Tech & Products
CPUs Tier List Maker
Rank popular desktop CPUs from AMD Ryzen and Intel Core, from gaming chips like the 7800X3D to older favorites like the Ryzen 5 3600.
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Drag items into a tier — or tap an item, then tap a tier.
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Meet every CPU (18)
These 18 CPUs load into the maker above. Each write-up covers what the CPU is and what to weigh when you rank it. Facts were last checked on .
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Ryzen 7 9800X3D
An 8-core Zen 5 desktop chip for the AM5 socket that uses AMD's 3D V-Cache for gaming. AMD announced it in October 2024 as the successor to the 7000X3D line, whose cache layout had limited clock speeds.
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Ryzen 7 7800X3D
An 8-core Zen 4 chip for AM5 with first-generation 3D V-Cache. The cache and the structural silicon above the cores act as a thermal insulator, which AMD said limited clock speeds on 7000X3D parts.
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Ryzen 9 9950X
A 16-core Zen 5 flagship of the Ryzen 9000 desktop family for AM5, aimed at heavy multi-threaded work such as video rendering and code compiling more than at pure gaming.
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Ryzen 9 7950X
A 16-core Zen 4 chip that launched the AM5 platform in 2022. Like other consumer Ryzen desktop parts it has an unlocked multiplier and supports simultaneous multithreading.
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Ryzen 9 5900X
A 12-core Zen 3 processor for the long-lived AM4 socket. It sits above the 8-core Ryzen 7 5800X in the 5000 series and is popular among AM4 owners who want more cores.
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Ryzen 7 5800X3D
An 8-core Zen 3 chip for AM4 that was the first desktop Ryzen with 3D V-Cache. It gave AM4 owners a late-life gaming upgrade without replacing their motherboard.
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Ryzen 5 7600X
A 6-core Zen 4 chip for the AM5 socket, the entry point to AMD's 2022 platform. It is the Ryzen 5 option for people who want a modern socket without paying for a higher core count.
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Ryzen 5 5600X
A 6-core Zen 3 chip for AM4, which was a popular mid-range choice during the Ryzen 5000 generation and is still a common upgrade target for older AM4 builds.
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Ryzen 5 3600
A 6-core Zen 2 processor from the Ryzen 3000 generation of 2019, for the AM4 socket. It became a widely recommended budget chip that many gaming PCs still use.
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Core Ultra 9 285K
The flagship of Intel's Arrow Lake desktop family, released on October 24, 2024 under the Core Ultra Series 2 name. It brought a disaggregated multi-chip design to Intel desktop processors.
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Core i9-14900K
A 24-core (8 performance plus 16 efficiency) chip from the 14th generation of Raptor Lake, on the LGA 1700 socket. Intel extended the warranty on affected Raptor Lake CPUs from three years to five.
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Core i9-13900K
A 24-core (8 performance plus 16 efficiency) flagship of the 13th-generation Raptor Lake family, socket compatible with Alder Lake boards. Affected by the voltage-related instability issue Intel later acknowledged.
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Core i7-14700K
A 14th-generation Raptor Lake Core i7 with a hybrid layout of performance and efficiency cores on LGA 1700. It is the step between the i9-14900K and the i5-14600K.
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Core i7-13700K
A 13th-generation Raptor Lake Core i7 that mixes performance and efficiency cores on LGA 1700, upgrading the hybrid design Intel introduced with Alder Lake.
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Core i7-12700K
An Alder Lake chip from the 12th generation, launched on November 4, 2021, and built with Golden Cove performance cores and Gracemont efficient cores on the Intel 7 process.
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Core i5-14600K
A 14th-generation Raptor Lake Core i5 with an unlocked multiplier, the mid-range step of the 14th generation on the LGA 1700 socket, below the Core i7 models.
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Core i5-12400F
An Alder Lake Core i5 without integrated graphics, as the F suffix indicates, and without an unlocked multiplier. It is a budget gaming choice that needs a separate graphics card.
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Core i3-12100F
An entry-level Alder Lake Core i3 without integrated graphics, as the F suffix indicates, so it needs a separate graphics card. It is a low-cost option for budget builds.
CPUs tier list questions
Why does the CPU list not mention prices or benchmark scores?
Prices and benchmark positions change with every new release, so they would go stale quickly. The write-ups describe architecture, core layout and role, and you can check current prices and reviews separately.
What does the F suffix on some Intel CPUs mean?
The F suffix, as in the Core i5-12400F and i3-12100F, means the chip has no integrated graphics, so it needs a separate graphics card.
How should I rank CPUs?
Common criteria include gaming performance, multi-threaded performance, efficiency, platform cost and value. Many people rank by use case, such as gaming, content creation or budget builds.
Sources
Facts on this page were checked against these references on .