, it is important for running simulations and processing animations and AI. In this article, we’ll help you choose the best CPU for gaming in 2019.
6 months ago, the following list would look completely different. However, with the launch of the Ryzen 3000 processors, AMD has created an Intel shaped hole in the market making it a whole lot competitive.
AMD Ryzen 5 3600: The Best CPU for Gaming (Overall)
- Price: Rs. 18,980
- Cores: 6
- Threads: 12
- Base Clock: 3.6 GHz
- Boost Cock: 4.2 GHz
- TDP: 65W
- Socket: AM4
The successor to the Ryzen 5 2600, the 3600 comes with a Wraith Stealth Cooler included out of the box. The Zen2 architecture allows for a lower power rating while offering a much faster boost clock (30% more) compared to last gen. In mainstream benchmarks, it outperforms the 8700K and comes quite close to the 9700K while being cheaper by a whopping $160! Out of all the processors on the list, it offers the best price-to-performance ratio and has cemented its spot as the best overall gaming CPU.
Intel Core i9-9000K: The Best Gaming Performance in a CPU
- Price: Rs. 41,580
- Cores: 8
- Threads: 8
- Base Clock: 3.6 GHz
- Boost Cock: 4.9 GHz
- TDP: 95W
- Socket: LGA1151
While the Ryzen 7 3600 offers better value, Intel’s Core i9-9900K is still the best performing CPU in terms of gaming performance. It offers the best single-threaded performance at 1080p to 1440p with a 5% boost over the 3700X. While it lacks a cooler and comes with a higher power rating, it is still is a good choice if you’re going to use the PC for sheer gaming.
Ryzen 7 3700X: The Best CPU for Gaming @ 1440p
- Price: Rs. 31,599
- Cores: 8
- Threads: 16
- Base Clock: 3.6 GHz
- Boost Cock: 4.4 GHz
- TDP: 65W
- Socket: AM4
The Ryzen 7 3700X offers similar, if not better performance than Intel’s flagship Core i9-9900K while being rated at just 65W and coming in at $150 cheaper! It also includes a Wraith Prism Cooler with the fancy RGB. In mainstream workloads, the 3700X outperforms the Coffee Lake based 9900K while being neck-to-neck in gaming. While Intel still offers better single-core performance on paper, the 3700X beats the competition in every other segment and is without a doubt AMD’s best mainstream offering.
Ryzen 9 3900X: The Best CPU for Gaming @ 4K
- Price: Rs. 43,999
- Cores: 12
- Threads: 24
- Base Clock: 3.8 GHz
- Boost Cock: 4.6 GHz
- TDP: 105W
- Socket: AM4
With the 3700X already coming quite close to beating the 9900K, the Ryzen 9 3900X blows the competition out of the water while costing almost the same. It also comes with a Wraith Prism cooler which is probably a good idea to upgrade given the 105W power rating. It also offers 4 extra cores as compared to Intel’s flagship, and while the Core i9 still offers slightly better single-threaded performance in certain games, the 3900X offers an additional 40% extra boost in multi-threaded workloads. In modern games based on DirectX12 and Vulkan like The Division 2, the Ryzzen 9 can offer up to 20% better performance. The 3900X is an absolute beast of a processor and with it, AMD comfortably sits at the top of the mainstream CPU market.
Intel Core i3-9100F: The Best Budget CPU for Gaming
- Price: Rs. 7,095
- Cores: 4
- Threads: 4
- Base Clock: 3.6 GHz
- Boost Cock: 4.2 GHz
- TDP: 65W
- Socket: LGA1151
The Core i3-9100F is Intel’s first i3 that comes with Turbo Boost technology, resulting in a 10-15% increase in performance. While it doesn’t seem that impressive on paper, it offers great performance in-game and performs similar to the fourth-gen Intel flagship, the Core i7-4770K. It can also support up to 64 GB of memory. Paired with an entry-level GPU, it makes for a compelling buy at this price-point.
Further Reading:
Just another amd marketing article. 3600 doesn’t outperform 8700k and 3700x is not neck to neck with 9700k let alone a 9900k. In some games 3700x lags behind 10-15fps. You can talk about best value or budget friendly but when it comes to Gaming..intel 9700k and 9900k still ahead of anything ryzen can offer….3700x neck to neck with 8700k sounds better….
Intel Fanboy spotted. Boot up a game like Ashes of Singularity. Even the 3600 is capable enough to perform at par with the 9700K and the 3700X just outright demolishes it. The sad truth is that Intel is stuck with its 14nm process while AMD is looking to the future and with upcoming games optimised for multi threaded performance, Intel is going to be stuck on the side of the road.
I3 – 9100f is 8 core 8 thread really ????
4C/4T
Hey there Intel fanboy why so salty? If u could stop being so deluded for one second you would see that right now amd is ahead of intel easily. The ryzen (even 1st and 2nd gen) beats intel offerings at the same price point, has a bundled fan and offer upgrade flexibility with the am4 socket not to mention newer games are utilising more cores so the ryzen cpus are future proof. Enough said thanks bye.
Yeah man, i was so hyped up about ryzen 3000 but truth is AMD’s architecture isn’t yet as sophisticated as Intel, in theory 7nm chip should outperform 14nm one in every aspect which actually isn’t true.
These are the 1st gen Zen2 processors. Intel has been squeezing every bit of performance from the 14nm process over the last generation. Hence, even though the 14nm process is archaic in comparison to the 7nm, they are designed more efficiently than Intel and are better suited to single-core workloads, which is why they perform better in last-gen games
Nice payed article. I bought 9700k. Case closed.
Thats what i have done too. Best gaming cpu for me is the 9700K. In over a month i havent decided wich one but 9700K seems a better deal at gaming, not to even mention framerate consistency. For someone that already has costum watercooling and dont need to buy a cooler, for 20€ more over the 3700X the 9700K is the smarter choice. Intel 2018 vs AMD 2019 and intel still comes ahead in gaming. But in overhaul the 3700X seems to be a smarter choice. I have to thank for Intel since i bought a 2600K in 2012 for 212€ and lasted ” 7 YEARS”, and is still capable in most games.
Lol…my comments got deleted while all those amd worshipping comments still there….not surprised though….ever since ryzen and navi were announced, this page went nuts….not sure you guys are getting paid or not…no matter how hard you sell gaming benchmarks simply tells another story…
Why did u suggest a more powerfull cpu for 4k gaming than 1080p. 4k gaming needs only a weak cpu as most of the load is on the gpu. Very misleading article.
Yawn….my delid 8700k @ 5Ghz with DDR4 3600 cl 14 can’t hear this foolishness.
Hi could some help me how much difference will i7 9750h vs i5 9850h make for gaming having a gtx 1660ti 6gb and 16 ram dual channel