Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in

Best Entry-Level Gaming Processors

Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: September 2013
By

Best Gaming CPU for £65:

Athlon X4 750K

Athlon X4 750K
Codename: Trinity
Process: 32 nm
CPU Cores/Threads: 2/4
Clock Speed (Max. Turbo): 3.4 GHz (4.0 GHz)
Socket: FM2
Cache: 2 x 64 KB + 4 x 16 KB, 2 x 2 MB
Thermal Envelope:
100 W

At around £105, AMD's A10-5700 isn't a particularly compelling gaming processor. But imagine if it was £40 cheaper and included an unlocked multiplier for overclocking. That isn't a dream any longer. At last, the Athlon X4 750K is available. Selling for roughly £65, this is the cheapest enthusiast-friendly CPU you'll find. And while its lack of L3 cache hurts in games, we at least like knowing that its 100 W thermal ceiling isn't divided between x86 cores and graphics.

Read our review of the Trinity-based A series CPUs here.

Best Gaming CPU for £80:

AMD FX-4130

AMD FX-4130
Codename: Vishera
Process: 32 nm
CPU Cores/Threads: 4/4
Clock Speed (Max. Turbo): 3.8 (3.9) GHz
Socket: AM3+
Cache (L1, L2, L3)2 x 64 KB + 4 x 16 KB, 2 x 2 MB, 8 MB
Thermal Envelope:
125 W

At stock clock rates, AMD's FX-4130 is in the same league as the company's Phenom II X4 965 and not far behind the -3240. With that low-cost Phenom gone and the Core i3 more expensive, we're singling out the FX-4130 for folks who might want to consider a low-cost, multiplier-unlocked, gaming CPU built on the Piledriver architecture and armed with L3 cache, which the Athlon lacks.

Ask a Category Expert

Create a new thread in the UK Article comments forum about this subject

Example: Notebook, Android, SSD hard drive

Display all 4 comments.
This thread is closed for comments
  • 1 Hide
    bemused_fred , 19 September 2013 10:07
    Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the FX-4130 is based on the bulldozer architecture, not Vishera. It's the FX-4300 that's based on the Vishera architecture.....
  • -1 Hide
    jldevoy , 19 September 2013 16:02
    Taking the 3770k over the 4770k because it needs a new motherboard was dumb; since i was on an x58 system before they both needed a new motherboard.
  • 0 Hide
    Fisheth , 24 September 2013 20:03
    Wish I saw this before I dropped 600 on a new PC... Show's what a little bit of research can do! Never saw this article before.
  • 0 Hide
    xystus , 7 October 2013 09:55
    I'm still playing on my 2500K @ 4.5GHz...on the one side it's good I haven't had the need to upgrade but on the other hand I am itching for an upgrade but I guess I'll have to wait another two years.