Most often, AMD’s Ryzen lineup has been a popular choice for a chosen CPU for its high performance, affordability and versatility. Designed with features and models available for every budget and usage case, you’ll find the perfect Ryzen CPU for almost any use. There are so many options, and when you choose the right one can be overwhelming. In this post, we’ll go through the top Ryzen CPUs to buy based on budget and use case so that you can get the right fit for your system.
Pain: Choosing the Right CPU Can Be Confusing and Costly
No computer with a CPU is complete. This is the central processing unit (CPU) that, if not matching your expectations, is to blame for everything from basic web browsing to high level gaming and professional grade video editing. However, while selecting the correct CPU can be tricky, there are simply so many model and generations to choose from that it’s very easy to overspend or you end up with a chip that is not powerful enough. Be it gamer, content creator, or regular user, the knowledge of which Ryzen CPU is the one you’re looking for will save you money and get you the most performance.
Agitation: A Poor Choice Can Limit Performance and Waste Money
Even the best setup can’t do much without the right CPU. A slow processor can, for gamers, act like a bottleneck, which can mean frame rates for challenging titles will be slowed down. If the power is low, it may be hours wasted time on long slow renders and exports for the content creators. If you’re on a budget, overspending on an unnecessary CPU will eat up resources you could have used to buy a better graphics card, or more memory for that matter. If you don’t know which Ryzen processor suits your needs and budget, then you risk getting a balanced and optimized system.
Solution: Budget and use case: The Best Ryzen CPUs
In our effort to make sure you are choosing wisely, we’ll break down the best Ryzen CPUs for your price constraints and use cases. The recommendations are based on how the current product has performed on the market, user reviews and actual usage testing.
1. Best Ryzen CPU for Budget Users: Ryzen 5 5600G
For the budget price, the Ryzen 5 5600G will fit your budget, if you’re building it for things such as everyday tasks, light gaming, or office work.
Specifications:
- Cores/Threads: 6/12
- Base Clock: 3.9 GHz
- Max Boost Clock: 4.4 GHz
- Integrated Graphics: Radeon Vega 7
Not only is it affordable, but integrated Radeon Vega graphics means the Ryzen 5 5600G is perfect for users who don’t need that dedicated GPU. Light gaming at 1080p, browsing, and even media consumption is great. If the GPU market becomes volatley in the future, it is a great value and versatile pick for your budget build.
2. Best Ryzen CPU for Budget Gaming: Ryzen 5 5600X
The Ryzen 5 5600X is a great option for gamers who are on a budget that seek solid performance without pricing themselves out of the game.
Specifications:
- Cores/Threads: 6/12
- Base Clock: 3.7 GHz
- Max Boost Clock: 4.6 GHz
If your GPU is good enough, then the Ryzen 5 5600X will run most of the modern games smoothly at 1080p, or at higher résolutiones without it looking completely unplayable. For budget minded gamers with not much to lose in performance, it’s an excellent choice. Another big thing is that it’s very efficient, meaning it doesn’t have high end cooling and reduces the overall build cost.
3. Best Ryzen CPU for All-Purpose Use: Ryzen 7 5700G
The Ryzen 7 5700G is exactly what you want for those looking for a sweet balance in terms of productivity and gaming without a dedicated GPU.
Specifications:
- Cores/Threads: 8/16
- Base Clock: 3.8 GHz
- Max Boost Clock: 4.6 GHz
- Integrated Graphics: Radeon Vega 8
Strong integrated graphics means you can game at 720p or light 1080p-ish without a dedicated GPU on the Ryzen 7 5700G, and it has an excellent memory speed for gaming. It has 8 core, 16 threads setup making it a capable multitasker, where it can run productivity applications, stream, and even game all simultaneously. This is a versatile CPU, if you’re just after one that can handle general computing, light gaming, and light productivity work.
4. Ryzen 7 5800X: best Ryzen CPU for Mid Range Gaming
Being slightly more powerful than the last generation product the Ryzen 7 5800X is a good fit for those looking for a mid range gaming CPU with solid performance in AAA titles.
Specifications:
- Cores/Threads: 8/16
- Base Clock: 3.8 GHz
- Max Boost Clock: 4.7 GHz
The Ryzen 7 5800X has eight cores and can push to a high boost clock, and with it you can play demanding games at high framerates and run well above 160 FPS at 1440p. What is also future proof for next gen games and easily multitask to support, makes it a versatile choice of gaming that’ll have you dabble light video editing content creation also.
5. Ryzen 9 5900X is the best Ryzen CPU for Content Creation.
If you are a content creator working on Video editing, 3D rendering or any other high load task on Ryzen 9 5900X you will find it providing great performance.
Specifications:
- Cores/Threads: 12/24
- Base Clock: 3.7 GHz
- Max Boost Clock: 4.8 GHz
The Ryzen 9 5900X can support 12 cores and 24 threads, which means it can tackle multiple heavy software running at the same time to execute multiple operations at a time and is perfect for professionals who need to juggle different things like video editing, rendering and streaming. That’s a very strong one for content creators who need a responsive CPU to do intensive workloads, rendering times are very fast, and with heavy loads the performance is very smooth.
6. Ryzen 9 5950X—the best Ryzen CPU for High-End Gaming
Falling into the category of enthusiast CPU for gaming and multitasking, the Ryzen 9 5950X is the pinnacle the gaming and multitasking CPU for us.
Specifications:
- Cores/Threads: 16/32
- Base Clock: 3.4 GHz
- Max Boost Clock: 4.9 GHz
The Ryzen 9 5950X isn’t exactly overkill for gaming but it’s too much for gamers alone, it’s a dream for those wanting to do a lot of high end gaming and also produce content while you game. With one caveat — it can stream, game, and record at the same time without even breaking a sweat. The Ryzen 9 5950X is a powerful option for users who want an all in one system for high end gaming and professional workloads.
7. Ryzen 5 3600 is the best Ryzen CPU for Value
Budget builders will always have a favorite in the form of the Ryzen 5 3600 despite its still-overridingly good value for performance.
Specifications:
- Cores/Threads: 6/12
- Base Clock: 3.6 GHz
- Max Boost Clock: 4.2 GHz
Despite being an old generation chip, the Ryzen 5 3600 provides great gaming and productivity performance at a not bad price, and is therefore a good choice for budget minded builders that still need great multi-threading and performance in current games.
8. Best Ryzen CPU for Small Form Factor PCs: Ryzen 5 3400G
If you’re building a compact PC, the Ryzen 5 3400G is an excellent CPU option for users due to its inclusion of integrated graphics.
Specifications:
- Cores/Threads: 4/8
- Base Clock: 3.7 GHz
- Max Boost Clock: 4.2 GHz
- Integrated Graphics: Radeon Vega 11
For small builds lacking the space for a discrete GPU, the Ryzen 5 3400G is particularly the right choice. As basic gaming and multimedia PC, it is well suited for compact PCs to be used in everyday tasks or light gaming.
9. Best Ryzen CPU for Future-Proofing: Ryzen 7 5800X3D
The Ryzen 7 5800X3D builds your rig for the future proofed and long enough for gaming.
Specifications:
- Cores/Threads: 8/16
- Base Clock: 3.4 GHz
- Max Boost Clock: 4.5 GHz
The Ryzen 7 5800X3D provides unique 3D V-Cache technology that significantly improves gaming performance of this CPU for heavily CPU bound titles. If you are user who want to make a gaming PC that, shall we say, you will be in the performance range as long as you live, you have a good selection of a CPU.
10. Best Ryzen CPU for Extreme Multitasking | Threadripper 3990X
The Threadripper 3990X is truly for these people, and are perfect for those needing serious multitasking power, such as professional video editors and 3D animators.
Specifications:
- Cores/Threads: 64/128
- Base Clock: 2.9 GHz
- Max Boost Clock: 4.3 GHz
So, the Threadripper 3990X has 64 cores and 128 threads, making it in its own class. It’s been designed for extreme workloads, no matter how you go about them, from simulating things to video editing, and is the perfect CPU for those who demand the very best multitasking power.
