This page is for Desktop class CPUs. For mobile CPUs see Laptops and Tablets. For workstation or server CPUs see Workstations and Server CPUs.
Quick Look
Bold for better value near prices shown.
Productivity
| Generation | Family SKU | Cores | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel 13 | i5 13900 | 32 / 8+16 | ~£550 | Ultra |
| i5 13700 | 24 / 8+8 | ~£380 | High | |
| i5 13600K | 20 / 6+8 | ~£300 | High | |
| i5 13500 | 20 / 6+8 | ~£240 | Medium | |
| i5 13400 | 16 / 6+4 | ~£210 | Medium | |
| i5 13100 | 8 / 4+0 | ~£140 | Basic | |
| Intel 12 | i5 12600K | 16 / 6+4 | ~£230 | Medium |
| i5 12400 | 12 / 6+0 | ~£175 | Medium | |
| i5 12100 | 8 / 4+0 | ~£120 | Basic | |
| AMD 7000 | R9 7950X | 32 / 16 | ~£530 | Ultra |
| R9 7900 | 24 / 12 | ~£400 | High | |
| R7 7700 | 16 / 8 | ~£300 | Medium | |
| R5 7600 | 12 / 6 | ~£220 | Medium | |
| AMD 5000 | R7 5700G | 16 / 8 | ~£170 | Medium |
| R5 5600G | 12 / 6 | ~£110 | Basic | |
| AMD 4000 | R5 4600G | 12 / 6 | ~£90 | Basic |
- Basic: Web Browsing, light office Work.
- Medium: Substantial multi-tasking, photo-editing, mid-size excel sheets.
- High: Video editing, light CAD work, massive excel sheets.
- Ultra: Video editing, heavy CAD work, excel sheets that run entire financial institutions.
Gaming
| Generation | Family SKU | Cores | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel 13 | i5 13900KF | 32 / 8+16 | ~£520 | High |
| i5 13700KF | 24 / 8+8 | ~£380 | High | |
| i5 13600KF | 20 / 6+8 | ~£280 | High | |
| i5 13500 | 20 / 6+8 | ~£240 | Medium | |
| i5 13400F | 16 / 6+4 | ~£190 | Medium | |
| i5 13100F | 8 / 4+0 | ~£110 | Basic | |
| Intel 12 | i5 12600KF | 16 / 6+4 | ~£220 | Medium |
| i5 12400 | 12 / 6+0 | ~£150 | Basic | |
| i5 12100F | 8 / 4+0 | ~£90 | Basic | |
| AMD 7000 | R9 7950X | 32 / 16 | ~£530 | Ultra |
| R9 7900X | 24 / 12 | ~£400 | High | |
| R7 7700X | 16 / 8 | ~£300 | Medium | |
| R5 7600X | 12 / 6 | ~£230 | Medium | |
| AMD 5000 | R7 5800X | 16 / 8 | ~£200 | Medium |
| R5 5700X | 12 / 6 | ~£170 | Basic | |
| R5 5600 | 12 / 6 | ~£125 | Basic | |
| AMD 3000 | R5 3600 | 12 / 6 | ~£40^ | Basic |
- Low: 1080p VRR or 1440p capped
- Medium: 1440p VRR or 4k capped
- High: 4k VRR
^ Recommended price point is from the used market.
Intel
- Intel 13 improves on Intel 12 mostly by adding more efficency cores, and moving them further down the stack where they add even more relative benefit. This does come at a cost (the cost is money).
- Intel 12 added big.LITTLE core architecture to their 10nm process, and shows the first real re-think of Intel for several years.
- Anything prior to Intel 12 is a member of a platform with a known last release (Intel 11) and is lacking substantial improvements made recently.
I have heard that generational improvement of Intel silicon is largely down to pushing more power for diminishing returns. While this adage may have been true for a time (14nm was almost exclusively in use from 5th gen / 2014 - 10th gen 2019) it no longer holds true. 12th gen Intel (Alder Lake) brought with them a new 10nm process and a move to a new naming scheme for such processes in line with AMDs naming, thus “Intel 7”. It also brought a bit.LITTLE style core arrangement, with single-thread efficiency cores coupled with the existing dual-thread performance cores and continued DDR4 support throwing a substantial wrench in AMDs move towards price parity as a true competitor. 13th gen Intel (Raptor Lake) brought mild improvements to IPC and expanded the number of efficiency cores over most of the range.
AMD
- AMD 7000 is difficult to recommend due to only supporting DDR5 memory, a substantial additional expense outside of the highest end machines.
- AMD 5000 was a good all rounder, but is at the end of its platform, offering no upgrade path.
- AMD 4000 is generally poor for gaming due to the exclusive use of PCIe 3.0, but offers good value for bargain-grade productivity.
- AMD 3000 can still offer good gaming performance, and bought used sits on a platform with a known-good upgrade path at excellent value for money.
- AMD X3D can perform below the cheaper non-X3D variants of the same CPUs in many situations, despite costing significantly more. It is an application-specific buy-in, only for high end machines.
Modifiers
Intel F SKUs
- Lack Intel integrated graphics, either UHD or Xe, neither of which generally perform well. If you have a dedicated GPU, an F SKU will save you a little money, but be aware that Intel Quicksync can noticeably speed up any video transcode you might do.
- For: Gamers that do not stream or encode video.
- Not For: Almost everyone: People without a dedicated GPU, streamers or video editors.
Intel K SKUs
- Unlocked for overclocking only on the top chipset motherboards available. Outside of that they typically only add a small amount of additional boost, the exception being the 12600K which adds 4 efficiency cores.
- For: Gamers on the highest motherboard chipset, or people with good cooling who want a little more performance.
- Not For: Everyone else.
Intel S SKUs
- Slightly higher clocks at a much higher price.
- For: Top-teir builds that have nowhere else to upgrade to.
- Not For: Everyone else.
Intel T SKUs
- Much lower TDP with most of the performance.
- For: Extreamly small builds that are not too concerned with performance.
- Not For: Everyone else.
AMD G SKUs
- 5000 series and earlier only: Includes integrated graphics.
- Not For: People with graphics cards.
- For: Everyone else.
AMD GE SKUs
- 5000 series and earlier only: Includes integrated graphics and is high efficiency for a far lower TDP.
AMD X SKUs
- Slightly higher clocks, sometimes with no non-X variant available.
AMD XT SKUs
- Slightly higher clocks, generally poor value.
AMD X3D SKUs
- Triple cache on the CPU for improvements in some, specific applications.
Comparison Table
| SKU | Cores | Threads | TDP | Single Core | Multi Core | Price | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12100 | 4+0 | 8 | 60 W | 3,740 | 15,108 | £139.54 | B |
| 12100F | 4+0 | 8 | 58 W | 3,494 | 14,289 | £88.14 | S |
| 12400 | 6+0 | 12 | 65 W | 3,549 | 19,533 | £159.97 | B |
| 12400F | 6+0 | 12 | 65 W | 3,544 | 19,751 | £151.00 | A |
| 12500 | 6+0 | 12 | 65 W | 3,722 | 19,943 | £219.44 | D |
| 12600 | 6+0 | 12 | 65 W | 3,846 | 21,480 | £250.00 | D |
| 12600K | 6+4 | 16 | 125 W | 3,973 | 27,838 | £233.63 | B |
| 12600KF | 6+4 | 16 | 125 W | 3,949 | 27,474 | £225.25 | B |
| 12700 | 8+4 | 20 | 65 W | 3,939 | 31,140 | £304.99 | C |
| 12700F | 8+4 | 20 | 65 W | 3,931 | 31,193 | £278.99 | C |
| 12700K | 8+4 | 20 | 125 W | 4,056 | 34,805 | £297.97 | C |
| 12700KF | 8+4 | 20 | 125 W | 4,046 | 34,589 | £262.08 | B |
| 12900 | 8+8 | 24 | 65 W | 4,078 | 34,751 | £453.82 | E |
| 12900F | 8+8 | 24 | 65 W | 4,100 | 37,264 | £436.79 | D |
| 12900K | 8+8 | 24 | 125 W | 4,203 | 41,602 | £365.98 | C |
| 12900KF | 8+8 | 24 | 125 W | 4,189 | 41,429 | £397.98 | D |
| 12900KS | 8+8 | 24 | 150 W | 4,365 | 44,349 | £463.82 | D |
| 13100 | 4+0 | 8 | 60 W | 3,740 | 15,108 | £139.54 | B |
| 13100F | 4+0 | 8 | 58 W | 3,703 | 15,202 | £106.94 | S |
| 13400 | 6+4 | 16 | 65 W | 3,702 | 25,885 | £211.66 | B |
| 13400F | 6+4 | 16 | 65 W | 3,701 | 25,959 | £195.97 | B |
| 13500 | 6+8 | 20 | 65 W | 3,952 | 32,672 | £239.99 | B |
| 13600K | 6+8 | 20 | 125 W | 4,182 | 38,507 | £289.99 | B |
| 13600KF | 6+8 | 20 | 125 W | 4,185 | 38,419 | £281.00 | B |
| 13700 | 8+8 | 24 | 65 W | 4,163 | 39,002 | £373.48 | C |
| 13700F | 8+8 | 24 | 65 W | 4,257 | 41,831 | £357.04 | C |
| 13700K | 8+8 | 24 | 125 W | 4,396 | 47,056 | £376.18 | C |
| 13700KF | 8+8 | 24 | 125 W | 4,388 | 46,859 | £374.59 | C |
| 13900 | 8+16 | 32 | 65 W | 4,387 | 49,386 | £551.22 | D |
| 13900F | 8+16 | 32 | 65 W | 4,537 | 51,500 | £532.25 | D |
| 13900K | 8+16 | 32 | 125 W | 4,680 | 60,020 | £549.98 | C |
| 13900KF | 8+16 | 32 | 125 W | 4,688 | 59,584 | £511.36 | C |
| 13900KS | 8+16 | 32 | 150 W | 4,796 | 62,573 | £796.49 | E |
| 3100 | 4 | 8 | 65 W | 2,422 | 11,645 | £155.00 | D |
| 3300X | 4 | 8 | 65 W | 2,678 | 12,692 | £246.98 | F |
| 3600 | 6 | 12 | 65 W | 2,569 | 17,796 | £99.00 | S |
| 3600X | 6 | 12 | 95 W | 2,658 | 18,257 | £294.44 | E |
| 3600XT | 6 | 12 | 95 W | 2,770 | 18,715 | £495.00 | F |
| 3700X | 8 | 16 | 65 W | 2,664 | 22,667 | £233.14 | D |
| 3800X | 8 | 16 | 105 W | 2,721 | 23,255 | £358.46 | E |
| 3800XT | 8 | 16 | 105 W | 2,809 | 23,741 | £299.00 | E |
| 3900X | 12 | 24 | 105 W | 2,707 | 32,724 | £477.41 | E |
| 3900XT | 12 | 24 | 105 W | 2,751 | 32,788 | £470.00 | E |
| 3950X | 16 | 32 | 105 W | 2,710 | 38,971 | £565.00 | E |
| 4100* | 4 | 8 | 65 W | 2,539 | 11,160 | £62.99 | S |
| 4500* | 6 | 12 | 65 W | 2,603 | 16,222 | £67.27 | S |
| 4600G* | 6 | 12 | 65 W | 2,664 | 15,936 | £87.64 | S |
| 5500* | 6 | 12 | 65 W | 3,066 | 19,624 | £87.60 | S |
| 5600 | 6 | 12 | 65 W | 3,259 | 21,642 | £126.48 | S |
| 5600G* | 6 | 12 | 65 W | 3,187 | 19,931 | £119.99 | S |
| 5600X | 6 | 12 | 65 W | 3,359 | 21,959 | £154.38 | A |
| 5700G* | 8 | 16 | 65 W | 3,287 | 24,689 | £161.97 | A |
| 5700X | 8 | 16 | 65 W | 3,385 | 26,827 | £165.97 | S |
| 5800X | 8 | 16 | 105 W | 3,447 | 28,074 | £196.96 | A |
| 5800X3D | 8 | 16 | 105 W | 3,213 | 28,169 | £293.00 | D |
| 5900X | 12 | 24 | 105 W | 3,471 | 39,313 | £303.97 | B |
| 5950X | 16 | 32 | 105 W | 3,470 | 45,931 | £419.99 | C |
| 7600 | 6 | 12 | 65 W | 4,009 | 27,973 | £217.02 | B |
| 7600X | 6 | 12 | 105 W | 4,222 | 28,964 | £226.58 | B |
| 7700 | 8 | 16 | 65 W | 4,165 | 35,615 | £306.50 | C |
| 7700X | 8 | 16 | 105 W | 4,276 | 36,549 | £297.26 | B |
| 7800X3D | 8 | 16 | 120 W | 3,796 | 35,114 | £426.36 | E |
| 7900 | 12 | 24 | 65 W | 4,214 | 49,309 | £401.73 | C |
| 7900X | 12 | 24 | 170 W | 4,330 | 52,491 | £389.88 | B |
| 7900X3D | 12 | 24 | 120 W | 4,140 | 51,312 | £538.88 | D |
| 7950X | 16 | 32 | 170 W | 4,327 | 63,628 | £522.15 | C |
| 7950X3D | 16 | 32 | 120 W | 4,228 | 63,519 | £661.97 | D |
* Uses PCIe gen 3.0, restrictive as to which GPUs perform appropriately.
IMPORTANT: Rating does not account for Motherboard / RAM affordability, differing types of usability and existence of integrated graphics, or available upgrade paths. It is only based on a performance to price ratio that may be heavily outdated.
Note: Does not include Intel T-type SKUs or models below i3, like Pentium or Celeron, or workstation-socket CPUs like Xeon.
Note: Does not include AMD GE-type SKUs or models below Ryzen 3, like Athlon, or workstation-socket CPUs like Threadripper.