Best Gaming CPU in 2021 – High End & Budget CPUs for Gamers

A good gaming CPU is the one that brings the perfect balance between features, performance, and the price. Choosing the best gaming CPU for your budget has always been a conundrum, given the sundry options in the market. We at CPUsage have gone through the twisting and toiling on your behalf to present you with the list of our top picks that your money can afford in 2021.

Before we let you get through our list, let us acknowledge a few things first. None of the brands that we have listed below have sponsored us in any way and we do not endorse any of them. The opinions we shared here are very personal and are based on our actual experience with the products. With that said, let us get further.

Best Gaming CPU in 2021 – AMD Ryzen or Intel which is good?

Gifting yourself with the most powerful CPU on the market isn’t alone going to help you. It is effective only if you are going to pair it with the right rig. Especially for the gaming freaks out there, bringing in a beasty gaming CPU doesn’t alone create an impact if it isn’t accompanied by a powerful GPU, decent RAM, and storage with faster access speeds. Remember, power is a cumulative factor.

Most people find themselves in the gluepots to decide whether AMD or the Intel that is actually the best. Trust me, this debate has the potential to start another World war. There is active research going on in Area 51 to decide a clear winner. Wink Jokes apart! AMD with its recent lineup has pushed itself in the race giving tough competition to Intel processors. However, most-expensive mainstream Intel processors do slightly better in terms of gaming. When it comes to tasks like content creation and video editing, the AMD processors have an upper hand, thanks to the extra threads and cores.

#1. Intel Core i5-10600K – Best for average gaming chores

In our initial testing, the six-core 12-threaded Core i5-10600K performed surprisingly well and it is clocked at a 4.1 GHz base and 4.8 GHz boost. It also comes with Intel’s most loved UHD Graphics 630 integrated graphics processor (IGP) and a rather high TDP of 125 watts.

Intel cleverly priced the 10600K keeping the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X in mind. The Intel Core i5-10600K is only compatible with Intel’s new LGA 1200 socket. Most modern models like Z490, H410, B460, and H470 host the LGA 1200 socket. However, if your ardent goal is to unleash the maximum power of your CPU, you might want to opt for a Z490 board as it comes with “K” chip support for overclocking and does better at power handling needed to push a 125-watt i5-10600K CPU.

Technical Specifications, Pros & Cons of -Intel Core i5-10600K

---

#2. AMD Ryzen 5 3600X – Best budget gaming CPU

Now feature-proof your build with the aid of the Ryzen 5 3600X with its ardent support for PCI Express 4.0 which most other mid-range gaming CPUs lack. However, if you wish to install a PCIe Gen 4 SSD in your new Ryzen 5 3600X build, you will also need to invest in a motherboard that has the support for PCIe Gen 4 SSD.

The Ryzen 5 3600X boasts a 35MB Level 3 cache which is more than double the 16MB of the preceding Ryzen 5 2600X and Ryzen 5 2600. There is a cheaper alternative, the Ryzen 5 3600 that comes in at 3.6GHz base and 4.2GHz boost. It has a TDP of 65-watt and also shares the support for CPU-based PCI Express 4.0. You might want to opt for this if you wish a nick in your budget while not having to compromise much on specs.

Technical Specifications, Pros & Cons of –AMD Ryzen 5 3600X

---

#3. AMD Ryzen 7 3700X – Best for mid-range gaming

Though the Ryzen 7 3700X has the same number of cores and threads as its predecessors, the new 7nm technology yields much better performance and lower power consumption compared to them. AMD has done the smart work in increasing the IPC (instructions per clock) to over 15% on this gaming CPU when compared to a 2nd Generation processor measured at the same clock speed. The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X boasts a whooping 36MB of total Cache while L2 being 4MB and L3 is 32MB.

The biggest considerable addition to the 3rd Gen Ryzen devices is the support for PCIe 4.0. NVMe SSDs are 51% faster than the non-PCIe 4.0 SSDs. With a decent NVMe SSD, one can achieve sequential read speeds up to a whopping 5000 MB/s. The party doesn’t end here. The PCIe 4.0 when paired with a capable graphics card like the Radeon RX 5700 XT or RX 5700, can perform exceptionally well.

Technical Specifications, Pros & Cons of – AMD Ryzen 7 3700X

---

#4. Intel Core i9-10900K – Best gaming overall

Having lost performance battles left and right with its ardent competitor in the past, the CPU giant Intel hoped to give its rival the toughest competition with the release of the Comet Lake-S lineup. As a result, Intel’s flagship i9-10900K is released with an extra two cores over its predecessor Core i9-9900K with a total of 10 cores and 20 threads. However, in reality, the i9-10900K doesn’t vie well with the 3900X in most CPU-heavy workloads and doesn’t also get par with the 9900K in terms of raw gaming performance.

It is lame that even expensive flagships from Intel don’t share its support for the PCIe 4.0 while AMD is housing it in its most budget gaming CPUs. Also, Intel Comet Lake-S processors use the Z490 chipset and a new LGA1200 socket which technically means that you cannot use existing motherboards with the Intel Core i9-10900K. Intel has played a cool trick in better thermal management on this chip by thinning down the die and implementing a much thicker heat spreader for better management of the increased heat as a result of the higher thermal design power (TDP).

Technical Specifications, Pros & Cons of – Intel Core i9-10900K (CPU)

#5. AMD Ryzen 9 3900X – Best for high-end gaming Processor

AMD claims that it has significantly increased the IPC in its 3rd generation Ryzen chips by up to 15% which can ultimately yield better single-core performance compared to its predecessor, the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X. The Ryzen 9 3900X comes packed with a whopping 64MB of L3 cache and 6MB L2 cache. This is especially helpful in yielding high framerates in 1080p gaming chores.

Like most other 3rd generation CPUs, the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X comes equipped with the support for PCIe Gen 4. At the time of writing this article, the only graphics cards that use PCIe 4.0 are the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT and AMD Radeon RX 5700. Apart from the graphics cards, you could also opt for an NVMe SSD with support for PCIe 4.0 to acquire greater access speeds compared to the previous-gen SSDs.

Technical Specifications, Pros & Cons of – Ryzen 9 3900X

Heat sink – A heat sink (also commonly spelled heatsink)

The heatsink is a cooling device equipped to regulate the temperature of a CPU. A heatsink either utilizes fans or liquid cooling (active) or aluminum radiators (passive) for the cooling mechanism.

Core – A processor core (or simply “core”)

A core is usually the basic computation unit of the CPU. Technically, each core can run a single program context maintaining the correct program state, registers, and correct execution order, and performing the operations through ALUs. A CPU can have one or more cores that can handle individual tasks at a time. With the introduction of multithreading, each core can be further divided into more virtual cores to execute different processes simultaneously. In simple terms, the more are your cores, the better is its performance.

Thread – A thread is a virtual version of a CPU core

Threads are virtual components that divide the physical cores of a CPU into virtual multiple cores to handle more number of tasks simultaneously. Each physical CPU core can have up to 2 threads. In simpler words, if a CPU has 2 physical cores, it will have a total number of 4 threads. And if it has 8 cores, it can have 16 threads in total. Threads are especially helpful for applications that use graphical processing, video editing, and rendering. However, most modern games have now started to adopt the multithreaded processing to yield better gaming performance.

Clock Speed – The clock speed measures the number of CPU Instruction Cycles

Clock speed refers to the speed at which a CPU can execute instructions and is measured in hertz. For instance, a processor with a 4.8 GHz clock speed can process a total of 4.8 billion instructions per second. It is one of the most critical factors in order to yield better gaming CPU performance and other production workloads. As a simple notion, the more is your clock speed, the better will be the task handling capacity of your CPU.

Turbo Boost – Turbo Boost Technology is a way to automatically run the processor core faster than the marked frequency

The Turbo Boost or boost clock is a technology that allows a processor to run at a higher clock speed under demanding workloads. Both Intel and AMD have the provision for boosting the clock with some limitations. However, Turbo Boost refers to Intel’s proprietary term for boosting the clock. In other terms, Turbo Boost refers to a temporary clock where the CPU boosts its speed up to 0.5GHz over the factory clock as long as it can handle the temporary increase in the temperature and voltage before coming back to its base clock.

Overclocking – overclocking is the practice of increasing the clock rate of a computer

We hear this term a lot, especially in the gamer’s sphere. Overclocking is a technique used to speed up the computer beyond the manufacturer’s specification to make it run faster by increasing its instruction handling capacity. With the overclocking technique, one can significantly boost the CPU’s performance. However, when a CPU is overclocked it tends to heat up more. Therefore, a good cooling system is equipped. Moreover, overclocking if done incorrectly, can damage your CPU.

Socket type PGA (Pin Grid Array), LGA (Land Grid Array), or BGA (Ball Grid Array) –

The socket or CPU socket refers to the physical component on the motherboard where your CPU chip sits and is interfaced with the motherboard. Based on the physical design, the CPU sockets are majorly classified into three types. They are PGA (Pin Grid Array), LGA (Land Grid Array), or BGA (Ball Grid Array). LGA socket type is used by the Intel motherboards that have the pins as part of the socket itself. With AMD’s AM4 solution, PGA, the processor itself comes with the pins which fit into the holes on the socket. While the BGA socket is the one whose processor pins are directly soldered to the motherboard, most laptops come with the BGA socket.

Cache or Caching – Cache is a small amount of memory which is a part of the CPU

The cache is another important aspect to consider while picking a good gaming CPU. CPU caches are small pools of memory that are used to store information that the CPU is most likely to process in the next execution. The main goal of the cache system is to ensure that the CPU has the next chunk of data it is likely to process, already loaded into cache by the time the CPU goes looking for it. This ultimately increases the processing power of a CPU. Depending on the architecture, the cache memory is further divided into three – L1, L2, and L3. Just remember – more cache, better performance.

PCIe – (peripheral component interconnect express) PCIe

PCIe or peripheral component interconnect express is an interface found on the motherboard which is a standard for connecting high-speed components. Almost all desktop PC motherboards have a number of PCIe slots to which one can add a dedicated Graphics processor (aka GPU or video cards), Wireless interface cards, RAID cards or a solid-state drive (SSD). Depending on the standards, the PCIe interface is classified into different generations. Each generation has a different set of bandwidth, frequency, and also differs in the data transfer rate. However, the current advanced standard is PCIe 4.0.

IPC – Instructions per cycle

IPC stands for instructions per clock cycle which is a measure of the average number of instructions executed for each clock cycle. IPC is not usually listed as a spec and is measured through benchmark testing, so the best way to learn about it is to read reviews.

Bus Speed – Refers to the speed of the front-side bus (FSB)

Bus speed usually refers to the speed of the front-side bus (FSB) which connects the CPU to the northbridge. The speed of an FSB can range anywhere from 66 MHz to over 800 MHz. The computer’s performance is dramatically affected by the FSB speed as the CPU reaches the memory controller through the northbridge.

Things to consider while choosing Good Gaming CPUs

These are the ones that you need to look into before deciding on a good gaming CPU.

The first thing to start with while choosing the best gaming CPU is to decide on what you intend to use your build for. A CPU that is best at handling a specific task may not reap the same results when it comes to other activities. So, it is advised to better decide on your need and choose a CPU that checks in all of your boxes.

Below mentioned are a few popular goals you might want to consider.

A. Casual Gaming

Casual gaming doesn’t demand massive frame rates or doesn’t involve live-streaming your game time. It is more like a free time hobby. You don’t require to have an expensive gaming mammoth as popular AAA games aren’t your cup of tea. Being a casual gamer, you only look for a build that can run some low-intensive steam games and most esports titles. In this case, you could opt for a CPU that has a clock speed of 3.0 or higher and has at least 4 cores and 8 threads. And if your budget permits, you could opt for a processor with 6C/12T at the most.

B. Hardcore Gaming Builds

Hardcore gaming chores demand a powerful overall build. Being a hardcore gamer, your prime goal is to achieve higher frame rates. Usually, it used to be the scenario where there isn’t a need for a fancy number of cores and threads for high-end gaming. Things started to change now. Most modern games are adapted to distributing loads between cores and threads. So, you might want to get a percent processor with at least 6 cores and 12 threads with clock speeds over 4 GHz. Higher FPS games demand a lot of graphical power. Invest your money wisely on a decent dedicated GPU, faster RAM, and a good SSD.

C. Stream as you game

Most people love to stream as they game. This has been a trend for quite some time now. Popular platforms like YouTube and Twitch accept live streams from your gaming sessions. This requires a lot of processing power which technically means that you will be needing a processor with relatively more cores and threads than a typical gaming build. A decent gaming processor with at least 8 cores and 16 threads and having a clock speed of over 4.0 GHz should do the job.

D. Content Creation/Productivity

If you are a full-time content creator who deals with a lot of video editing, graphical processing, and rendering chores and occasionally plans to use it for gaming, you should gift yourself a CPU with more thread count and decent clock speeds. A processor with at least 8 cores and 16 threads having clock speeds over 4.0 GHz can be an ideal pick.

• best motherboard for 10600k
• best motherboard for 10700k
• best budget CPU motherboard combo

Frequently Asked Questions about – How to Choose Top gaming CPU in 2021?

Below mentioned are some of the quests about the best gaming processor that we hear a lot from our readers. We assume most of your askings are answered in this section. If you still have something to ask, feel free to drop a comment down below. One of our editorial board team members should respond soon.