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Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: November 2013

Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: November 2013
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The month of November sees AMD introduce an A10-6790K APU and Intel debut the Core i5-3340S and Core i5-4440S processors. We also learn a lot about AMD's future roadmap from the APU Developer Summit '13, and share some tidbits about upcoming products.

If you don’t have the time to research benchmarks, or if you don’t feel confident enough in your ability to pick the right processor for your next gaming machine, fear not. We at Tom’s Hardware have come to your aid with a simple list of the best gaming CPUs offered for the money.

November Updates: 

November sees three new processors introduced to the Tom's Hardware audience: one APU from AMD and two low-power CPUs from Intel.

The A10-6790K is pretty much an A10-6800K with its base and maximum Turbo Core frequencies lowered 100 MHz to 4.0 and 4.3 GHz, respectively. Otherwise, there's no difference between the two Richland-based processors except a price spread of a few pounds. The newer model is cheaper and though there's no UK price yet, the U.S. price is not bad for an APU with an unlocked ratio multiplier. Still, at this point we'd rather wait for the upcoming Kaveri generation with AMD's Steamroller x86 design and graphics engine leveraging GCN.

From the Intel camp we have two new 65 W processors that should come in under £160 when UK pricing is available: the Haswell-based Core i5-4440S (with its 2.8 GHz base and 3.3 GHz peak Turbo Boost frequencies, along with HD Graphics 4600) and the Ivy Bridge-based Core i5-3340S (also operating at 2.8 and up to 3.3 GHz, but with HD Graphics 2500). Intel already has a number of 65 W CPUs at similar price points for both LGA 1150 and 1155, so it's difficult to understand why it's adding more to this category. 

What about price adjustments on existing processors? Intel has nothing newsworthy to talk about. However, some of AMD's price points are different. The FX-4130, -4350, -8120, and A10-6800K all dropped by a few pounds each. While it's great to see downward pressure on the company's products, only the FX-4130 earns our recommendation for its low price point. In addition, the FX-9370 is down to £175, though you're left without a cooling solution. Rated at 220 W, budget for a liquid cooler able to cope with that CPU's unique thermal requirements. Conversely, the FX-9590 flagship is actually a little more expensive in the U.S. And, again, it sells without a cooling solution, similar to how Intel sells its LGA 2011-based Core i7 products.

From AMD's APU13

We learned a lot about AMD's plans from the company's APU Developer Summit '13. The three mobile processor designs to expect in 2014 are: Mullins (with two to four Puma-based cores, a GCN-based engine, a security-oriented co-processor, and a roughly 2 W thermal design limit), Beema (also two to four Puma-based cores, a GCN-based engine, a security-oriented co-processor, and a 10-25 W thermal design), and of course Kaveri (two to four Steamroller-based cores, a GCN-based engine, more HSA functionality, TrueAudio support, and a 15-35 W ceiling).

Mainstream gamers are going to be most interested in the desktop version of Kaveri, which will employ as many as 512 shaders. That number puts the APU on par with AMD's Radeon HD 7750, which a quick little discrete board operating at 800 MHz. Although Kaveri-based processors won't be able to benefit from GDDR5 memory, we'll be curious to see what the on-die graphics engine can do with DDR3 instead. More pressing, will it best Intel's Iris Pro 5200 solution, which is currently only really available in the mobile space?

Mullins and Beema are low-power processors also armed with GCN-based Compute Units. Surely AMD is counting on them to facilitate entry-level gaming in Windows 8.1-based tablets, but time will tell if these designs enjoy any more success than the company's efforts up until now. We hear that AMD will have some interesting form factor demonstrations at CES this coming January, so we'll keep you posted.

In other news, the Athlon II and Phenom II processors are gone from our favorite online shopping sites. We've seen certain models disappear temporarily before, but we also wouldn't be surprised if those old warhorses were put to pasture for good. If so, that's the end of an era...

Some Notes About Our Recommendations

This list is for gamers who want to get the most for their money. If you don’t play games, then the CPUs on this list may not be suitable for your particular needs.

The criteria to get on this list are strictly price/performance. We acknowledge that there are other factors that come into play, such as platform price or CPU overclockability, but we're not going to complicate things by factoring in motherboard costs. We may add honorable mentions for outstanding products in the future, though. For now, our recommendations are based on stock clock speeds and performance at that price.

Cost and availability change on a daily basis. We can’t offer up-to-the-minute accurate pricing information in the text, but we can list some good chips that you probably won’t regret buying at the price ranges we suggest.

The list is based on some of the best US/UK prices from online retailers. In other countries or at retail stores, your mileage will most certainly vary. Of course, these are retail CPU prices. We do not list used or OEM CPUs available at retail.               

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  • 0 Hide
    lorribot , 23 November 2013 01:48
    Was that a cut and paste from last month?

    When (if ever) are we going to see updated FX processors to challang Intel in the mid range? Have AMD just given up on this area?
  • 0 Hide
    MajinCry , 23 November 2013 11:21
    AMD Wouldn't stand a chance; Intel has FAR more money and *cough* measures in place to prevent AMD from becoming a threat.

    Though, if HSA is transparent to all forms of software (I.E, already-made programs/games), I'd expect AMD to become the champ. At least for a short while.
  • 1 Hide
    Treeroy , 24 November 2013 14:33
    Why is the i5-3570K the recommend CPU for £180? The i5-4670K is the same price...
  • 0 Hide
    Pailin , 24 November 2013 17:12
    also depends upon which games you play. For CryEngine based games I would Easily choose an AMD 8350 over the i5 for performance and especially the i7 for price/performance ratio.

    Not all game support Hyperthreaded logical cores, but more do support multi core CPUs like AMD's 8 cores.

    Sure right now I do not see an OC'd i5 holding you back much either, but can only be a good thing to see AMD do well and help make the CPU market even more competative in the near future... really feels like Intel have been dragging their feet in recent years while keeping prices up (also good for AMD who were left a bit far behind for a while there)
  • 0 Hide
    anthonyla65 , 1 December 2013 01:25
    Can't see how a 740K is better than a Haswell G3420. I know its a dual but its 55W TDP and probably still much faster at stock clock. I know the 740K can be OC'd, but you are severely limited in upgrade path and it could run way past the 100W when OC'd aswell. Fast Dual > Slow quad in my opinion. The G3420 outperforms the X4 640 easily (performs similar to a PII 965) so it would destroy this 740K and would have a motherboard where you can swap it out for a i5 4670K if required. With the 740K you're stuck, unless you replace the motherboard too as FM2 is dead end.

    And I think they recommended the i5 3570K instead of the Haswell i5 4670K, because Ivy Bridge can clock much higher than haswell and also runs cooler.
  • 0 Hide
    MMSR , 1 December 2013 18:33
    What I don't understand..

    Aren't gamers most likely to buy a stand alone GPU?
    Why bother with CPU's with integrated GPU.

    Why pay for something you will never use?
  • 0 Hide
    MajinCry , 1 December 2013 18:44
    I predict we will be getting APUs with high-end GPUs, a la P$4 and XBone.
  • 0 Hide
    MMSR , 1 December 2013 19:06
    Yeah, but does machines are not for tweakers, those are for the masses.

    What about the guys that pimp their systems with all kinds of water, led, etc..
    And isnt it much easier to upgrade just your GPU instead of CPU + MOBO?
  • 0 Hide
    chrisso , 7 December 2013 16:55
    The old chart layout was much easier to read.
  • 0 Hide
    Michael Robinson , 16 December 2013 17:07
    Guys, the info for the Athlon X4 750K is wrong!
    The table states 2 cores but I'm pretty sure it has 4.
  • 0 Hide
    Zeljko Vukovic , 17 December 2013 22:40
    And where are i3 Haswell processors?
  • 0 Hide
    Zeljko Vukovic , 18 December 2013 01:49
    And where are i3 Haswell processors?