If there’s one thing that’s predictable about the tech world, it’s that it’s all very unpredictable. I mean, who would have thought a few years ago that Intel would become financially unstable, dropping projects and thousands of staff, and then randomly announce a sizeable investment from Nvidia and a plan to collaborate on new chips? Not many folks, that’s for sure.

Likewise, I should imagine only die-hard Team Red fans at the start of the decade would have predicted that the best choice for a new CPU, regardless of price point or use scenario, would be an AMD processor.

And yet, all of the above have come to pass, and in the case of the last point, we’ve decided it’s time to change our recommendation for the best budget gaming CPU. That honour used to go to Intel’s Core i5 13400F, but no longer, as AMD’s Ryzen 5 7600X is the sensible choice.

There’s nothing actually wrong with the 13400F, as such, it’s just that the 7600X is simply a better option. It’s faster in games, and because it uses AMD’s AM5 processor socket, you get far superior upgrade options. With the Core i5 13400F, all you can do is replace it with a 13th Gen or 14th Gen Core i7 or i9 chip, but that’s it. And there’s practically no difference between those two generations.

With any AM5 motherboard, you can fit any Ryzen 7000 or 9000-series chip, and while AMD hasn’t officially confirmed this yet, the next generation of Zen-powered CPUs will also just drop right in (you’ll almost certainly need a BIOS update, of course). Building a high-end, outright-gaming desktop PC? A Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the obvious choice, but if your budget is tighter, then a Ryzen 7 9700X or Ryzen 5 7600X are still more than fast enough.

For pure content creation and nothing else, a 16-core, 32-thread Ryzen 9 9950X is perfect. Want a PC that can do it all? Then grab a Ryzen 9 9950X3D and enjoy the best of every world, with no compromises, other than the sting to your wallet. Ultra small PC builders can grab a Ryzen 7 8700G and not have to worry about getting a discrete graphics card for a spot of simple gaming.

AMD really does have everything for everyone, regardless of budget or needs. How long it’ll be before Intel gets a nod for a particular situation is anyone’s guess (though the Core Ultra 7 265K is great for content creation on a mainstream budget), but it certainly won’t be until next year, as that’s when its next-gen Nova Lake chips are scheduled for release.

I really do want Intel to come back strongly, though, because as the graphics card market clearly demonstrates, it’s not good for consumers to have one manufacturer dominate everything for a long period of time. For now, though, just enjoy the fact that no matter what Ryzen CPU you buy right now, it’ll be one of the best pieces of hardware in your rig by far.

The best gaming CPU for every budget