The processor is one of the most important components inside any PC, be it a laptop or desktop. This piece of technology is responsible for handling instructions that need to be processed for running an OS such as Linux or Windows. The better the processor you have, the more the CPU will be able to handle and the faster and more responsible the system will be. We've got the best CPUs available right here that cater to various budgets and system builds.

The best CPUs you can buy in 2024

The Intel Core i5-14600K is one of Intel's most affordable Core processors from the company's 14th-gen stack, but it's also one of the best. It replaces its predecessor at the top of our list, thanks largely to Intel taking the same basic design and simply making it better. We loved the Core i5-13600K and the newer chip is better in almost every way. The Intel Core i5-14600K comes with 14 cores and 20 threads, effectively doubling the number of E-cores compared to the 12th-gen Core i5-12600K. This results in a total of 8 efficient cores (E-cores) and 6 performance cores (P-cores) for a total of 14.

All this performance on a chip with a default TDP of 125W. P-cores will always prioritize foreground applications, such as gaming, calling on the E-cores when required, or for background tasks. What all this means in simple terms is outstanding performance in lightly threaded tasks, such as gaming, and competitive performance in heavier, multi-thread workloads. For gaming, you'll only lose out on a few frames per second compared to an Intel Core i9, but you'll save on cost and power draw. It's also unlocked and can be pushed up to a maximum TDP of 181W.

However, if you also end up with an Intel Arc GPU such as the Intel Arc A770, the regular 14600K can use its iGPU in conjunction with the Arc to unlock features like Deep Link and Hyper Encode.

Intel isn't alone in offering excellent value processors at a reasonable price and AMD is here with the AMD Ryzen 5 7600. It's priced lower than the Intel Core i5-13600K and comes with far fewer cores and threads but these cores are considerably faster and you can overclock this 65W chip with ease. Just like the Core i5-13600K, the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 is one of the best processors in terms of value. The new Zen 4 architecture is built on a 5nm process, making the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 incredibly efficient. As was the case with previous AMD Ryzen 5 processors, you're getting six cores and 12 threads.

Unlike Intel's 12th and 13th Gen processors, AMD only supports DDR5 RAM with its Ryzen 7000 processors. This does mean you will need a new motherboard for the AM5 socket and DDR5 RAM if you're moving from an older system with DDR4 memory. And we're going to return to performance here as 38MB of total cache is fantastic for processing heavy loads. Remember those six cores? They can boost up to 5.1GHz, which is seriously fast and what you'd hope to achieve through overclocking in prior generations of CPUs.

The Ryzen 5 7600 is the stand-out of AMD's current range. Unless you're building a workstation or something that needs as many threads as possible, say for streaming or creative work, buying this one is a no-brainer.

AMD makes some of the most powerful processors in the market and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is about as good as you can get without entering enthusiast and workstation territories. Whilst Intel is moving to a hybrid core design, AMD is sticking to its more traditional guns and the Ryzen 9 7950X is about as traditional as you can get with a flagship processor. It has 16 physical cores and 32 threads of raw power. This processor isn't the best pick for gaming since 16 cores are largely overkill and most of them will remain idle in even the more demanding PC titles.

Where such a processor truly shines is in content creation, be that streaming or video editing. If you need a lot of cores for heavy tasks, this is the CPU for the job. Like the excellent AMD Ryzen 5 7600X, AMD will only be supporting DDR5 RAM here. It's impressive in use and can even take on Intel's Core i9-13900K even in single-core tests, which is something Intel used to score big on. Cooling may be a problem if you don't have a capable AIO liquid cooler at hand. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X gets hot. Ultimately AMD has made a pretty meaningful update to the Ryzen family and its flagship model is going to be popular with creators.

The Intel Core i9-14900K is Intel's flagship 14th-gen processor. It ticks a lot of boxes and is a good choice if you're building a PC that needs to operate at high tiers of performance. It's better in most cases to the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X but both CPUs often trade blows, making both a solid pick for a flagship PC build. Intel claims this to be the world's fastest gaming CPU, but we'd recommend lower-tier processors for gaming alone. Where this processor comes into play is for more intensive workloads. We're talking encoding, streaming, and other professional applications.

This processor has 24 total physical cores, eight of them being P-cores and 16 E-cores. This results in a total of 32 threads, offering plenty of channels for crunching data. This does mean the chip will draw more power and produce additional heat, but we'd always recommend a decent AIO liquid cooler for such a processor. The clock speeds are ridiculous too with the Core i9-14900K able to turbo boost up to an impressive 6 GHz with stock settings.

There's also 68MB of cache to play with and Intel includes support for both DDR4 and DDR5 RAM, allowing you to keep existing modules. There was a time when you would have to use an enthusiast platform to get extreme performance, but Intel has firmly established it in the mainstream now.

The Intel Core i3-13100 is perfect for those who are looking to score a bargain with a budget-friendly chip. With an MSRP of just $144, it's incredibly affordable, especially when you consider this thing has four physical cores, making it decent for gaming. Coming with four P-cores means the Core i3-13100 lacks the E-cores as we've seen with a lot of other high-end 12th and 13th Gen chips. The lack of hybrid architecture allows this CPU to work independently of Intel's new Thread Director.

It is also a stellar gaming chip that easily outperforms a lot of AMD's competing processors. In fact, this particular chip is proven to be almost as good as the Intel Core i5-13600K and Ryzen 5 7600X in gaming, which is very impressive. With proper tuning, the Core i3-13100 is an excellent budget chip for lesser powerful systems that also happens to do well in gaming.

The AMD Ryzen 7 8700G is an impressive processor with incredible integrated graphics. The iGPU is so powerful, you could run this CPU without a discrete GPU and enjoy smooth 1080p gaming. The cost of graphics cards continues to push gamers to seek alternatives when looking at upgrades or PC builds and the Ryzen 7 8700G offers just that. It's an affordable way to buy a CPU and GPU with a single component. This chip doesn't do either perfectly well, but AMD has struck the perfect balance between computing and gaming performance.

There are 8 cores and 16 threads, allowing you to get a lot done simultaneously. Each one of these cores can boost up to 5.1GHz. Then there are the eight Radeon GPU cores, which is where the magic happens with PC gaming. Because the graphics are integrated with the processor itself, the memory controller and RAM modules will handle all the data storage for running the latest games. This makes it slower than a GPU with dedicated VRAM and limits how hard AMD can push this chip. It also means you can get more out of it through memory overclocking.

Being a 65W processor, the 8700G doesn't produce much heat. The included stock cooler from AMD is more than capable of handling its output and keeping temperatures in check, though I would always advise upgrading to an aftermarket cooler when possible. In my extensive testing with the processor, I found the AMD Ryzen 7 8700G to be a pleasant gaming CPU to use without a dedicated graphics card. It's even possible to enjoy some 1440p gaming!

Picking the best CPU for gaming involves looking at core speeds above all else, as video games are still not designed to run well with 32 threads. Then there's the cache, which allows the CPU to store and access more data on the chip itself instead of relying on system memory. This is where the incredible AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D comes into play. It's designed with gaming in mind thanks to its impressive cache configuration with 140MB of the stuff. For comparison, AMD's most capable Ryzen 9 7950X has just 81MB.

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D is capable of hitting some high clock speeds with each core capable of hitting 5.6GHz by default. There are still 12 cores and 24 threads, providing plenty of performance headroom for running the latest PC games and background software. It's expensive, brand new, and has a TDP of 120W, which isn't too bad in the grand scheme of things, but pair this up with a capable AIO liquid cooler, and you'll have a monster gaming chip.

Now it's time for the big one. The incredibly expensive and powerful AMD Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5995WX is about as good as you can get for a CPU. If you need the absolute most performance available and need a workstation that can handle big data applications, look no further than this flagship AMD processor. It may be Zen 3 and not the newer Zen 4, but you'll quickly find out why it's still worth buying. First, let's talk cores and threads. It has 64 cores and 128 threads, which is an incredible configuration for heavy workloads.

Then there's support for up to 2TB (2,048GB) of system memory across eight memory channels. To put that into perspective, most consumer-grade CPUs only support up to 128GB. Finally, we've got 128 PCIe 4.0 lanes, making the Ryzen Threadripper Pro 5995WX perfect for a highly specialized PC build. This CPU alone is capable of matching or exceeding dual-socket server deployments, which makes the asking price all the more appealing if you truly require this much performance. Gaming is also within the reach of this processor, however, we don't recommend this CPU just for gaming alone.

Intel's Core i5-13600K is our favorite processor from the 13th-gen family of Intel chips. Its successor is the Core i5-12600K and is one of the best processors you can buy for gaming and general PC usage. Inside the processor are six P-cores and eight E-cores, resulting in a total of 20 threads. The P-cores come with Hyperthreading, allowing the processor to do far more than it would with just one thread per core. These powerful cores can boost up to 5.1GHz.

E-cores are designed for handling background tasks, as well as assisting P-cores when necessary. They're slower, but this does allow the CPU to draw less power when not being fully utilized. Just like 14th-gen processors, there's support for both DDR4 and DDR5 RAM and you can use this processor on a 600 or 700 series Intel motherboard with an LGA 1700 socket. It may be an older choice today, but it's still worth considering saving money.

Choosing the best CPU

Figuring out what you're going to do with your PC and allocating a budget for it is a good place to start a PC build. A CPU is not the only core component affecting performance, but it can certainly hinder the overall output of the rest of the system. A good general all-rounder though is either the Intel Core i5-13600K or the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X.

Both are "mid-range" CPUs that don't cost a fortune and they're also able to deliver some serious performance that will make them useable for years to come. Content creators, enthusiasts, and workstation buyers are equally well-supported, with Intel's Core i9-13900K a definite stand-out should you require even more performance.

What is the best CPU?

Picking the best CPU largely comes down to the socket type your selected motherboard has, as well as how much you're willing to spend. AMD and Intel are the two players in the CPU space for desktop computers, yet there are countless processors across numerous generations that could be considered. This is where choosing the right one can prove daunting to new system builders.

When upgrading an existing system, your options will be limited to the socket and chipset on your motherboard. When shopping around for new PC parts for a complete build, the processor can be selected prior to the motherboard. Regardless, the socket of the motherboard and processor need to match. For example, the Intel Core i5-13600K supports LGA 1700 and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X only works with AM5.

AMD and Intel at least attempt to make it easy to decipher their respective processor catalogs. The first digit of the four-figure model number denotes the generation. The Core i9-12900K is a 12th Gen Intel processor and the Ryzen 5 7600X is a 7th Gen AMD processor. The best motherboards allow for a processor to be overclocked, providing considerable boosts in performance. Not all processors allow for overclocking, and we'll note this for each recommendation.

A core is what handles the instructions sent to the CPU. The more cores present on the chip, the more instructions can be processed simultaneously. Then there are threads, which share the resources of a core, effectively splitting it up into multiple processing units. Depending on what you plan on doing with the PC, even the more affordable processors have multiple cores and threads.

The speed of a processor is also important and is measured in gigahertz (GHz). It represents how many pulses per second a CPU is able to handle. The higher these speeds, the more instructions can be processed each second. Boost and burst speeds are what a processor is able to hit during heavy loads and in short durations, respectively.