The Best Gaming CPUs Of 2025 — Performance Leaders Ranked

2025 has come to an end, and we won’t likely have any more CPU launches in the last weeks of the year. This year, neither AMD nor Intel launched any CPU series, but mostly introduced a few more SKUs in the already existing CPU families. What we witnessed were the CPU launches that filled the budget segment, but of course, there were also major CPU launches in Q1 by AMD.

Several SKUs started appearing on the shelves later this year, mostly from AMD, which were silent launches. However, many of those actually proved to be excellent for gaming, but some remained lackluster. A few of them remained paper launches or didn’t hit retail shelves worldwide. Therefore, we didn’t get the chance to test them out, but thankfully have already reviewed most of the desktop CPUs since last year, from the latest AMD Zen 5 and Intel Arrow Lake series.

If you were waiting for the best gaming processor rankings for this year, here are our top picks for 2025, which offer solid bang for buck and should be your next upgrade.

Top Gaming CPUs of 2025 Ranked

Best Overall: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

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AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D

Ryzen 7 9800X3D is purely crafted for high-performance gaming. The processor has dominated 2025 without breaking a sweat and should continue to do so for months to come.

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D has remained at the top of the charts since its launch. It has been one year, and we have no competitor for the 9800X3D that could challenge it at a sub-$500 price point. Surely, AMD did launch competitive higher-end SKUs this year, but the 9800X3D remains overall the best gaming CPU that offers a much better value than the Ryzen 9 9000X3D chips. The CPU launched at $479, but now sees frequent discounts on several stores, dropping even under $449.

Its awesome gaming capability lies in its terrific Zen 5 architecture, coupled with the additional 64 MB L3 cache that lies underneath the CCD hosting those powerful 8 cores. Unlike previous generations, AMD made sure that the CCD can maintain direct contact with the IHS for improved cooling, ensuring the CPU can hit higher clock speeds without thermal throttling. With now full overclocking potential unlocked, the CPU can easily hit over 5.0 GHz on all cores, delivering excellent gaming and productivity performance.

Best Overall Alternate: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D

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AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D

For a noticeably lower price, the Ryzen 7800X3D can replace the 9800X3D and still offer competitive gaming performance on AM5 platform. It’s excellent price-to-performance ratio makes it a wonderful alternative in high-end rigs.

While the Ryzen 9800X3D took the top spot on the list, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D shouldn’t be underestimated. It was difficult for us to choose between the two for the best Overall spot, as the 7800X3D isn’t much behind the 9800X3D in performance. Since its current price point makes it a more attractive choice for gaming, we think it’s a no-brainer for enthusiasts who are looking to save $70-$80 for a slight performance regression.

Except for the architecture and the clocks, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D shares identical specifications in most areas. It brings an awesome Zen 4-based 8-core/16-thread configuration to deliver leading gaming performance for a sub-$400 price point and blows its competitors out of the water easily. The 7800X3D, therefore, remains in the top five best-selling CPUs in most parts of the world, and uses the AM5 platform to keep the upgradeability door open for the users.

Best Budget: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X

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AMD Ryzen 5 9600X

When you are searching for the best $200 gaming processor, the 9600X simply does it best. Despite having retaining the same 6-core/12-thread configuration, it leverages Zen 5 architecture and higher clocks to bring more performance to the table.

It’s a hard job choosing the best gaming processor in the budget segment. There are nearly a dozen excellent budget processors, falling in the $150-$250 price point, but the Ryzen 5 9600X takes the crown for being the most logical choice for most. It brings the classic 6-core/12-thread configuration based on the Zen 5 architecture, but runs much cooler than its predecessor, while delivering slightly higher performance.

Ryzen 5 9600X not just delivers higher frame rates in games, but is also superior in productivity apps. Keep in mind that despite this, it’s not the best productivity/gaming CPU as its rivals from Intel can do a much better job. The reasons why Ryzen 5 9600X sells much better than its competitors are that it does the job much more power-efficiently and gives users the latest AM5 platform that will keep on living for a few more years.

Best Productivity/Gaming: Intel Core Ultra 7 265K

Intel Core Ultra 7 265K

The Core Ultra 7 265K offers a well-rounded blend of gaming performance and productivity. At $300, you simply won’t find another 20-core CPU that matches what the 265K delivers

If you are looking for a balance between gaming and productivity performance, no Ryzen processor comes close to the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K. Despite the failure of the Arrow Lake series to deliver appealing gaming performance, a few of its SKUs deliver what millions need. Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is perhaps the best one in the lineup, offering much higher multi-core performance than its predecessors, its competitors from the Red team, and also satisfactory gaming prowess.

The Ultra 7 265K boasts an excellent 20-core configuration, bringing 8 performance and 12 efficient cores to ensure your primary apps/games can leverage the power of the 8 P cores while the secondary tasks are taken care of by the efficient cores. It can be power hungry at times, but gaming won’t be a big issue. The processor was launched for nearly $400, but it has come down to almost $300. With discounts, you can get one for as low as $250, which offers an excellent value.

Best High-End: Ryzen 9 9950X3D

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D

The 9950X3D is a monstrous chip that can’t be beaten in both gaming and non-gaming workloads together. Its 16-core configuration is just too much for most users, and caters to the demands of enthusiasts.

Debuted earlier this year, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D became the flagship Zen 5 desktop CPU in the current Ryzen 9000 family. Since Ryzen 7 9800X3D could easily beat the Ryzen 9 9950X in gaming, AMD knew it had to release faster options for those needing both leading productivity and gaming performance. Thanks to the new design, AMD no longer has to sacrifice on the clocks, and the Ryzen 9 9950X3D can easily boost up to 5.7 GHz, similar to its non-X3D variant.

In gaming, the Ryzen 9950X3D is mostly on par with the Ryzen 9800X3D, but can be faster sometimes. Overall, its 8-core CCD with the X3D chip remains the most active one in gaming workloads, while the other CCD takes care of the other tasks. This processor will keep you ahead in almost all workloads, but if you are just looking for that sweet-spot gaming performance, this might not be for you. At a price tag of $699, this is going to be unaffordable for most and, therefore, largely remains a choice for enthusiasts.

Honourable Mentions

Ryzen 5 7600X3D

It was hard not to include the Ryzen 5 7600X3D in our recommendations list, but the reason is its high price tag of $299. For a sub-$250, it would have made sense to invest in a 6-core/12-thread processor with leading gaming performance for this price, but the 7600X3D is simply not worth it at $300.

Ryzen 5 7500X3D

Ryzen 5 7500X3D is a very recently-released Zen 4 CPU that boasts lower clocks than the 7600X3D. It delivers on par performance with the Ryzen 7600X3D, but costs a whopping $269, which is still high for a 6-core CPU in 2025. It would have been a perfect gaming CPU for $200, but with AMD dominating the mainstream market, the company can set its prices however it wants.

Ryzen 5 9500F

Similar to the Ryzen 7500X3D, the Ryzen 5 9500F is the latest CPU in the Zen 5 lineup, with performance faster than the 7600X. However, it’s not yet available in most regions and doesn’t include an iGPU, which might be useful in certain circumstances.

Intel Core i5 14600K

Intel Core i5 14600K is an excellent gaming/productivity CPU in the budget segment, but the CPU has recently seen a surge in its price. Usually, it retails for nearly $200, but it has currently risen to nearly $250. However, price isn’t the only reason why we didn’t recommend it. It’s high power consumption compared to the 9600X, and the dying LGA 1700 platform made us skip it.

Considerations When Buying a Gaming CPU

Core Count: Going forward, we recommend moving to an 8-core CPU, as newer games are increasingly able to take advantage of additional cores. 6-core/12-thread CPUs are also fine, but only if you are spending $200 at max. If you have a budget of $250 or more, then it’s better to get a higher core-count chip for better future-proofing.

Architecture and L3 Cache: Newer architectures usually bring some noticeable IPC uplifts. Of course, there are some exceptions, but if you want to keep ahead, it’s better to stick with the latest gen processors to have those refined pipelines, scheduling improvements, and overall architectural optimizations that translate into higher real-world performance. On top of that, it’s best to take a look at the L3 cache, which greatly improves the gaming performance.

Power-Efficiency: Some processors can do a better or equivalent job by consuming less power than others. A prime example is the comparison between Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Ryzen 9 9950X3D, both of which offer similar gaming performance, but the 9950X3D can consume twice as power as the 9800X3D. If higher productivity is your goal, then this shouldn’t affect your choice.

FAQ

What CPU should I buy if I have only $150 or less?

For $150 or less, you can search for some budget CPUs in the Ryzen 7000 or Intel 12th or 13th gen family. Their prices usually fluctuate on a daily basis, and if you are lucky, you can get a good 8-core or 10-core CPU with satisfactory gaming performance. If your budget doesn’t allow you to spend over $100, look for Intel Core i3s or Ryzen 5 5500.

Is the Ryzen 5000 series still good in 2025?

If you can get your hands on a Ryzen 5000X3D chip, assuming you already own an AM4 platform, then definitely buy one. However, you shouldn’t spend over $250 if you are able to get something like a Ryzen 5800X3D or 5700X3D. For 6-core processors like Ryzen 5600X3D, one shouldn’t pay over $200. Keep in mind that all these processors have already been discontinued. So, it’s going to be extremely difficult to get those at these prices right now.

Is there any good gaming APU that can play games without a discrete GPU?

There are a couple of good APUs for the AM5 platform, which can let you play games at 1080p with low to medium settings, and even on higher graphical presets if you are going to play eSports titles or older games. Some of the best ones are Ryzen 5 8600G and Ryzen 7 8700G.

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