Best Processors for Gamers on a Budget

Given the wild popularity of the Ryzen 5 3600, its prices are not going to go down. On the contrary, compared to the beginning of last year, they have even grown, and at the beginning of 2021, most stores are asking almost $300 for it. In principle, the price is fair, but there is no hint of the status of a “people's” processor, as was the case with the Ryzen 5 2600. But if you plan to assemble a system based on the Zen 2 core (or Ryzen Matisse), then the junior Matisse 3500X can be an excellent plan B.

It boasts the same six cores, an unlocked multiplier, factory overclocking, and the same 32 MB of L3 cache. The only difference is that the Ryzen 5 3500X does not have additional virtual cores. The operating frequencies of the cores start at 3.6 and can rise to 4.1 GHz if necessary. Thanks to the unlocked multiplier, the operating frequencies can be raised a little more, reaching the same 4.2 GHz as the older Ryzen 5 3600X. And even a little higher. True, you can’t catch up much here, since the Matisse line is not strong in overclocking, almost all the juices were squeezed out of it at the production stage. If you still decide to overclock, be sure to take care of a high-quality cooling system (the OEM version does not have a cooler at all) and an appropriate motherboard with a good power subsystem and a VRM heatsink, which will be able to fully reveal the capabilities of this processor.

Overall, the Ryzen 5 3500X is a great success. For just $150, you get an optimal gaming (and not only) six-core processor with a classic AM4 socket and all the latest AMD developments on board, such as support for fourth-generation PCI-E lanes. Thanks to the increased number of Zen+ cores and the added cache, in most games and many resource-intensive applications it outperforms another popular Ryzen 2600 processor by 10-12%. The gap from the older Ryzen 5 3600 in heavy rendering and compilation tasks usually does not exceed 20%. As for gaming tests and comparison with Intel, the red Ryzen lags just a little behind the Core i5-9400F, but easily levels out this difference due to manual overclocking, which Intel simply does not have. Considering all of the above, we would recommend purchasing this particular option rather than the familiar Ryzen 5 2600X.

The AMD Ryzen 5 4500 is a mid-range processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, which is often used in ready-made OEM assemblies. If desired, it can be written down as the successor to the 3000 series, namely the budget Ryzen 5 3500X: both are sharpened for the AM4 platform, equipped with 6 cores and support auto overclocking up to 4.1 GHz. The difference is that the newer Ryzen 5 4500 supports multi-threaded processing, but has a smaller reserve of third-level cache memory.

In 2025, the relevance of this processor is decreasing due to the emergence of new generations, but for an ultra-budget gaming PC, it remains an acceptable choice due to its favorable price and sufficient flow Rate. According to modern standards, its computing power is suitable for basic tasks and moderate loads, including modern games at 1080p with moderate graphics settings. Especially if it works in conjunction with a video card of the GeForce RTX 3060/4060/4060 Ti level. Well, or Radeon 5700 XT/6700 XT, if you can find them on sale.

At the same time, the Ryzen 5 4500 has a fairly modest power consumption, does not heat up much and is equipped with a Wraith Stealth cooler. And this, albeit small, is still a reason to save a little on assembly. Compared to competitors, it shows a flow Rate level at the level of the Intel Core i5-10400F, but wins due to the unlocked multiplier, overclocking capabilities and support for faster RAM. And since it uses the AM4 socket, it can later be replaced with more powerful models such as the Ryzen 5 5600X or Ryzen 7 5700X3D if necessary.

Intel Core i3-12100F is currently the base processor for building a gaming PC. It is built on a homogeneous, not hybrid architecture. That is, unlike the older Core 12000 chips, it lacks additional energy-efficient cores. But it has four cores and eight threads of the fastest of the currently existing Alder Lake architectures.

Just a few generations ago, only the flagship Core i7 could boast such a number of cores and threads. Thanks to the high IPC (instructions executed per clock), in terms of frame rate in most games it surpasses the more multi-core Core i5-10400F and Ryzen 5 4500. And it is approximately on the same level as the more expensive 11400F and 5600X.

The Core i3-12100F automatically overclocks from the base 3.3 to the boost 4.3 GHz. The F version of the processor does not have an integrated video card, but it does have two RAM controllers: DDR4-3200 and DDR5-4800 MHz. The boxed package includes a simple Intel Laminar RM1 cooler: it is enough to cool the processor, but alas, you can’t call it quiet.

The Ryzen 5 5600 is an affordable six-core Zen 3 processor from the Vermeer family that supports multi-threaded processing, automatically overclocks from 3.5 to 4.4 GHz, and supports DDR4-3200 RAM. This CPU has good temperature characteristics and does not require as much cooling as the second- and third-generation Ryzen chips.

Just a couple of years ago, the Ryzen 5 5600 was the main hero of all mid-range gaming builds, but with the announcement of the new AMD AM5 platform, the price of components from previous generations dropped significantly. At the beginning of 2024, the Ryzen 5 5600 unexpectedly for everyone found itself in the entry-level price category. As a result, we get an interesting situation where a powerful 12-thread chip is sold at a very affordable price, and it is extremely difficult to find a similar offer in terms of price-flow Rate ratio.

At the time of release, the main competitor of the Ryzen 5 5600 was the more productive six-core Core i5-12400, which costs on average 25% more. In fact, for the same money, you can only buy an 8-thread Core i3-12100 from Intel, which is almost half as productive as the hero of this review. In addition, a motherboard for AM4 from AMD will cost less than a similar Intel platform.

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor with the highest IPC rating to date. It means the number of instructions executed per clock cycle, i.e. single-core flow Rate. This makes the i5-12400F the best 6-core for gaming. Only the 8-core Ryzen 7 5800X3D, which is three times more expensive, delivers more FPS.

But it doesn't have any additional energy-efficient cores - that's the prerogative of the older 12600K. There's no integrated graphics card either: if you need UHD 730, look for 12400 without the F index. But there is a fast PCIe 5.0 bus for a discrete graphics card, which allows you to use RX 6500, RX 6600 or RTX 3050 with a narrow x4 and x8 interface without losing FPS.

With a standard TDP of 65 W, the processor operates under multi-threaded load at a frequency of only 2.5 GHz. But if the motherboard can unlock the power limit, the frequency will increase to 4.4 GHz, as well as heat dissipation to 117 W. The total volume of the L2 + L3 cache is 25 MB. Both RAM standards are supported: DDR4-3200 and DDR5-4800.