10 best gaming processors

Every year the computing power of computer chips - central processors, video chips, etc. - getting bigger. More cores grow, the clock frequency increases, power consumption decreases, and the physical dimensions of the chips themselves decrease. All these increases are needed, of course, for faster work. But the vast majority of tasks require only a small part of this power. Creating documents, viewing news feeds, listening to music and even watching high-quality video is possible on a PC a decade ago.

What are powerful CPUs for? I think you already understood from the title of the article. It is modern video games that are able to load the processor in full. It depends on its performance whether the video card will reveal itself. More powerful processor - at higher graphics settings, you can play. Also it should be understood that there are no game processors only. You can use the same model for work, games, video editing and more.

Currently, desktop processors produce only two giants - AMD and Intel. It is impossible to single out an obvious leader among them; everyone has successful models and not so much. We in the traditional rating will consider the best representatives of both companies, well suited for games.

The best low-cost gaming processors: a budget of up to 10,000 rubles.

Entry-level processors are ideal for normal office work. However, play also work. If you get a decent video card, the performance of the system with the head is enough to run any modern game at medium or even high graphics settings.

3 AMD Ryzen 3 1300X

We start with the representative of a completely new line of processors from AMD. Ryzen 3 refers to the entry level CPU. Immediately it should be noted that the integrated video core is not here - you will have to buy the video card immediately. The chip includes 4 cores, working in stock at a frequency of 3.5 GHz. The cores are made according to the 14 nm technical process, which made it possible to get rid of the traditional problem of AMD - high temperature - the maximum value under high load and proper cooling system was 65 degrees (the maximum allowed by the manufacturer is 95). Cache volumes of all levels are slightly higher than that of a competitor from Intel. Practical benefits from this a bit, but still.

In all possible tests (gaming and synthetic), Ryzen lags slightly behind the leader. Speaking of games (testing was performed in conjunction with GeForce 1080 in FullHD resolution at maximum graphics settings): Battlefield 1 - 132 fps, Hitman - 68 fps, Rise of the Tomb Raider - 109 fps. However, you should not forget that this processor can be overclocked without special efforts and modifications to the cooling system to 3.9-4.1 GHz.

And here is a very big question, whether Intel will remain in second place in this case.

2 Intel Core i3-8100 Coffee Lake

If you treat people from the “take and use” category - the silver medalist of the rating will suit you more than AMD Ryzen. The main indicators are the same as in the 1300X - 4 cores, 14 nm process technology - however, the clock frequency is higher by 100 MHz. There is also a built-in video core, thanks to which the processor can be used as part of an office system without buying a discrete video card.

Test scores are on average 3-10% better than the bronze medalist. In individual games and benchmarks, the difference can go up to 30% in favor of Intel. On the same gaming system (paired with the GeForce 1080) in FullHD the resolution at maximum speed: Battlefield 1 is 136 fps, Hitman is 89 fps. At the same time, the cost of the chip is on average 300 rubles lower. The savings are small, but the possibility of overclocking and, consequently, improved performance are not available. Be sure to consider this when purchasing.

1 AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Summit Ridge

Formally, the leader of the rating refers to the middle class, but the cost allows you to directly compare it with representatives of the budget lines. And, I must say, the results are clearly not in favor of the latter. At the same time, the 1500X model has only four cores, unlike other processors in the Ryzen 5 line. The base clock frequency is 3.5 GHz. Overclocking to 4.0-4.1 GHz is not difficult, but you won't be able to jump higher - these are the limitations of the 14 nm architecture on which the CPU is built. To overclock, you don’t even have to change the cooling: the complete cooler is capable of diverting up to 80 W of energy with a TDP of 65 W of the processor.

Synthetic tests showed the following results: the model showed itself perfectly in rendering, multi-threaded calculations, video content processing. The remaining tasks are not performed as well, but there is nothing to complain about. According to the results of all tests, the Ryzen 5 1500X bypasses the previous participants by approximately 25-30%. Excellent figure, given the similar cost. The only drawback is the complicated setting of RAM paired with this processor. You will have to study the forums and be patient to get maximum performance.

The best gaming processors of the average level: a budget of up to 25,000 rubles.

We will not tire of repeating - the middle class in any category of goods will satisfy almost any user. The same with processors - models from this category will provide approximately equally high rates in games. Therefore, the main emphasis in the preparation of the rating was placed on the cost and optimization for specific applications.

4 Intel Core i5-9600K Coffee Lake

Let's start with the model, whose basic characteristics do not hit. Before us is a 6-core processor, made on 14 nm process technology. The base clock frequency of 3.7 GHz is an average. As a result, the i5-9600K is capable of equaling with models like the Ryzen 5 1600 on equal terms. But we should not forget about the high overclocking potential - the chip works stably at frequencies up to 5 GHz, competing with the most powerful processor category. There is no need to worry about temperatures - even after prolonged loading, the temperatures do not exceed 70 degrees. The volume of caches is 64/1536/9216 Kb.

In the synthetic tests, the Intel processor lags slightly behind its competitors from AMD. The lag is noticeable in multi-threaded tasks, such as rendering, video processing, etc. But in terms of performance per core, which is important in games, the 9600K is extremely good. With a powerful video card, the frame rate in FullHD resolution is off the scale. In 4K UltraHD, the acceptable frame rate was in all tested games, except for Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Among the shortcomings, memory support with a maximum frequency of up to 2666 MHz - I would like to see support for faster dies.

3 AMD Ryzen 7 1700X

The next line of the rating is occupied by AMD's pre-top gaming central processor. At first glance at the characteristics, it seems that the model is the most powerful in the category - after all, the presence of 8 cores inspires confidence. But the frequency is only 3.2 GHz, which is not enough compared to competitors from Intel. Yes, the multiplier is unlocked, but the reasonable frequency for this chip is 4 GHz - a little. But the amount of cache is much larger.
The performance picture is extremely curious. In synthetic tests, Ryzen 7 rips rivals to shreds. For example, in 3DMark the result was 18496 points, which is 30% higher than the category leader! Also, the processor renders video very quickly. In both cases, a large number of cores helps. But in games, the situation is not so joyful. When testing with GeForce GTX 1070 (FullHD, max. Quality) the results are as follows: Battlefield 1 - 97 fps, GTA V - 105 fps, the Witcher 3 - 86 frames. Separately, I would like to note the low heat - in the AIDA stress test, the temperature rose only to 43 degrees Celsius.

2 AMD Ryzen 5 1600

Ryzen 5 seems to be the best option among the three monsters. The cost of this model is almost 10 thousand less than that of competitors, and the gaming performance is almost the same. The game test results differ from those of the Ryzen 7 for a couple of frames per second, or they do not differ at all. "Synthetics" is expected to be lower, but we are buying the processor, not to drive tests, but to play.
Speaking in dry numbers, we have a 6-core processor whose cores operate at a clock frequency of 3.2 GHz. When overclocked to 3.9 GHz, the work is stable, but the voltage is 1.425 V. For long-term acceleration, AMD recommends not exceeding 1.35 V. Although the network has information about overclocking up to 4 GHz at a lower voltage, everything depends from the copy. The last thing worth noting is the low heat dissipation - the TDP is only 65 watts. The temperatures are lowest in the category - up to 41 degrees in the stress test

1 Intel Core i7-7700K Kaby Lake

After the release of the new “Risens”, the once-top Core i7-7700K slightly lost ground. The average cost of the CPU came close to 27 thousand rubles. The cores are only 4, but the frequency for the factory chip is high - 4.2 GHz, which compensates for the lack of cores. It is worth noting the presence of integrated video core, which can not boast of competitors from AMD. Also, the Core i7 is the only model that supports Hyper-Threading technology, which allows you to simultaneously execute two streams of commands. The multiplier is unlocked in all four participants.
Testing in games showed mixed results. On the one hand, in some games paired with GeForce 1070 (FullHD, maximum graphics settings), the difference with competitors is 2-3 frames per second, which can be attributed to inaccuracy. These are games like Battlefield 1, Crysis 3, The Witcher 3. But in old men like Skyrim, GTA V - the fps counter when using this CPU is almost a third higher! Apparently, it's all about optimization. But the same third higher and temperature. The numbers are not critical - about 60-62 degrees Celsius in the stress test - but competitors are much colder.

Best Top Game Processors

We finish the rating with top three gaming processors. It makes sense to purchase models from this category if there is a top-end video card, like the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti or RTX 2080. Such a system will be aimed at playing at least 2K resolution. Graphics settings, of course, the maximum.

3 AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1920X

In our case, AMD will be catching up with the newcomer. This gaming processor is notable for several indicators. Firstly, it includes 12 cores, which is quite rare. The standard clock frequency is 3.5 GHz. The overclocking options are great, but over 4 GHz it is not recommended to overclock the chip - temperatures increase too much, not all cooling systems can cope with them. Secondly, the giant cache - the volume of L3 is 32768 KB!

The performance in single-core tasks is expectedly lower than that of Intel, but several of them are worth using ... In synthetic tests that load all CPU cores, and when using several applications at the same time, all the advantages of this chip are shown - enormous performance. The main problem of the processor is very high idle power consumption.

 

2 Intel Core i7-7820X Skylake

No matter how good the AMD newbie is, this chip has the best price / performance ratio. For 40 thousand rubles you get 8 cores operating at a frequency of 3.6 GHz.Acceleration is possible, but at frequencies above 4 GHz the heat release becomes too large, which is why even water-cooling systems do not always cope. A distinctive feature and advantage of the model is the support of Hyper-Threading technology.

In synthetic tests, the picture differs from how many cores are used: if one thing is won by Intel, the situation is exactly the opposite in multi-core tests. In games, it all depends on the optimization for a particular manufacturer. Basically, the results are almost the same, but in games like Battlefield 1, the difference in frame rates is almost 20% in favor of Intel.

1 Intel Core i9-9960X Skylake X

"The most-most" is difficult to evaluate according to generally accepted criteria. So, the i9-9960X processor is confused with the cost - 134 thousand rubles per processor are considered by very few as a reasonable price. And do I need 16 cores for an ordinary user? The correct answer, of course, is not. For games, power will be redundant. The model can be recommended to those who earn work on the computer, for whom it is important to minimize the time for processing photos, videos, rendering 3D-models and other similar tasks.

Even with a base frequency of 3.1 GHz, the model is ahead of all (!) Competitors in the overwhelming majority of real-world problems and synthetic tests. But there is a TurboBoost mode that raises the clock frequency to 4.4 GHz. The volume of caches of the second and third levels is 16384 and 22528 MB, respectively. In addition to the high cost of the processor, it is worth considering its high power consumption and heat dissipation. We advise you to immediately attend to the purchase or assembly of high-quality water cooling system.

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