The best processors in 2024: AMD and Intel CPUs duke it out

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

AMD and Intel person fought for supremacy for decades, duking it retired successful a bid to make nan champion processors you tin buy. The title is fierce, and that's a awesome point for PC enthusiasts. In 2024, nan database of nan champion CPUs is larger than ever and packed pinch options from Team Red and Team Blue.

The bang-for-buck king is nan Ryzen 9600X, but its last-gen 7600 counterpart is still worthy considering. At nan apical end, for gaming we person nan unthinkable 7800X3D, and nan 9950X for productivity, while Intel's caller 285K has recovered its ain constricted niche for fans of Team Blue.

Here are nan champion CPUs you tin bargain successful 2024.

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

AMD Ryzen 9600X

The champion worth processor

Why you should bargain this: It's 1 of nan fastest CPUs you tin bargain for astir $250.

Who it's for: Builders looking for nan champion bang for their buck.

Why we chose nan AMD Ryzen 9600X:

AMD's Ryzen 9600X didn't rustle nan doors disconnected erstwhile it launched successful August 2024, but pinch caller value reductions and a fewer package improvements, it's go a existent bang-for-buck contender for nan champion CPU around. With six cores, 12 threads, and a precocious boost-clock speed, it's a powerful midrange processor that punches good supra its weight. It isn't a immense upgrade complete nan last-generation 7600 successful gaming, but it is faster, and its productivity capacity has improved by leaps and bounds, each while maintaining fantabulous efficiency.

It besides useful connected immoderate existing AM5 motherboard, meaning you don't request to upgrade your full strategy if you're coming from Ryzen 7000. It supports faster representation than older CPUs, too, and it's afloat overclockable, truthful if you for illustration to tweak your strategy for added performance, this spot is simply a awesome choice.

If you request much than six cores, nan 7700X is astir $20 much and tin connection somewhat amended gaming performance. Pure gamers should besides see nan Ryzen 9000 X3D CPUs, arsenic they're apt to beryllium champion if you don't do immoderate activity connected your machine. But for an affordable, all-rounder processor pinch nan latest features astatine a awesome price, you can't find overmuch amended than nan 9600X.

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D

The champion gaming processor

Why you should bargain this: It's easy nan champion gaming processor successful position of worth and performance.

Who's it for: Gamers who want top-notch capacity without spending much than necessary.

Why we chose nan AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D:

With nan motorboat of nan Ryzen 7 7800X3D, nan 5800X3D yet has a worthy successor. This CPU is nan fastest gaming CPU retired there, beating Intel's Core i9-13900K by miles and moreover eclipsing nan 14900K successful astir games. In axenic gaming scenarios, it besides keeps up pinch nan pricier Ryzen 9 7950X3D.

The Ryzen 7 7800X3D benefits from AMD's 3D V-Cache technology, and erstwhile again, it shows disconnected nan powerfulness of adding copious amounts of L3 cache connected apical of nan chip. It sports a full of 104MB cache, which marks a drastic upgrade from nan Ryzen 7 7700X, which only comes pinch 40MB.

In position of halfway counts, AMD seems to person stuck pinch what worked good for it before. The processor has 8 cores and 16 threads. The boost timepiece velocity is considerably little than successful nan Ryzen 7 7700X -- nan 7800X3D maxes retired astatine 5GHz. However, it still remains acold superior successful gaming tasks.

This spot is insane for gaming, but it drops disconnected a cliff successful productivity tasks erstwhile you comparison it to nan Ryzen 9 7950X3D. However, for axenic gamers, this should not beryllium a problem. In our soul testing, nan CPU deed almost nan aforesaid frames per 2nd (fps) arsenic nan much costly portion -- 239.3 versus 239.5. If you conscionable want a coagulated processor for gaming, prevention your money and spell pinch this one.

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Intel Core i9-13900K

The champion Intel processor for gaming

Why you should bargain this: It tops capacity charts successful astir each benchmark, and it's cheaper than nan title from AMD.

Who it's for: Enthusiasts who request precocious halfway counts and blistering timepiece speeds to accelerate video editing, compression, and different demanding tasks.

Why we chose nan Intel Core i9-13900K:

Intel's 13900K mightiness not beryllium nan flagship it erstwhile was, but it's fundamentally nan aforesaid arsenic nan 14900K, it's cheaper, and it uses little power. It's nary measurement adjacent arsenic businesslike arsenic nan newer 285K, either, but it's faster for gaming, truthful if you're looking for an Intel level for activity and play, past nan 13900K is nan champion of nan best. And it's seeing awesome caller value drops, too.

Similar to nan previous-generation's Core i9-12900K, nan Core i9-13900K combines capacity (P) cores and businesslike (E) cores. Core counts are up this clip around, though. You're getting 8 P-cores designed connected nan caller Raptor Cove microarchitecture, arsenic good arsenic 16 E-cores utilizing nan Gracemont architecture from nan erstwhile generation.

Those other cores thief accelerate demanding multithreaded tasks, which is why nan Core i9-13900K managed an 8% lead complete nan Ryzen 9 7950X successful Cinebench R23. The redesigned P-cores besides thief nan Core i9-13900K outpace AMD's champion by 12% successful Cinebench's single-core test.

Across astir each benchmarks, nan Core i9-13900K tops nan charts, aided successful nary mini portion by further L2 cache and boosted timepiece speeds. It's nan fastest processor you tin buy, but much importantly, it comes successful cheaper than AMD's Ryzen 9 7950X.

However, it can't drawback up pinch nan X3D CPUs successful gaming, truthful you will beryllium falling down a small location if you opt for this powerful Intel alternative, truthful carnivore that successful mind. The upgrade way is simply a small limited, too, arsenic you only really person nan 14th gen to move to and thing location beyond nan very apical chips tin compete pinch nan 13900K.

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

AMD Ryzen 9 7950X

The champion AMD processor

Why you should bargain this: It's insanely fast, and it's group up to support AMD's early platforms for galore years.

Who it's for: AMD fans who want nan champion of nan champion and don't mind spending a small extra.

Why we chose nan AMD Ryzen 9 7950X:

While it's not rather arsenic accelerated arsenic nan 13900K aliases 14900K successful gaming aliases productivity, and falls a fewer steps down nan newer 9950X, there's nary denying nan earthy powerfulness of nan Ryzen 9 7950X -- particularly astatine adjacent to $200 little than its successor.

The processor delivers connected its promises, offering a 31% jump successful single-core capacity and a 36% betterment successful multi-core capacity compared to nan erstwhile generation. It takes a flimsy backmost spot successful immoderate tasks compared to nan Core i9-13900K, but only by razor-thin margins. And successful immoderate games, for illustration Far Cry 6, nan Ryzen 9 7950X is really a spot faster.

Beyond nan processor itself, nan Ryzen 9 7950X introduces AMD's AM5 platform. It utilized to beryllium overmuch much expensive, but thankfully, caller motherboards and falling prices for moreover nan best DDR5 RAM make nan upgrade a small much affordable. In addition, AMD says it will support AM5 until astatine slightest 2027 (and possibly beyond). That intends you tin upgrade to nan 9000 bid aliases early CPU generations down nan line, without changing your motherboard.

Although nan Ryzen 9 7950X isn't astatine nan highest of performance, it's conscionable a measurement behind. And pinch features for illustration Smart Access Memory and distant level support connected offer, it's still a very charismatic flagship CPU, astatine a much affordable price.

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D

The champion last-gen processor for gaming

Why you should bargain this: It's still a monster of a gaming CPU, moreover pinch current-gen options making nan rounds.

Who it's for: Gamers who don't request a batch of CPU powerfulness for different tasks.

Why we chose nan AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D:

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D is nan fastest AM4 processor for gaming ever made, and it will clasp that title for nan remainder of time, because location are nary caller AM4 chips coming down nan tube which tin compete. It blows everything other from nan aforesaid procreation retired of nan h2o and remains competitory successful gaming pinch overmuch newer processors. Why? A funny exertion called 3D V-Cache.

For specs, nan Ryzen 7 5800X3D is somewhat worse than nan guidelines Ryzen 7 5800X. It comes pinch nan aforesaid 8 Zen 3 cores, but nan timepiece velocity is 200MHz slower, and you can't overclock nan 3D-stacked part. The quality is that nan Ryzen 7 5800X3D comes pinch an further 64MB of L3 cache stacked connected apical of nan processor.

It doesn't sound for illustration a large deal, but other L3 cache makes a large quality successful games. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D thumps everything while gaming, including nan Core i9-12900KS that costs doubly arsenic much. It's besides still competitory against newer CPUs from some Intel and AMD.

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D is 1 of nan best gaming CPUs, and it only really takes a backseat to AMD's 3D V-Cache newcomers, nan Ryzen 9 7950X3D and nan Ryzen 7 7800X3D. Keep successful mind that this is simply a axenic gaming CPU. If you scheme connected doing aggravated video encoding aliases different productivity tasks, it's amended to spell pinch an AMD aliases Intel spot pinch a higher halfway count.

Intel

Intel Core i3-12100F

The champion processor nether $100

Why you should bargain this: It's still a competent quad-core processor that's very inexpensive.

Who it's for: PC builders connected a tight fund who want a coagulated processor for gaming and activity without overspending.

Why we chose nan Intel Core i3-12100F:

It's reliable uncovering CPUs nether $100 successful 2024, but nan Core i3-12100F is simply a standout. It's portion of nan Alder Lake family, and though it does person newer-generation counterparts successful nan 13100 and 14100, they are much costly and don't execute overmuch better, making nan 12100F an absolute bargain for a fund gaming PC.

The Core i3-12100F is simply a quad-core CPU that ranks among nan best Intel processors you tin buy. It doesn't travel pinch a hybrid architecture, alternatively opting for 4 capacity cores, but that doesn't wounded capacity excessively much. It lacks onboard graphics, too, truthful you will request a dedicated graphics paper pinch it.

Gaming is surely possible, moreover if it's a spot down nan six-core Ryzen 5 5600X, and day-to-day usage is excellent. This is an entry-level processor, nary doubt, but nan Core i3-12100F still punches supra what its value would suggest.

The only caveat present for precocious 2024 is that nan Core i3-14100F has been connected waste astatine astir $90 recently. If it's still location erstwhile you look it up, get that instead. It has a somewhat higher timepiece velocity and will springiness you a flimsy capacity bump complete nan 12100.

AMD

AMD Ryzen 5 8500G

The champion processor pinch integrated graphics

Why you should bargain this: It's 1 of nan fewer bully APUs that you tin bargain correct now, and it's comparatively cheap.

Who it's for: PC builders connected a tight fund who want a coagulated processor for gaming and activity without overspending.

Why we chose nan AMD Ryzen 5 8500G:

Gaming without a GPU is possible, but it's not an perfect experience. The AMD Ryzen 5 8500G is an exception, because its onboard RDNA 3 GPU is much than tin of playing astir games astatine 1080p mean settings astatine 30 frames per 2nd (fps) successful AAA games, and a acold higher complaint successful much casual titles. It's not going to switch a dedicated graphics chip, and nan CPU isn't arsenic accelerated arsenic its non-APU counterparts, but it's a awesome prime for GPU-free gaming.

It has six Zen4+ cores, giving it coagulated CPU performance, pinch support for 12 threads. It is constricted to a 5GHz boost clock, though, which is little than its Ryzen 7000 counterparts. Still, it has a debased TDP, and if you're building a fund gaming machine, want to prevention money to bargain a bigger graphics paper later, aliases are putting together a compact instrumentality that will only do ray gaming, nan 8500G is simply a awesome pick.

If you want much power, nan 8700G is available, but it's astir doubly nan value and its capacity isn't that much better.

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

AMD Ryzen 9950X

Best CPU for productivity

Why you should bargain this: It's nan fastest CPU for multi-threaded workloads.

Who's it for: Developers, video editors, aliases anyone performing heavy, demanding tasks pinch their PC.

Why we picked nan AMD Ryzen 9 9950X:

AMD's 9000-series didn't make immoderate awesome leaps successful gaming capacity (look retired for nan X3D variants for that) but it did make immoderate fantabulous gains successful productivity, making nan full-fat, AMD Ryzen 9950X, 16-core Zen 5 CPU nan absolute pinnacle of user PC hardware erstwhile it comes to getting activity done. With businesslike Zen 5 cores, sky-high timepiece speeds, and boatloads of cache, nan 9950X is an absolute beast for churning done dense workloads.

The Intel 285K does springiness it a tally for its money successful a fewer places and prime apps, but nan 9950X is by acold nan much accordant CPU, pinch its azygous halfway architecture removing a batch of nan headaches of Intel's Big.Little creation philosophy.

The 9950X is expensive, but if you tin make much money aliases get your activity done faster by utilizing a much powerful CPU, it's good worthy nan upgrade. And, though it's not marketed for gaming, it's still faster than astir CPUs for that, too. It's moreover getting patches and updates that springiness it a existent limb up there, truthful watch this abstraction for early updates and improvements.

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Intel Core Ultra 9 285K

Best Intel CPU for productivity

Why you should bargain this: It's nan fastest Intel CPU for work.

Who's it for: Developers, video editors, aliases anyone performing heavy, demanding tasks pinch their PC.

Why we picked nan Intel Core Ultra 9 285K:

If you want a really powerful productivity CPU, past get nan Ryzen 9950X, but if you want a really powerful Intel CPU for productivity, get nan 285K. It's not arsenic bully astatine gaming arsenic its predecessors, but it's still plentifulness accelerated for that too. Where it really shines is successful productivity, wherever contempt having fewer threads, it often thumps aliases gives nan AMD 9950X a tally for its money.

However, that capacity is presently rather inconsistent, and though this CPU is overmuch much efficient, it's not that efficient. Certainly not capable to warrant nan problems. As Digital Trends' Jacob Roach pointed retired successful his review, it's a very awesome portion of kit, and does bode good for nan future, but it's conscionable not arsenic bully arsenic it should be.

That said, if you really want nan pinnacle of Intel capacity successful 2024, this is it. This is nan champion you tin do. Pair it up pinch accelerated memory, and you won't beryllium disappointed — you conscionable mightiness beryllium leaving immoderate capacity connected nan table.

Intel

Intel Core i5-13400F

Best worth Intel CPU

Why you should bargain this: It's a CPU that punches supra its weight astatine an affordable value tag.

Who's it for: Gamers and different users successful hunt of a bully deal.

Why we picked nan Intel Core i5-13400F:

The Intel Core i5-13400F mightiness beryllium a last-generation chip, and it mightiness beryllium a small slower than nan new-gen 14400, but there's a sizeable discount to beryllium had for opting for this somewhat older model. It useful connected nan aforesaid motherboards, supports nan aforesaid DDR4 aliases DDR5 memory, and it has nan aforesaid (albeit limited) upgrade potential.

It's nan cheapest Intel 13th- aliases 14th-generation CPU pinch ratio cores, truthful its productivity capacity is earnestly impressive, rivaling overmuch much high-end CPUs from older generations and offering reliable title for higher-end AMD CPUs. Pair it pinch a midrange graphics card, and this is simply a earnestly tin spot for gaming.

As for upgrades, you'll only beryllium capable to move it retired for higher-end 13th and 14th gen chips, which does springiness you an upgrade path, but that's nan extremity of it. After this generation, you'll request to move retired nan motherboard for thing new.

AMD

AMD Ryzen 5 7600

Best AMD fund CPU

Why you should bargain this: It's a well-rounded CPU that doesn't costs an limb and a leg.

Who's it for: Gamers and different users successful hunt of a bully deal.

Why we picked nan AMD Ryzen 5 7600:

AMD made judge that nan pome doesn't autumn acold from nan character pinch nan Ryzen 5 7600. It's adjacent to its predecessor successful immoderate ways, sporting nan nonstop aforesaid halfway count, but it does connection a number of generational upgrades that make it a bully measurement to future-proof your PC.

The Ryzen 5 7600 comes pinch six cores and 12 threads. It has a maximum timepiece velocity of 5.2GHz. It's a beautiful well-rounded processor, pinch coagulated gaming performance, but besides plentifulness of room for productivity. It's not going to hit immoderate of this generation's heavyweights, but it's much than capable moreover for AAA gaming purposes.

The downside of it lies successful nan other disbursal compared to nan last-gen chip, and it's each owed to AMD's caller AM5 platform. This intends a caller motherboard if you're upgrading, and unfortunately, you person to instrumentality pinch DDR5 representation owed to a deficiency of DDR4 support.

This is why nan previous-gen spot is still a very charismatic prime — overall, you're looking astatine rather large savings if you instrumentality to nan erstwhile generation. On nan different hand, switching to AM5 now intends plentifulness of room for upgrades going forward.

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