If you don’t have the time to research benchmarks, or if you don’t feel confident enough in your ability to pick the right processor for your next gaming machine, fear not. We at Tom’s Hardware have come to your aid with a simple list of the best gaming CPUs offered for the money.
September Updates:
We didn't have a lot to talk about in last month's CPU update, but we more than make up for it this time around.
Let's start with the big news: Intel's first eight-core desktop processor, capable of scheduling up to 16 threads concurrently with Hyper-Threading enabled. Based on the Haswell-E architecture, Core i7-5960X features 20 MB of shared L3 cache and a relatively low 3 GHz base clock rate able to hit 3.5 GHz by virtue of Turbo Boost. As our coverage shows, this is the new high-water mark for applications optimized for parallelization. It sells for a hefty $1050 price tag, though.
The Core i7-5930K and -5820K are both six-core derivatives that employ the same die with two cores and 5 MB of last-level cache disabled. But they operate at higher frequencies able to partly offset the loss in compute resources. Intel's -5930K has a 3.5 GHz base clock rate that accelerates as high as 3.7 GHz, and the -5820K starts at 3.3 GHz, ramping up as high as 3.6 GHz. All three CPUs are rated for 140 W and drop into the LGA 2100-v3 interface, which isn't compatible with LGA 2011. Because they come armed with a DDR4 memory controller, you'll also need new RAM. Intel further sets the Core i7-5820K apart by giving it 28 lanes of third-gen PCI Express, while the pricier models include 40 lanes.
At $390, the Core i7-5820K offers the best price/performance ratio in the Haswell-E-based line-up. If your application calls for as much PCIe bandwidth as possible, however, the $590 Core i7-5930K could be a better choice. I'm picking this mid-range processor as our replacement for the Core i7-3930K, making it the fastest recommended gaming processor for any price. To read more about the Haswell-E's capabilities, check our Chris Angelini's analysis: Intel Core i7-5960X, -5930K And -5820K CPU Review: Haswell-E Rises. For those of you interested in the server implementation of Haswell-E, check out Patrick Kennedy's Intel Xeon E5-2600 V3 Review: Haswell-EP Redefines Fast.
Of course, AMD didn't want to be left out of the fun. It introduced the FX-8320e, -8370e, and -8370. All three processors are based on the same Piledriver architecture first seen two years ago. The two models with the 'e' suffix are energy-efficient options; they're the first 95 W eight-core FX models available outside of Asia. Now, owners of low-cost motherboards with limited thermal ceilings can upgrade to host processors with eight cores. That wasn't possible previously. For reference, the $155 FX-8320e has 3.2 base clock rate able to stretch up to 4 GHz through Turbo Core, while the $210 FX-8370e starts at 3.3 GHz and jumps as high as 4.3 GHz. Given that both models are unlocked, the lower-priced chip is the easier choice.
As for the $209 FX-8370, it is simply an FX-8350 with the same 125 W TDP and 4 GHz base clock. However, it offers a 100 MHz-higher Turbo Core frequency that hits 4.3 GHz. Its thermal envelope is identical, so we don't think it's worth a $30 premium over the FX-8350. If you're interested in learning more, check out AMD Updates Desktop FX Processor Line With Three New CPUs, Price Cuts
Those are the new CPUs, but some previously-announced APUs also made it to retail, such as AMD's $84 A6-7400K, the only dual-core offering with 256 shaders. The quad-core/384-shader A8-7600 is available at $120, and the quad-core/512-shader A10-7800 can now be found for $165.
Intel also released a few new Haswell-based models in the Celeron and Core i3 families, such as the $105 Pentium G3460 at 3.5 GHz, the $130 Core i3-4160 at 3.6 GHz, and the $160 Core i3-4370 at 3.8 GHz. All of these new processors represent the highest clock rates in their respective families.
Speaking of Intel, we saw a significant number of price adjustments, which is unusual. The Celeron G1840, Core i3-4130, Core i5-4590, and Core i7-4790 shed $5 to land at $47, $120, $195, and $310, respectively. The Core i5-4430 dropped $10, bringing it down to $180 and making it our new recommended processor under $200. The Core i7-4770 lost $15, and is now available for $295.
As for AMD's price changes, we saw the FX-4300 and FX-6350 get $5 cheaper, ending up at $105 and $135. Quite a few of the company's processors dropped by $10, including the $50 A4-6320, the $90 A8-5600K, the $110 FX-6300, the $120 A10-5800K, the $140 A10-6800K, the $150 FX-8320, the $180 FX-8350, and the $220 FX-9370.
On a final note, we learned a lot more about Intel's Broadwell-Y-based Core M processors over the last month, and even got to play with some pre-release hardware at IDF 2014. For general information, check out Intel's Broadwell Core M Processor: New Details, SKUs and Specifics. And, if you'd like some hard numbers, look for our recent news piece: Intel's Broadwell Core M-5Y70: The First Benchmarks
Some Notes About Our Recommendations
This list is for gamers who want to get the most for their money. If you don’t play games, then the CPUs on this list may not be suitable for your particular needs.
The criteria to get on this list are strictly price/performance. We acknowledge that there are other factors that come into play, such as platform price or CPU overclockability, but we're not going to complicate things by factoring in motherboard costs. We may add honorable mentions for outstanding products in the future, though. For now, our recommendations are based on stock clock speeds and performance at that price. Remember to check out our new performance per dollar comparison page, where you can overlay the benchmark data we’ve generated with pricing, giving you a better idea where your ideal choice falls on the value curve.
Cost and availability change on a daily basis. We can’t offer up-to-the-minute accurate pricing information in the text, but we can list some good chips that you probably won’t regret buying at the price ranges we suggest (and our PriceGrabber-based engine will help track down some of the best prices for you).
The list is based on some of the best US prices from online retailers. In other countries or at retail stores, your mileage will most certainly vary. Of course, these are retail CPU prices. We do not list used or OEM CPUs available at retail.
Best Gaming CPU for $70:
We've long suspected that a low-priced, multiplier-unlocked, Haswell-based processor could rock the enthuisiast world, and we were right. Intel's Pentium G3258 enables incredible performance and overclocking headroom, despite its $70 price point. This is a dual-core CPU without Hyper-Threading technology, but it still challenges the quickest Core i3s once you tune it up. Read the Full Review
Intel Pentium G3258
Entry-Level Gaming
Best Gaming CPU for $110:
The FX-6300 fares well in gaming tests, presumably thanks to better multi-core utilization and optimization for AMD's architecture over time. While Intel's Core i3-4130 offers more potential, you won't be able to tell the difference most of the time. On the other hand, the FX-6300 costs $10 less, sports an unlocked clock multiplier, and features six integer cores that unquestionably benefit performance in threaded desktop applications.
AMD FX-6300
Budget Gaming Alternative
Best Gaming CPU for $120:
Intel's Haswell-based CPUs are very capable in games, though we're increasingly seeing dual-core Pentiums lagging behind in our favorite titles. Conversely, benchmark data makes it clear that the company's Hyper-Threading technology is effective in helping improve the performance of Core i3 CPUs in those same blockbusters. Although a locked multiplier limits overclocking to a few-megahertz bump in BCLK frequency, we still consider Intel's Core i3-4130 to be a good starting point for gamers who might upgrade to a faster LGA 1150-based processor in the future.
Intel Core i3-4130
Budget Gamer's Pick
Best Gaming CPU for $180:
Intel's Core i5 processors are well-known for their high-end gaming prowess at reasonable prices. We look to the i5-4430 for its balance between price and performance at $180. Although this CPU's multiplier is locked, you don't need aggressive overclocking to achieve excellent frame rates with it.
Intel Core i5-4430
High Performance Gamer's Pick
Best Gaming CPU for $240:
The Core i5-4690K's base clock rate is only 200 MHz faster than the Core i5-4590's. However, the K-series' unlocked multiplier is a must-have for overclockers looking to unleash significant performance improvements. It is for this reason alone that you'll want to consider shelling out an additional $40 beyond Intel's more entry-level Core i5. If you don't plan to overclock, there's no reason to spend any more than $180 on the Core i5-4430.
Intel Core i5-4690K
Overclocking Gamer's Pick
Diminishing Returns Kick In:
CPUs priced over $240 offer rapidly diminishing returns when it comes to gaming performance. As such, we have a hard time recommending anything more expensive than the Core i5-4690K, especially since this multiplier-unlocked processor is easy to tune up to 4.3 GHz or so with the right cooler. Even at stock clocks, though, it matches or beats the old $1000 Gulftown-based Core i7-990X Extreme Edition in our benchmarks.
We have seen a small handful of titles benefit from Hyper-Threaded Core i7 processors, though. Because we believe this is a trend that will continue as developers optimize their software, we're including the Core i7-4790K as an honorable mention, now selling for $340. In a vast majority of games, the Core i7 won't demonstrate much advantage over the Core i5. But if you're a serious enthusiast who wants some future-proofing and values highly-threaded application performance, this processor may be worth the extra money.
In addition, there's certainly an argument to be made for using LGA 2011-v3 as the ultimate gaming platform. Haswell-E -based CPUs have more available cache and as many as four more execution cores than the flagship LGA 1150/1155 models. Additionally, more bandwidth is delivered through a quad-channel DDR4 memory controller. And with up to 40 lanes of third-gen PCIe connectivity available from Haswell-E-based processors, the platform natively supports two x16 and one x8 slot, or one x16 and three x8 slots, alleviating potential bottlenecks in three- and four-way CrossFire or SLI configurations.
Although they sound impressive, those advantages don't necessarily translate into significant performance gains in modern titles. Our tests demonstrate fairly little difference between a $240 LGA 1150 Core i5-4690K and a $1000 LGA 2011 Core i7-4960X, even when three-way graphics card configurations are involved. It turns out that memory bandwidth and PCIe throughput don't hold back the game performance of existing Sandy Bridge-, Ivy Bridge-, and Haswell-based machines.
Where we do see the potential for Haswell-E to drive additional performance is in processor-bound games like World of Warcraft or the multiplayer component of Battlefield 4. If you're running a three- or four-way array of graphics cards already, there's a good chance that you already own more than enough rendering muscle. An overclocked Core i7-5960X or -5930K could help the rest of your platform catch up to an insanely powerful arrangement of GPUs.
To summarize, while we generally recommend against purchasing any gaming CPU that retails for more than $240 from a value point of view (sink that money into graphics and the motherboard instead), there are those of you who have no trouble throwing down serious money on the best of the best, and who require the fastest possible performance available. If this describes your goals, the following CPUs may be for you:
Best Gaming CPU for $340: None
Honorable Mention:
The Core i7-4790K benefits greatly from Intel's improved thermal interface material; it runs at a base clock rate of 4 GHz and ramps up to 4.4 GHz through Turbo Boost. It also boasts an extra 2 MB of shared L3 cache compared to Intel's cheaper Core i5 CPUs, plus Hyper-Threading technology. Combine the extra clock rate, cache, thread utilization, and the fact that Intel maintains the same $340 price tag. More so than the Core i7-4770K this chip replaces, the -4790K deserves a recommendation. Read the Full Review
Intel Core i7-4790K
Premium Gaming, Overclocking, And Application Performance
Best Gaming CPU for $590: (or for any price)
Take the $1,000 Core i7-5960X, cut two CPU cores out, remove 5 MB of L3 cache, and increase the base clock rate by 300 MHz and the max turbo clock by 200 MHz. What do end up with? Four hundred dollars and change left over, and an Intel Core i7-3530K. Intel Core i7-5930K
Ultimate Gaming, Overclocking, And Application Performance
You'd be hard-pressed to quantify the advantage of 20 MB of shared L3 cache over 15 MB. Moreover, a greater-than-$400 savings lets you buy a nice motherboard and cooler, while still getting the same four-channel memory subsystem and 40-lane PCI Express 3.0-capable controller. And games will respond to that clock rate increase more than they will to the i7-5960X's extra two execution cores. Read the Full Review
What about this other CPU that’s not on the list? How do I know if it’s a good deal or not?
This will happen. In fact, it’s guaranteed to happen because availability and prices change quickly. So how do you know if that CPU you have your eye on is a good buy in its price range?
Here is a resource to help you judge if a CPU is a reasonable value or not: the gaming CPU hierarchy chart, which groups CPUs with similar overall gaming performance levels into tiers. The top tier contains the highest-performing gaming CPUs available and gaming performance decreases as you go down the tiers from there.
This hierarchy was originally based on the average performance each CPU achieved in our test suite. We have since incorporated new game data into our criteria, but it should be known that any specific game title will likely perform differently depending on its unique programming. Some games, for example, will be severely graphics subsystem-limited, while others may react positively to more CPU cores, larger amounts of CPU cache, or even a specific architecture. We also did not have access to every CPU on the market, so some of the CPU performance estimates are based on the numbers similar architectures deliver. Indeed, this hierarchy chart is useful as a general guideline, but certainly not as a one-size-fits-all CPU comparison resource. For that, we recommend you check out our CPU Performance Charts.
You can use this hierarchy to compare the pricing between two processors, to see which one is a better deal, and also to determine if an upgrade is worthwhile. I don’t recommend upgrading your CPU unless the potential replacement is at least three tiers higher. Otherwise, the upgrade is somewhat parallel and you may not notice a worthwhile difference in game performance.
| Intel | AMD |
|---|---|
| Core i7-2600, -2600K, -2700K, -3770, -3770K, -3820, -3930K, -3960X, -3970X, -4770, -4770K, -4790K, -5820K, 5930K, -5960X Core i7-965, -975 Extreme, -980X Extreme, -990X Extreme Core i5-4690K, 4670K, 4670, 4570, 4430, 3570K, -3570, -3550, -3470, -3450P, -3450, -3350P, -3330, 2550K, -2500K, -2500, -2450P, -2400, -2380P, -2320, -2310, -2300 | |
| Core i7-980, -970, -960 Core i7-870, -875K Core i3-4370, -4160, -3250, -3245, -3240, -3225, -3220, -3210, -2100, -2105, -2120, -2125, -2130 | FX-9590, 9370, 8370, 8350, 8320, 8150, 6350, 4350 Phenom II X6 1100T BE, 1090T BE Phenom II X4 Black Edition 980, 975 |
| Core i7-860, -920, -930, -940, -950 Core i5-3220T, -750, -760, -2405S, -2400S Core 2 Extreme QX9775, QX9770, QX9650 Core 2 Quad Q9650 | FX-8120, 8320e, 8370e, 6200, 6300, 4170, 4300 Phenom II X6 1075T Phenom II X4 Black Edition 970, 965, 955 A10-6800K, 6790K, 6700, 5800K, -5700, -7800, -7850K A8-3850, -3870K, -5600K, 6600K, -7600 Athlon X4 651K, 645, 641, 640, 740, 750K |
| Core 2 Extreme QX6850, QX6800 Core 2 Quad Q9550, Q9450, Q9400 Core i5-650, -655K, -660, -661, -670, -680 Core i3-2100T, -2120T | FX-6100, -4100, -4130 Phenom II X6 1055T, 1045T Phenom II X4 945, 940, 920 Phenom II X3 Black Edition 720, 740 A8-5500, 6500 A6-3650, -3670K, -7400K Athlon II X4 635, 630 |
| Core 2 Extreme QX6700 Core 2 Quad Q6700, Q9300, Q8400, Q6600, Q8300 Core 2 Duo E8600, E8500, E8400, E7600 Core i3 -530, -540, -550 Pentium G3460, G3258, G3220, G3420, G3430, G2130, G2120, G2020, G2010, G870, G860, G850, G840, G645, G640, G630 | Phenom II X4 910, 910e, 810 Athlon II X4 620, 631 Athlon II X3 460 |
| Core 2 Extreme X6800 Core 2 Quad Q8200 Core 2 Duo E8300, E8200, E8190, E7500, E7400, E6850, E6750 Pentium G620 Celeron G1630, G1620, G1610, G555, G550, G540, G530 | Phenom II X4 905e, 805 Phenom II X3 710, 705e Phenom II X2 565 BE, 560 BE, 555 BE, 550 BE, 545 Phenom X4 9950 Athlon II X3 455, 450, 445, 440, 435, 425 |
| Core 2 Duo E7200, E6550, E7300, E6540, E6700 Pentium Dual-Core E5700, E5800, E6300, E6500, E6600, E6700 Pentium G9650 | Phenom X4 9850, 9750, 9650, 9600 Phenom X3 8850, 8750 Athlon II X2 265, 260, 255, 370K A6-5500K A4-6400K, 6300, 5400K, 5300, 4400, 4000, 3400, 3300 Athlon 64 X2 6400+ |
| Core 2 Duo E4700, E4600, E6600, E4500, E6420 Pentium Dual-Core E5400, E5300, E5200, G620T | Phenom X4 9500, 9550, 9450e, 9350e Phenom X3 8650, 8600, 8550, 8450e, 8450, 8400, 8250e Athlon II X2 240, 245, 250 Athlon X2 7850, 7750 Athlon 64 X2 6000+, 5600+ |
| Core 2 Duo E4400, E4300, E6400, E6320 Celeron E3300 | Phenom X4 9150e, 9100e Athlon X2 7550, 7450, 5050e, 4850e/b Athlon 64 X2 5400+, 5200+, 5000+, 4800+ |
| Core 2 Duo E5500, E6300 Pentium Dual-Core E2220, E2200, E2210 Celeron E3200 | Athlon X2 6550, 6500, 4450e/b, Athlon X2 4600+, 4400+, 4200+, BE-2400 |
| Pentium Dual-Core E2180 Celeron E1600, G440 | Athlon 64 X2 4000+, 3800+ Athlon X2 4050e, BE-2300 |
| Pentium Dual-Core E2160, E2140 Celeron E1500, E1400, E1200 |
Summary
There you have it folks: the best gaming CPUs for the money this month. Now all that’s left to do is compare their performance to your budget before you decide which one is right for you. We even put in the work to help find the best prices.
Also remember that the stores don’t follow this list. Things will change over the course of the month and you’ll probably have to adapt your buying strategy to deal with fluctuating prices. Good luck!
Follow us on Twitter for more tech news, reviews, and exclusive updates!
In an effort to further illustrate the performance you get for every dollar spent on our recommendations, we chart out the hierarchy of processors in our column. The green, blue, black, and red bars represent average frame rates in StarCraft II, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Far Cry 3, and an aggregate of all three titles. The orange line indicates cost. Mousing over the bars gives you a pop-up with performance statistics relative to Intel's Core i7-4930K, our 100% ceiling. Mousing over the dots on the orange line pops up a price that's easily attainable. Clicking a bar or dot gives you the option of shopping for a specific CPU, taking you to a link of our choice in that category. Often, our picks are priced lower than the number displayed.
Price and performance generally scale along a similar upward trend as we look down the chart, not including the pricey Core i7 options. Budget-oriented gamers should pay attention to the significant performance increase available when you step up from the $70 Pentium G3258 to the $125 Core i3-4130, though. The $180 Core i5-4430 looks great, offering performance close to more expensive options that cost well over $200.
After that, the speed-ups are more subtle, while the premiums are far greater (particularly as you look to the $590 Core i7-5930K). Frankly, if value is an important consideration, there's little reason to spend $180 on a Core i5-4430 (or even more on a Core i7) unless you want to overclock it for a better experience in some of your other apps. The Core i5-4430 is a clear performance-per-dollar winner, demonstrating no weaknesses in any of the games we've tested.
| Price | Starcraft | Skyrim | Far Cry 3 | Average | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Pentium G3258 | ![]() |
70.00 | Amazon | 75 | 58 | 76 | 69.7 |
| AMD FX-6300 | ![]() |
120 | Newegg | 73 | 61 | 87 | 74 |
| Intel Core i3-4130 | ![]() |
125 | Newegg | 85 | 74 | 84 | 81 |
| Intel Core i5-4430 | ![]() |
180.00 | Newegg | 99 | 97 | 95 | 97 |
| Intel Core i5-4690K | ![]() |
240 | Newegg | 99 | 97 | 95 | 97 |
| Intel Core i7-4790K | ![]() |
340 | Newegg | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Intel Core i7-5930K | ![]() |
570 | Amazon | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |





