The Best CPUs for Gaming in 2023 (2024)

These days, you're not suffering for choice if you're shopping for a new desktop CPU—far from it. With both AMD and Intel pushing out new processors at a rapid pace, and their last-generation parts dropping in price, now is an excellent time to be shopping for a CPU. That's true whether you're buying a new chip to build a gaming rig, to power speedy content creation, or to ace both of those tasks and more.

Here, we'll focus on determining the best CPUs for gaming in 2023 across budgets and brands, which can be challenging. When you're building a PC for gaming (or weighing your chip choices in a prebuilt desktop), selecting a CPU is a balancing act, with the need to settle on components that won't limit each other's performance. The resolution you plan to game at also factors into play here, and, as always, cost is king when it comes to making purchasing decisions. As long as you remain cognizant of these factors and heed our advice, picking the right CPU for your gaming PC should be easy.

Let's look first at our top current picks across the CPU spectrum for PC gamers. We'll follow that with a buying guide to the factors that go into a gaming-processor buy, and finish up with a spec breakout of our top picks.

Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks

Buying Guide: The Best CPUs for Gaming in 2023

Before continuing, if you are relatively new to PC building and aren't familiar with the specifics of what makes up a processor, we'd recommend you first read our general-purpose Best CPUs for 2023 article. We will proceed from here under the assumption that you understand the basics of processors.

(Credit: Molly Flores)

When it comes to gaming, you'll see lots of debate online about what is most important in a processor to help you get the best performance. Some argue that clock speed is everything, and the highest-clocked CPU will invariably perform best. (Occasionally, that is correct.) Others argue that having more cores will net you a greater advantage. (Sometimes that helps, too.) You also find a fair bit of consideration around the cache being all-important. (Again: Sometimes yes, sometimes no.)

Like with many things in life, none of these more extreme viewpoints is wholly accurate. Having a balanced mix of cores, clock speed, and cache will get you the best results in the widest sense. Beyond that, the results you get can vary quite a bit from game to game, or from game genre to game genre. There's no magic-bullet solution that will work for all users, all budgets, and all games. Let's get into why below.

Clock Speed Is Not Everything for Games

As everyone knows, higher clock speeds enable a processor to perform better...if everything else is equal. But everything seldom is, and so "clock speed" as a single number or overarching concept is far too simplistic to make decisions on alone, especially due to the influence of different microarchitectures. To help with understanding this concept, imagine a processor as an engine in a car. The clock speed, in this case, would be not the speed the car is traveling at, but the speed of the engine, or how many revolutions per minute (RPMs) that the car is running at. Just like how different engines deliver different amounts of horsepower at the same RPM, different processors will give you different amounts of performance at the same clock speed unless they share the same architecture (and all else is equal, too).

Clock speed, just like the RPMs, goes up and down as more work is called upon by the CPU or engine. Performance and power consumption rise and fall in concert with clock speed, which is a universal truth, but we should never rely solely on clock speed to make a decision on processors. Though we can say the exact same thing about core count.

Core Count: More Cores Aren't Always Better

Just as we cannot rely entirely on clock speed to make a decision, we also cannot rely simply on core count. The architecture that the processor cores is built on has a huge impact on performance here, too, but we also sometimes see processors with more cores running at slower clock speeds than processors with fewer cores. This is often a necessity for running large amounts of cores, as you'll have only so much power to go around. Also, more cores typically generate more heat, forcing the processor to have lower clock speeds to stay within power and thermal limits (again, all else being equal).

(Credit: Molly Flores)

We have also seen many debates over the years about just how many processor cores you need for PC gaming. It's often been argued that games, especially older ones, aren't capable of using more than just a few cores and that having additional cores delivers no benefit. These arguments are flawed, however, as they fail to take into consideration two key factors. First, they fail to consider that even if some games are able to use only a few cores, other games, especially newer ones, tend to make use of far more cores.

The second major factor is that a PC is never doing just one thing. Having more cores beyond what a game can use still can improve performance by offloading background tasks to the extra cores. The benefits from this only increase if you like to watch videos on a second monitor while gaming, if you stream your games while playing, or if you record game footage for later use. These factors make the argument against extra cores, at the very least, shortsighted.

It Takes Both!

We could continue to discuss the merits of different processor attributes for gaming at length, as well as the ongoing debates around them, but instead, let's get down to the key points. It's best not to lean too much to any one side of this performance equation between clock speed and cores. Don't overly focus on having the most cores or the very highest clock speed, but instead, look for a chip that is strong in both regards.

Testing data suggests that the current benefits of having more cores diminish as you add ever more cores. Most graphics cards are able to operate at close to their full potential with a CPU at the level of an Intel Core i5 or an AMD Ryzen 5; beyond that, most graphics cards only gain a modest benefit from having faster CPUs, if they benefit at all. The very highest-end graphics cards (like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090) unequivocally do benefit from faster processors, though, especially at lower resolutions, and it's likely that newer games will benefit from faster processors down the road, as well.

Taken together, we get a clear picture that likely the absolute best gaming processor we can buy for today and tomorrow will be the one with most cores and the highest clock speed. This is a good generalization to proceed with, but most folks' budgets are limited, and there is a point of diminishing returns. To determine which CPU will be the best for your specific gaming PC, we need to dive into your specific system goals.

First, a Word About Cache

Ordinarily, we wouldn't delve into processor cache in an overview article like this, as it's a topic a bit deep in the weeds. However, it's also been known for decades now that game performance tends to increase with the size of a processor's cache. Also, we mean cache in general, be it L1, L2, L3, or some other form of last-level cache (LLC). The amount of cache used by AMD and Intel has typically been fairly consistent inside of each product line, though. Due to a lack of deviation inside of product lines, in the past, we could have simply skipped the discussion of cache or worked it into a discussion on microarchitectures. But AMD and its recent 3D V-Cache-equipped processors require us to approach the subject with a bit more depth.

(Credit: Michael Justin Allen Sexton)

Though large pools of cache can be beneficial to gaming, cache requires a lot of transistors and a relatively large amount of space on a processor die at today's extremes. This makes it relatively expensive to implement, and the addition of excess cache can drive up costs quickly. Cache is also relatively power-hungry and generates a considerable amount of heat. The use of too much cache, therefore, can adversely affect battery performance (in laptops) or power consumption (in desktops), and the added heat can force the rest of the chip to be clocked lower so as to keep the CPU cores from overheating.

With these drawbacks, you might start to wonder if not having cache would be beneficial, but cache is absolutely essential. Without cache, modern processors would be far slower, and adding extra cache, at times, has brought about major performance gains in the past. How much cache a processor needs again comes down to a balancing act, which is why AMD and Intel typically don't vary the amount of cache per core on processors of the same generation.

The notable modern exceptions to this are AMD's processors with 3D V-Cache, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D. Each of these processors has an extra element inside of them that's entirely cache with a total of 64MB. On each of these processors, this is counted as part of the L3 cache, but it's really an LLC that's physically separate with slightly different performance characteristics from the L3.

(Credit: Michael Justin Allen Sexton)

The cache chip gets stacked on top of the chip that contains the CPU cores in each processor, which mandates some compromises from a chip-design POV. These chips have reduced clock speeds to deal with the extra heat produced by the cache chip. As a result, their peak raw CPU performance is typically lower in most applications than their near-identical counterparts that lack the 3D V-Cache. These processors do have a slight edge in games, but this advantage is mostly seen in games running at 1080p or similarly "low" resolutions. The advantage disappears in many games at higher resolutions, where the limits of frame rates are bound to the graphics card.

There is an aspect of future-proofing to these V-Cache-equipped CPUs, for use with high-end graphics cards that have not yet been released. But generally speaking, we do not recommend the use of AMD's 3D V-Cache processors except if you are buying the best one, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D, and pairing it with a high-end graphics card like a GeForce RTX 4090 or RTX 4080, and you intend to game mostly at 1080p, reaching for extreme frame rates for competitive play on a high-refresh gaming monitor. Even then, we would consider different processors for gaming at higher resolutions, especially as many faster equivalent-class processors are also priced lower.

Performance Goals and Long-Term Goals

To determine exactly what processor is best for you and your new gaming PC, you'll need to answer a few questions about what you want from the system. Most likely, you'll fall under one of a handful of groups based on your goals, which enables us to make recommendations relatively easily.

Advice for 4K Gamers

If you want to game at 4K resolutions, then likely your best option is to buy a midrange processor such as an AMD Ryzen 5 or an Intel Core i5, or a Ryzen 7 or Core i7 if you're looking for lots of cores for CPU-intensive work when you are not gaming. Gaming at 4K can actually be "easier," in a sense, than gaming at 1080p, as the graphics card is more likely to reach the limit of its frame-pushing power before the CPU is the component holding it back.

This is especially true in light of the fact that most people gaming at 4K today are aiming to run at 60 frames per second (fps), which has long been considered the ideal baseline refresh rate for gaming when the hardware going gets tough. Enjoying 4K-resolution gaming is still a bit of a rarified level for most shoppers; plus, high-refresh-rate monitors (above 60Hz) with 4K native resolution aren't casual purchases. If you happen to buy a monitor that's able to output a 4K signal above 60fps, and you are also buying a top-tier graphics card, such as an AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX or an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080, you may want to consider stepping up the processor to an AMD Ryzen 9 or an Intel Core i9 just to be safe and to avoid any potential bottlenecks.

Advice for High-Refresh Rate 1080p Gamers

If you want to run games with exceptionally fast refresh rates, you'll want to opt for the absolute best processor that you can afford, so long as it doesn't cut into your GPU budget. When you are gaming at 1080p, the processor is far more likely to create a bottleneck and hold back the graphics card from achieving its peak performance. This is especially true if you have a high-end graphics card, so the graphics card you own or intend to buy has a significant impact on your CPU choice here.

(Credit: Michael Justin Allen Sexton)

More mainstream graphics cards, like the AMD Radeon RX 6600 or the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, should be able to be kept adequately fed by a modern AMD Ryzen 5 or Intel Core i5 processor. These mainstream processor solutions are quite capable, and the latest AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and Intel Core i5-13600K are able to stand toe-to-toe with faster processors while gaming until you get past cards on the level of an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080. At that point, these chips fall slightly behind their faster kin in some game tests. With an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti or better, it would be wiser to opt for an AMD Ryzen 7 or Intel Core i7 to avoid any bottlenecking.

Even an AMD Ryzen 9 or Intel Core i9 isn't totally outside of the realm of practicality for high-refresh gaming at 1080p, though you'll likely only need to opt for such a high-end chip if you are purchasing the likes of an AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT or 7900 XTX, or an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 or better.

Advice for 1440p (2K) Gamers

If you play games at 1440p or 1600p (aka, 2K), you likely reside somewhere between the two aforementioned camps. Gaming at 2K will be more demanding on your GPU than gaming at 1080p but, at the same time, many 2K monitors support higher refresh rates, with 120Hz and 144Hz models being ever more common. Here again, higher refresh rates put more strain on the processor, as it needs to work faster to keep the GPU fed with data to generate those higher frame rates.

Realistically, we consider AMD's Ryzen 7 and Intel's Core i7 processors the ideal options for 2K gaming, as they have the extra oomph for running higher refresh rates without costing nearly as much as the Ryzen 9 and Core i9 options.

Advice for Budget Gamers

Gamers on a truly tight budget realistically don't need to worry as much about what processor they buy. Buying a capable graphics card is far more important, and even an AMD Ryzen 3 or Intel Core i3 can handle many mainstream GPUs reasonably well. If you can fit an AMD Ryzen 5 or an Intel Core i5 into your budget, though, that would be ideal even if it's a last-gen model like a Ryzen 5 5000-series or an Intel Core i5 11th (LGA1200) or 12th Gen (LGA1700) chip. But, if opting for the likes of a Ryzen 3 or Core i3 lets you get even a slightly better graphics card, then that's the better option.

Notes for All, and Later Upgrades

Regardless of which of these groups you fit into you, if you're building, upgrading, or buying a PC for serious gaming, always prioritize buying the best graphics card you can over buying the absolute best processor you can. Except in extreme-mismatch scenarios, or unless you game at 1080p with exceedingly high refresh rates, you are more likely to have your graphics card hit its performance limit before your CPU does. This doesn't hold up, say, if you paired an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 with an Intel Core i3. But in the majority of reasonably well-built systems, the graphics card hits its limit first while gaming.

(Credit: Michael Justin Allen Sexton)

Now, that is not to say that you should toss all your money into a graphics card and forget about the CPU. But you would be better off, for example, with a Core i5-13600K and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 than you would be with an Intel Core i7-13700K and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti. Our key takeaway here is to prioritize the GPU selection first, and get the best or most appropriate processor to go with it, with what budget you have left.

We should also make it clear that, while we may recommend an AMD Ryzen 5 or an Intel Core i5 as sufficient for gaming above 1080p, we see no harm in buying a faster processor for your gaming PC so long as it doesn't cut into your GPU budget. Buying a faster processor can be beneficial in many scenarios outside of gaming, and getting a faster processor now could keep the door open to a GPU upgrade in a couple of years without having to build a whole new PC. We know of many gamers who do just this and opt for a reasonably fast CPU beyond what they strictly need in the moment. Then, they then use this processor and motherboard throughout the life of two GPUs before doing another full system upgrade or rebuild.

That's also a valid strategy, if you have the budget to pay now to enjoy later. But know that chip prices fall over time, and it's possible if you don't buy the highest-end chip for the platform today, you might be able to upgrade in a few years' time, say, to a Core i7 from a Core i5 for a lot less than the initial cost of the i7 today.

To sum up, we've mapped out our top gaming CPUs below, broken out with detailed specs. If you're building a new system from scratch, you'll also want to take a look at our recommendations for the best M.2 SSDs and PC tower cases. Or if you'd rather buy a balanced off-the-shelf model, you can check out our favorite gaming desktops, too.