Best CPU for Gaming in 2019
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Best CPU for Gaming in 2019
Whenever
you are starting to build a new PC, the best CPU for gaming is the logical
place. The more power your CPU gets, the quicker you can run your applications,
but also how much you can possibly run at once. Given that it's going to spend
the majority of its life buried under a giant heat sink or AIO cooler, it may not
have the same appeal as choosing the best graphics card, but your CPU is a key
to any high-end gaming PC. The component remains.
With
the potential savings of Black Friday right around the corner, it may be
tempting to pull the trigger on buying a shiny new CPU with the promise of
faster load times and massive Framart, but you might want to consider other
components that Your CPU is also working with your GPU. Pairing an i9-9900K
with a GT9 1660 is actually potentially pointless for your processor when it
comes to gaming. What you really want to achieve is the similarity between your
CPU and GPU; Unless you are in the market for the RTX 2080 TI (who really is?),
Then you will just to invest in the i5-9400F to get the same performance.
Also,
you may not need a new CPU to get an increase in your performance. Almost all
the CPUs we recommend are unlocked, meaning that with the right amount of
cooling, some clever tweaking and a little patience, even a last-gen CPU such
as the Ryzen 5 2600X is still through the dark May keep pace with modern games.
The art of overclocking. Most Ryzen CPUs come packaged with enough coolers to
increase the speed of your cooler, but if you're an Intel user, you'll want to
check out some of the best CPU coolers before attempting to pin the throttle.
Until
they see a tremendous price drop, we have dropped any recommendations of
high-end desktop (HEDT) CPU options from AMD and Intel. While these processors
offer better specs on paper, the actual dividend you will deduct from a thripper
or extreme series CPU from a gaming perspective is significantly thinner than
the money you're spending. Given the competitive performance and pricing from
AMD's 3rd Gene Rison CPU, HEDT becomes harder to justify ... which is why
Intel's upcoming Cascade Lake-X 10th Gen HEDT parts are basically the last 9th
gen. Half of the price of the parts.
1.core
i9-9900K
Fastest
Intel processor for games, streaming and more
Core:
8 | Threads: 16 | Base Clock: 3.6GHz | Turbo Clock: 5.0GHz | Overclocking: Yes,
4.9-5.0GHz Typical | L3 cache: 16 MB | TDP: 95 W | PCIe 3.0 lane: 16
The
best processor can mean a lot of things. For pure gaming, the Intel Core
i9-9900K is overkill, unless you're planning an extreme build with a top build
graphics card. For those who just play games, however, the Core i9-9900K is
Intel's fastest mainstream CPU.
The
cores found on HEDT chips such as the i9-9980XE or Thripper 2990WX in the Core
i9-9900K do not matter, but it is faster in games and costs a lot less. It
boasts the highest clockwork of any current processor, with excellent per-core
performance. The only thing that is likely to be fast is the upcoming Core
i9-9900KS, which would be considered 5.0GHz on all eight cores.
This
is the nominal 95W part, but it will often exceed the load. That's fine,
because you'll need to bring your own cooling — we recommend powerful liquid
cooling solutions like the NZXT Kraken X62 - but this is for all of Intel's
K-series and X-series processors. The 9900K is not the most efficient or
economical CPU option for gaming, but it should run through several GPU
upgrades in the coming years. Another, slightly more affordable option is
Intel's Core i9-9900KF which drops the integrated graphics present in the 9900K
and runs for about $ 30 less.
2.core
i7-9700K
Excellent
gaming performance at affordable prices
Core:
8 | Threads: 8 | Base Clock: 3.6GHz | Turbo Clock: 4.9GHz | Overclocking: Yes,
4.9-5.1GHz Typical | L3 cache: 12 MB | TDP: 95 W | PCIe 3.0 lane: 16
Intel's
Core i7-9700K is an interesting step down from the i9-9900K. It sports the same
number of CPU cores and has the same clock speed, but for the first time, Intel
has shipped a Core i7 without hyper-threading. In games, it is effectively (and
technically slightly ahead) associated with the more expensive Core i9, but
costs $ 100- $ 150 less.
It
is a balancing act between price, performance and features. It is also faster
than the outgoing Core i7-8700K, thanks to the extra core and clockspeed, even
though it has fewer threads. The lack of hyper-threading also means that the
i7-9700K is not as hot as the Core i9, so you can get with a good air cooler.
If
you are livestreaming (with CPU encoding), video editing, or any other serious
content creation task, it makes sense to go up to 9900K. But if you are
primarily concerned with gaming, then an 8-core Intel CPU that is closer to
5GHz is as good as it gets.
3.
Ryzen 93900X
AMD's
best CPU for gaming and everything else
Core:
12 | Threads: 24 | Base Clock: 3.8GHz | Boost Clock: 4.6GHz | Overlocking: Yes,
although PBO is better. L3 cache: 64 MB | TDP: 105W | PCIe 4.0 lane: 16
AMD's
latest and greatest third-generation Ryzen processors give the company its best
performance in our gaming CPU tests. The 3900X is probably not the fastest
gaming gaming CPU, but it is quite close at the settings and resolution that
gamers actually use, and it is disproportionately the faster CPU outside of
games.
AMD's
Ryzen 9 3900X is almost identical to Intel's Core i9-9900K, but includes a
decent Wraith prism cooler and has 50 percent more cores and threads. This
translates to 8 percent slower gaming performance, but 25 percent faster
performance in multithreaded workloads such as video editing and 3D rendering.
If
you're mostly concerned about gaming, the 8 percent reduction is actually lower
resolution with the lowest quality settings and lowest GPU available (RTX 2080
Ti). It matters if you are aiming for a professional gamer for 240fps at
minimum quality, but anyone else would be happy with the 3900X delivering
performance.
Overclocking
is possible, AMD locks you in a single lockspeed and means less clocks in light
workloads. On the other hand Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) can deliver up to
200MHz high performance while maintaining turbo ratio and is a better solution
for the 3900X. Memory overclocking on the other hand can often be of
considerable help, and we will examine it more in an upcoming article.
4.
Ryan 3700X
A
great mid-price choice for a gaming setup
Core:
8 | Threads: 16 | Base Clock: 3.6GHz | Turbo Clock: 4.4GHz | Overclocking: Yes,
4.2-4.3GHz (PBO is better) | L3 cache: 32 MB | TDP: 65W | PCIe 4.0 lane: 16
Falling
in price and number of cores from the 3900X, the Ryzen 7 3700X is nearly as
fast in games and has all the other advantages of AMD's Zen 2 architecture.
This includes PCIe Gen4 support, which is not really necessary today, but may
be useful during the coming years. This is the sensible AMD option, and for
over $ 300 you still get a Wraith Prism Cooler with 8-core / 16-thread CPU.
Compared
to Intel's i7-9700K, it's about 9 percent slower in gaming performance - again,
at 1080p with the RTX 1080 Ti. If you buy a sensible GPU like AMD's RX 5700 XT,
any difference in gaming performance is going to be largely meaningless.
Elsewhere, in multilayer applications, it is about 18 percent faster, and
overall it wins matchups both in performance and price.
As
a pure gaming CPU, the 3700X is good. Taking in the entire package, it is one
of the best buyers right now. With the 3900X, overclocking ClockSpeed is
relatively limited and PBO is the better solution, but memory tuning can potentially
make a big difference.
5.core
i5-9400F
A
great budget-friendly alternative to Intel
Core:
6 | Threads: 6 | Base Clock: 2.9GHz | Turbo Clock: 4.1GHz | Overclocking: No |
L3 cache: 9 MB | TDP: 65W | PCIe 3.0 lane: 40
The
Core i5-9400F is an interesting choice. It's slightly (barely) faster than the
previous gen Core i5-8400, but it digs Intel integrated graphics perfectly.
This is not a problem for the game, although you are out of luck if you want to
use QuickSunk (Nervia's NVNC on Turing is arguably better anyway). Overall, it
is an excellent budget-friendly option that does not cost more than the Core i3
part.
There
are other compromises, such as a locked multiplier — there is no overclocking.
But you can save money and grab an H370 motherboard. At least you get a cooler
in the box, something we would like to see as an option with each CPU. Most
boards will happily run the 9400KF at 3.9GHz, so don't worry about a low base
clock.
While
the i5-9400F may not be as fast as other CPUs in multithreaded tests, in our
gaming suite it is basically tied with AMD's 3900X. Future games may start pushing
beyond its 6-core capabilities, but perhaps not before you are ready to
upgrade. Right now, the i5-9400F is very fast and extremely affordable.
6.Ragen
5 3600
A
reliable mid-range CPU
Core:
6 | Threads: 12 | Base Clock: 3.6GHz | Turbo Clock: 4.2GHz | Overclocking: Yes,
4.2GHz Typical | L3 cache: 32 MB | TDP: 65W | PCIe 4.0 lane: 16
AMD
makes a strong case for its third-generation Ryzen CPUs with improved
performance and efficiency. In terms of gaming and other functions, the Ryzen 5
is slightly behind the 3600 3900X, but the emphasis is slight for a reason -
it's usually a 5 percent difference or less. Also, for a midrange CPU we
seriously doubt that anyone is planning to pair it with the RTX 2080 Ti. A
better option would be the RX 5700, or even a midrange GPU like the previous
generation RX 590. Anyhow, the 3600 won't hold you back.
You
still get a 6-core / 12-thread processor, and outside the games the 3600 is
about 40 percent faster than Intel's 9400F. But again, the 3600 also costs
more. PCI's Gen4-like AMD's Zen 2 architecture has other benefits, and AMD's
CPU has far fewer issues with side-channel attacks such as Meltdown, Spectre,
Foreshadow, and MDS, giving you some peace of mind as security . .
You can look at the Ryzen 5 3600X as a small step up in performance for $ 40 more, but the vanilla 3600 can do a little better thanks to a less starting point, effectively matching its more expensive siblings Eat. Again, faster memory with tight timing helps performance with Ryzen CPUs.
