Buying CPU in 2019 for gaming

We all know that a processor is the brain of our computer and for every task whether its heavy or light we need to rely on our processor, but for gaming you need to look and research for a while to see which processor might give you the performance you need. In this guide I’ll be telling you everything you need to know to buy a processor for gaming in 2019.

2018 was the year when we’ve seen really heart melting processors and which packs a punch as well as money. For average gamers any processor over 99$ will do you good. But we know that there is a full republic of gamers who are always keen to get the best processors in the market so lets start it.

INTEL

Starting with intel, you always heard of this company whenever you heard the term CPU or processors, and you should because this is the best company in the processor industry and makes some really good processors though they came at a cost. According to their latest iteration we currently have intel 8th and 9th gen CPUs for gaming as well as productivity.

Core i3

Intel has a lower lineup of CPUs for budget gamers known as core I3 lineup. The core I3 lineup of CPUs is generally for those who are looking for gaming or any light productivity work at budget. This CPUs are good for what they cost but they look bleak in front of Ryzen, well coming to that topic later. This CPUs will generally cost you from 100 to 200$ and are good budget gaming CPUs with intel integrated HD graphics. This CPUs come with 4 core 4 thread. Earlier intel used to provide 2 core 4 threaded cpu but seeing great CPUs from AMD intel launched 4 core I3 CPUs.

Core i5

Now coming to the core I5 lineup of CPUs and here you stepped into mid-range gaming as well as heavy gaming. Intel core i5 lineup of CPUs provide best gaming experience at mid-range budget and they can even take on heavy gaming and heavy workload such as photo and video editing. With net 8th and 9th gen Intel CPUs intel increased the core count to 6 core 6 threaded cpu. If you want to game at higher resolution(not including 4k) or productivity works at mid-range then core I5 lineup is the sweetest spot to go with. Core I5 lineup also gives overclocking, so you can squeeze out some extra performance out of your CPU. Just look for the ‘K’ letter at the end of your CPU name.

Core I7

This is the lineup of intel CPUs generally meant for heavy users and gamers who do a lot of gaming at higher resolutions and heavy productivity work including editing 4K videos. This is the intel’s best lineup of CPUs for consumers and they can really push the processing tasks to the limits. This CPUs comes with 6 core 12 thread so if you planning on gaming and streaming simultaneously and also want to do 4K video editing then you’re good to go. Productivity work is just a breeze on this CPU and Gaming is just a charm, whether you want to game at 4K.

Core i9

This lineup of CPU might be a overkill for some users but if you want the best CPU performance in your PC then you should go with a core I9 CPU as this CPUs are beasts with higher clock and core counts. This CPUs generally come with 8 core 16 thread CPU so whatever task you throw at it, it will handle them with ease. Intel even showed editing a 8K video in their core I9 9900k and it finished the task in 8 minutes which is pretty impressive given how heavy 8K is.

AMD(RYZEN)

This is the company which is giving intel a run for its money for decades and is the biggest rival which can match intel and even surpass it keeping the cost low (...wow..).

AMD’s lineup of CPUs are generally known as ‘RYZEN’ and its based on their zen architecture. Ryzen is pretty good at CPU intensive tasks but it cannot match intel CPUs at single core processing power but it can significantly surpass intel at multicore processing power and this is the area for which Ryzen is known for.

Suppose you want to game and stream at the same time on the same processor and also wants to hear some music on spotify, then Ryzen can give you exceptional multitasking performance at budget. Now like intel AMD also have 3,5 and 7 series of CPUs like RYZEN 3, RYZEN 5,RYZEN 7. Lets break this lineups according to their powers.

RYZEN 3

This series of CPUs generally meant for budget gamers and light productivity workers like intel core I3 lineup but AMD’s budget lineup is marginally better than intel’s budget lineup because they have very good budget APUs. You always heard the terms CPU and GPU but an APU is a combination of both CPU and GPU in a single silicon chip much like integrated GPUs but more powerful. AMD’s integrated GPU or APU is much more powerful than intel’s as APU CPUs like Ryzen 3 2200g and Ryzen 5 2400g have integrated GPUs which can play games at 1080p at ease but if you try that on intel your game will lag severely. So if you plan on building a budget PC without having a GPU then you have option from AMD whose CPU can do both graphics and cpu intensive works but don’t have high very high expectation from this CPUs as this APUs are only for low to medium setting games. The CPUs on RYZEN 3 lineup generally has 4 core 4 threads for just 99$. You can also do overclocking on this budget Ryzen 3 CPUs while intel do not allow overclocking on its I3 lineup.

RYZEN 5

This lineup from AMD is very similar like that of Intel’s i5 lineup. This are powerful enough for mid-range gaming and productivity tasks. This lineup of CPUs from AMD generally comes with 4 core 8 thread CPU and also with 6 core 12 thread CPU for better multitasking and gaming. You also get an APU in the Ryzen 5 lineup so if you plan on gaming without buying a GPU then go for Ryzen 5 2400g as it has Vega 11 GPU for 1080p gaming at medium settings but as I said earlier don’t keep high expectations from this APUs. This processors can also be overclocked so if you’re planning on overclocking to squeeze out some extra CPU performance the you can definitely do it.

RYZEN 7

Now this is the series of CPUs from AMD which are made to directly compete with Intel’s I7 lineup of CPUs. This series of CPUs are beast in gaming and also excell at productivity works like breeze. But you don’t get any APU options here so you strictly have to rely on your GPU for gaming. This COUs generally comes with 8 core 16 threaded CPU for best gaming and multitasking experience.

Though there is no special series of CPUs from AMD to compete with Intel’s I9 but it has its highest tier Ryzen 7 cpu known as Ryzen 7 2700x which is a direct competitor to I9.

One thing I would like to tell you about AMD cpu is that the CPUs which are not APUs means which are only CPUs, does not have any integrated GPU integrated on them. Unlike intel AMD do not sell any Integrated GPU on their CPUs so you have to buy a GPU to see anything on the screen.

So if you want the best CPU in the market right now then you should go with Ryzen 7 2700x or Core I9 9900k as this CPUs are beast for every kind workload you through at it but at consumer level. Here I’ve only talked about CPUs only for consumers.

But if you don’t want to go to the very nitty gritty details and want to save some money then you always have the option for I7 from intel as this are the best cost to performance CPUs. I cannot tell about every CPU from INTEL and AMD as this review will get bigger than the universe, so if you want the best details then please read the other website’s review.