Gaming CPUs

Fire up your rig with the best CPU for gaming.

- Alan Dexter

Traditional wisdom dictates that if you want the best gaming performance there is really only one option: Intel. That thinking is now outdated. With the release of AMD’s Zen 3 architecture and it’s Ryzen 5000 family of chips, there is now nothing between Intel’s finest and AMD’s latest. Some games may favour one over the other, but we’re talking a few frames here and there on average. Intel has lost its gaming crown.

This is good news for us gamers, as it means there is now genuine competition between the two chipmakers, and that has already lead to Intel’s prices tumbling.

Ryzen 9 5900X

AMD £549

The best all-round CPU for gaming and streaming

1 AMD’s new Zen 3 architecture boasts a sweet 19 percent IPC improvement over its predecessors. For us gamers that means AMD can now stand toe to toe with Intel when it comes to gaming. Honestly, there’s so little between these two now that anyone claiming otherwise is simply delusional.

Whatever resolution you’re gaming at, this processor can handle it, and keep your graphics card of choice fed with lots of juicy frames. The fact that this is a 12-core, 24-thread monster means that it can cope with anything else you throw at it as well. So if you have dreams of 3D rendering, video editing, streaming your gaming, or any other serious tasks, you’ll know that you have the raw grunt to handle it. The fact that it won’t hold you back when gaming just makes it even sweeter.