This will also serve as an excellent guide for anyone looking to upgrade or build a new gaming PC.
Before diving into the data, here are a few quick notes about the testing and test systems.
In total, we benchmarked 28 CPUs across 14 games, covering essentially all the relevant models.
Case in point, we have included no 13th-gen Intel CPUs since they were refreshed as 14th-gen models.
Additionally, the 7500F is unavailable in most regions.
As usual, all CPU gaming benchmarks were conducted at 1080p using theGeForce RTX 4090.
But just to quickly address this common question, let’s quickly explain why this testing approach is used.
Understanding how one CPU performs relative to another in games is critical for making an informed purchase decision.
This is despite the 3950X having twice as many cores.
Fast forward two years, and games are now far more demanding.
Hopefully, this brief example clarifies things (if not, go forthe full explainer here).
just note that Intel Arrow Lake CPUs were tested using DDR5-8200 CUDIMM memory.
Let’s get into the data.
Among the more entry-level and mid-range CPUs, right up to theCore i9-14900K, performance is fairly similar.
Even so, all CPUs deliver solid performance in this title.
This is another example where most CPUs deliver very similar performance.
The Core i3 also takes an eternity to compile the pre-shaders in this title.
Last week, the Cyberpunk 2.2 update rolled out, improving Arrow Lake performance by at least 30%.
We’re certainly seeing that now.
The 285K is not only faster than the 14900K but also the7700X, basically matching the performance of the7900X3D.
That said, it’s still 20% slower than the9800X3D.
Even so, this is a significant improvement over earlier results.
Assetto Corsa Competizione isn’t particularly demanding, and core count doesn’t play a significant role here.
Even so, the 12100F does fall behind.
Still, any modern entry-level to mid-range CPU will handle it fine.
Older AMD CPUs don’t fare much better.
Meanwhile, the245Kcan only match the 12400F and 5700X.
The 12100F is serviceable here, doing quite well for a sub-$100 CPU.
For practical purposes, something like the Ryzen 5 7600 works perfectly well.
It’s pretty easy to play Counter-Strike 2 at hundreds of frames per second.
You’d probably want to avoid the 12100F, but anything beyond that works fine.
Starfieldis a very CPU-demanding game, and achieving high refresh rate performance isn’t easy.
It takes the 9800X3D to average 140 fps in our test.
Now forSpace Marine 2, another extremely CPU-limited and CPU-demanding game.
Most CPUs tested deliver between 100 and 112 fps, with only the7800X3Dand9800X3Dsignificantly exceeding that range.
Yet another CPU-demanding game isStar Wars Outlaws, though our particular test scene has a 142 fps cap.
Regardless, 142 fps is plenty, and many high-end CPUs perform very well here.
In fact, apart from those two CPUs, all others tested deliver over 200 fps.
We also see a 42% performance improvement when moving from the 5700X3D to the 9800X3D.
Another older title in our test suite is Watch Dogs: Legion.
With the recent improvements made in Cyberpunk, the 285K is now just 4% slower than the 14900K.
While that’s still not amazing, it shows progress is being made.
However, the Core i3-12100F is starting to show its age and may no longer be worth the investment.
Spending a bit more on a Ryzen 7 5700X or Core i5-12400F would be a better move.
With that said, let’s take a look at the cost-per-frame data.
However, we do have the vast majority of relevant data.
You could go AM4, but you’d need to stick with the slower 5600 to make it worthwhile.
Speaking of which, the Ryzen 5 7600 is currently the budget king.
For new system builders, the 12400F doesn’t make much sense when compared to the 7600.
Sadly for gamers, Intel’s new Core Ultra series offers poor value.
TheRyzen 5 7600vs.Core i5-12400Fis an interesting toss-up for budget buyers.
Altogether, that totals $410.
But what if you’re building an entirely new PC?
When pairing the 12400F with DDR5 memory, the 7600 system would be even faster.
The new9700Xis capable but still too expensive.
For high-end performance, the next stop would be theRyzen 7 7800X3Dor9800X3D.
Since the 7800X3D is hard to find, the 9800X3D is your best bet.
