Could Ryzen by AMD be crowned as the ultimate gaming CPU? Once unwanted, AMD today holds everything above the sky, having snatched the crown that Intel had worn for so long. Let us look at the dominion that Ryzen has created to see if it does offer the very best gaming experience.
Tip: if you’re comparing processors, consider this AMD vs. Intel CPU comparison, as well the best gaming CPUs.
AMD CPUs in the Pre-Ryzen Era
Remember the dark ages of PC gaming? There was a time when AMD CPUs were considered a joke, not a powerhouse. Before Ryzen came along, AMD was resigned to mediocrity-a reign of a single socket and repeated rounds of recycled architecture. Skepticism from the gaming world was not unfounded.
Long before Zen and Ryzen brought about a revival for AMD, there was Bulldozer. Launched in 2011, Bulldozer promised a revolution: unmatched multi-core performance. But the titan arrived early at the party. Games and apps had still been clinging to single-core supremacy and couldn’t completely release its powers. To add insult to injury, Intel once again prevailed in per-core performance, and Bulldozer had to suffer in the shadows for years to come.
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
Bulldozer’s story is a cautionary tale: a radical CPU redesign that had to be tread upon with caution. Though it refined its architecture over time, it remained perpetually in the shadow of Intel when it came to gaming, a gap that would not be bridged until the tides started to turn in 2017.
Let an inconspicuous oversight hold up your dream gaming rig? Selecting the right computer parts can be a deceptively tricky decision-making process- so sharpen the blades of your knowledge to dodge common pitfalls.
How the Ryzen Launch Changed Everything
The phoenix rising from the ashes gave birth to Ryzen in 2017. Zen architecture thundered into the market, an inauspicious wake-up call for Intel. Having enjoyed years of unchallenged domination, Intel had become complacent. Their supposed innovations became yearly rituals of mere price hikes instead of real progress.
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
The introduction of Ryzen was nothing short of a seismic shift. The price-to-performance crown was wrested away from Intel, and AMD hegemony became order of the day; multi-core performance had leaped forward, and single-core abilities had managed to put Intel just within striking distance-a very serious gaming contender. As game engines embraced multi-threading, Ryzen 5 chips did not just compete with Intel Core i5s but instead outright defeated them in games based on more cutting-edge engines with the performance edge being indisputable.
Is AMD Ryzen Good For Gaming Today?
Forget ancient history: AMD Ryzen has taken a monopoly in the gaming scene. For a reason: while Intel and AMD practically used to slug it out, Ryzen just knocked-out into the limelight. These days, the Ryzen 7000 series, or the still-powerful 5000 series, will give you blisteringly fast frame rates at exceptional value. If you are planning to get yourself a new rig, if you are thinking of upgrading your rig, then AMD Ryzen is the way to go for serious gaming.
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Upgrade your gaming rig with the Ryzen 5 7600X or the Ryzen 7 7700X! Intel’s Core i5-13600K and newer i5-14600K may be strong contenders, but they will also carve up your wallet. AMD gives you exactly what performance you crave without breaking your bank. On top of that, AM5 is a future-proof platform built to last with easy overclocking so that you can squeeze every drop of power out of your system. Game on!
For years, Intel enjoyed a slim edge in single-threaded gaming, an edge that simply evaporated beyond 120Hz. How far away those were the days of Intel supremacies! Yet, Intel is back with a roar, now sitting atop the throne of gaming and productivity. Yet, don’t count AMD out. Ryzen 7000 series gives near-parity to Intel’s 13th and 14th Gen latest CPUs, thereby keeping this battle for supremacy alive and kicking.
Ryzen CPUs aren’t just good for gaming; they’re building the tools of the next generation for it. A classic example would be the Steam Deck and ASUS ROG Ally, with custom AMD Ryzen chips.’720 And these ambush portable play into a whole new paradigm.
Good to know: the Steam Deck can serve as a replacement for a gaming PC.
The Best AMD CPUs for Gaming
Are you ready to set the beast-a-wild in that new PC building? Let your hands run wet through the meticulously curated list of Ryzen desktop CPUs, seasoned to fit and remedy any budget and perform every demanding task. From budget-powerhouses up to the kings of ultimate performance, we have any Ryzen to materialize your digital dreams.
1. Best Ryzen APU: Ryzen 5 8600G
- Cores: 6
- Threads: 12
- Rated Frequency: 4.3 GHz (5.0 GHz boost)
- Integrated Graphics: Radeon 760M
- Price: $229
Image source: Newegg
The Ryzen 5 8600G is one of AMD’s latest and greatest desktop APUs.
Finding graphics cards is very hard in the current market. Or are you unwilling to settle for a budget GPU you’ll likely regret later? Then an APU might save you in gaming. Consider it a stealthy placeholder for some surprisingly decent gameplay at 1080p with settings dialed down while awaiting those GPU gods to smile your way. High frame rates without the headache of GPU are what an APU promises!
So, a dedicated GPU has been unleashed in your system? Great. But never forget the powerhouse that is still doing its thing: a superlative Ryzen CPU, sharing the same DNA as the Ryzen 7000 series. Therefore, we see here: a CPU plus the discrete GPU, a gaming juggernaut ready to pulverize through all titles, handing in 100-plus FPS in most games, obviously with most of them set at high settings. Get ready for insane smoothness and immersion!
Coming in technically with higher cores and threads, the Ryzen 7 8700G has 8 cores and 16 threads. Expect sticker shock at this point. Gaming-wise, the premium pricing of the product does not deliver worthy experiences and one is left questioning whether a higher price can pull in that minuscule increase in performance.
2. Best Budget Ryzen Gaming CPU: Ryzen 5 5600X
- Cores: 6
- Threads: 12
- Rated Frequency: 3.7 GHz (4.6 GHz boost)
- Price: $149
Forget about the overpriced Intel Core i5-12400F, for the Ryzen 5 5600X can take punches well beyond its class and can even deliver gaming performance that sometimes outshines its rival. While in the raw power department it just lags a little, the 5600X does value by freeing up the full might of your GPU so smooth frame rates can come knocking at your door without costing you an arm and a leg. Think of it as the greatest sidekick every graphics card could ask for: no bottlenecking, just pure gaming bliss.
Who needs dedicated graphics? Tap into the extra gaming power of this processor by pairing it up with the ultimate gaming graphics card and watching your system transform into a gaming powerhouse.
FYI: if you’re in the market for a new graphics card, consult our GPU buying guide before making a selection.
3. Best Mid-Range Ryzen Gaming CPU: Ryzen 5 7700X
- Cores: 8
- Threads: 16
- Rated Frequency: 4.5 GHz (5.4 GHz boost)
- Price: $300
Be the boss in the mid-range gaming scenario with the Ryzen 7 7700X. Sculpted via the hard and cutting-edge Zen 4 architecture of AMD, this CPU is not just good; it is a 1440p high-refresh-rate gaming BEAST. Expect buttery-smooth frame rates in the latest AAA titles as well as insane FPS rates in esports favorites of Fortnite and CS:GO. Modern games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake 2 are stressing the CPU more than ever before, and the 8-core 7700X is ready, willing, and able to gulp down unforgiving workloads with ease. 8-core processors have to now be considered a must-have.
With the common 8 cores and 16 threads structure, the Ryzen 7700X, however, turns into a real performance beast because of this brand-new Zen 4 architecture that speeds past even its mighty Zen 3 incumbent.
Price cuts for Ryzen are throwing shade on Intel’s Core i5-14600K. That razor-thin single-core performance margin Intel maintained? Ryzen just cut it even more. Suddenly, the 7700X is emerging out of the shadows as a gaming champion: an unbeatable price-to-performance player for Intel.
4. Best High-End Ryzen Gaming CPU: Ryzen 7 7800X3D
- Cores: 8
- Threads: 16
- Rated Frequency: 4.2 GHz (5.0 GHz boost)
- Price: $370
Forget incremental upgrades: The Ryzen 7 7800X3D is a frame-rate supernova, made for gamers forced to have absolute peak performance. With AMD’s revolutionary 3D V-Cache, this CPU conquers gaming, even overthrowing the Intel flagship Core i9-14900K in direct gaming trials. Don’t get constructive by the rhetoric of the Ryzen 9 7950X3D’s additional cores as diminishing returns set in very hard after that point. In fact, the 7800X3D is so close to real-world gaming performance that it drives the point home: high power is not enough; smart implementation takes the cake.
For gamers who’d also love to be content creators, squeezing every bit of power from a CPU, Ryzen 9 7950X3D is a beast to behold. But it might be that the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is the sweet spot, offering awesomeness that more or less just fits the bill, with not an inch of it wasted for overkill.
The new generation of games finds itself hitting the ceiling imposed by pure CPU power. You can accuse the consoles for that! They are, till now, exercising their lesser version of the Zen 2 architecture with 8 cores in an almost unorthodox manner. These are like running marathons on a treadmill meant for brisk walking.
Ultimate power in your dreams? Well, the Ryzen 9 is the portal to professional-level performance. However, for pure blissful gaming, the search ends at the Ryzen 7 7800X3D; it is the current king of the AMD hill.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many CPU cores do I need for gaming?
If you’re set on silky smooth 60 frames per second motion in the most graphically intensive modern titles, there can be nothing finer than your six-core Ryzen 5. Should you desire even higher framerates, this is when you will want to unleash an eight-core powerhouse with screaming fast single-core speeds. Ryzen 7 gets you a step closer to nirvana, while a Ryzen 9: When those blue pills are merely for time-killing, that’s when the really high-performance gaming obsession strikes, and it’s time for visual glory!
Does multi-threading impact gaming performance?
Remember those days when multithreading was just like that extra button on your controller you never used? Those days are now behind us. Modern games are greedy beasts, consuming CPU cores and cores as they have never done in the past. A six-core, twelve-thread CPU is the bare minimum for an adequate experience, and some games will gladly put even an eight-core CPU into maximum utilization mode. As game engines progress and virtual worlds grow richer and more complex, multithreading ceases to be merely an advantage and becomes an absolute necessity to provide the next-level gaming performance.
What is an APU? Why should I get one?
Want to forget clunky-style compromises? AMD’s APUs are basically a CPU and graphics card fused into a single chip, opening up budget gaming nirvana. Perfect for entry-level builds where a dedicated GPU is just a hopeful dream. But here’s the secret to success- APUs want speed! Faster RAM equals an outright rocket boost in performance, especially when mated with an overclocked Ryzen processor. So, free your APU by giving it fast memory; now, watch the frames soar!
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