Please can you recommend the best gaming CPU for 1440p & 4k gaming

SkScotchegg · Saturday at 13:17

Hi guys,

Please can you help me choose the best CPU for gaming, I mainly play 1440p on PC, but also some 4k gaming on my TV.

I already bought a 5070ti a while back, and it's going great, but I noticed in Battlefield 6 that despite getting 90-130fps (depending on the map) that my GPU is running at like 70-80% where as my current CPU (9900k) is running at 85% so I think I've got a bottleneck on my CPU.

I'm wanting to upgrade mobo, cpu and ram and I've always been intel but reading reviews people are saying that the latest intel CPU's are unstable and has issues, and I can't be bothered with any of that, so I'm thinking of going AMD for the first time in like 20+ years.

I see on overclockers AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D has good reviews, it's £600, is that the one you guys would recommend? I literally want the best CPU I can buy for gaming.

I currently have, 9900k + 32gb ram + 2TB m.2 + 5070ti. PC runs pretty much everything in ultra settings, like Cyberpunk 2077 with ray tracing etc. Battlefield 6 is the first time I've felt it struggle a little.

Thanks in advance.

hornetstinger · Saturday at 13:18

9800x3d.

Skilid · Saturday at 13:21

SkScotchegg said:
Hi guys,

Please can you help me choose the best CPU for gaming, I mainly play 1440p on PC, but also some 4k gaming on my TV.

I already bought a 5070ti a while back, and it's going great, but I noticed in Battlefield 6 that despite getting 90-130fps (depending on the map) that my GPU is running at like 70-80% where as my current CPU (9900k) is running at 85% so I think I've got a bottleneck on my CPU.

I'm wanting to upgrade mobo, cpu and ram and I've always been intel but reading reviews people are saying that the latest intel CPU's are unstable and has issues, and I can't be bothered with any of that, so I'm thinking of going AMD for the first time in like 20+ years.

I see on overclockers AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D has good reviews, it's £600, is that the one you guys would recommend? I literally want the best CPU I can buy for gaming.

I currently have, 9900k + 32gb ram + 2TB m.2 + 5070ti. PC runs pretty much everything in ultra settings, like Cyberpunk 2077 with ray tracing etc. Battlefield 6 is the first time I've felt it struggle a little.

Thanks in advance.

The 9950x3d is not the best CPU for gaming. The 9800x3d is.

SkScotchegg · Saturday at 13:23

hornetstinger said:
9800x3d.

Thanks for quick reply mate.

I saw that one too. I don't know much about CPU's, I build my own PC but I'm not into technical details however I saw that the 9950 runs @ 5.7ghz where whereas the 9800 says it runs @ 5.2ghz.

Do you not think it's worth spending the extra £200 for slightly faster speed plus future proof etc? Or you reckon I won't see any differance in battlefield 6 between the two?

hornetstinger · Saturday at 13:24

Or another option is 7800X3D, pocket the £200 put that towards something else, better GPU, another NVME , speakers etc or set aside, and when you feel 7800X3D needs updating then get that 16 core 6ghz AM5 X3D CPU

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D vs. Ryzen 7 7800X3D

With AMD's Ryzen 7 9800X3D recent release, we're diving into its gaming performance, comparing it head-to-head with the 7800X3D across 45 games. Let's see how this new...

www.techspot.com

says 8% faster. I don't think that's worth the extra £200.

SkScotchegg · Saturday at 13:24

Skilid said:
The 9950x3d is not the best CPU for gaming. The 9800x3d is.

Oh I see, I just presumed based on price + the 5.7ghz but I admit, I know nothing about PC hardware lol

Thanks for video mate, I'll watch it now, ta!

Rroff · Saturday at 13:37

Depends on your requirements - purely gaming then it is hard to beat the 7800X3D/9800X3D parts, the extra CCD of the x950X3D parts isn't very useful for purely gaming purposes, however a big caveat there is that if you do things like multi-boxing MMO clients, etc. you may find you need more cores than the x800 chips have. If you do anything much productivity wise then you may also want to look at other CPUs though the x800X3D chips won't be slower than your existing setup and generally quite a bit faster anyhow.

Intel's latest Arrow Lake CPUs aren't known to suffer from degradation issues but they are lacklustre in gaming performance and often come behind the faster 13th and 14th gen CPUs though at 1440p and above with good quality settings the amount the CPU matters is reduced somewhat - the 265K generally is better value for money and often not much slower for gaming than the 285K if you want to keep spending to a minimum, but personally I wouldn't rush to spend money on AL.

EDIT: I'd be a little wary of Battlefield 6 benchmarks as it is difficult to have consistency between runs and how well various CPUs do in the game can vary depending on scenario so one benchmarker might get quite different results to another.

hornetstinger · Saturday at 13:43

Rroff said:
Depends on your requirements - purely gaming then it is hard to beat the 7800X3D/9800X3D parts, the extra CCD of the x950X3D parts isn't very useful for purely gaming purposes, however a big caveat there is that if you do things like multi-boxing MMO clients, etc. you may find you need more cores than the x800 chips have. If you do anything much productivity wise then you may also want to look at other CPUs though the x800X3D chips won't be slower than your existing setup and generally quite a bit faster anyhow.

Intel's latest Arrow Lake CPUs aren't known to suffer from degradation issues but they are lacklustre in gaming performance and often come behind the faster 13th and 14th gen CPUs though at 1440p and above with good quality settings the amount the CPU matters is reduced somewhat - the 265K generally is better value for money and often not much slower for gaming than the 285K if you want to keep spending to a minimum, but personally I wouldn't rush to spend money on AL.

EDIT: I'd be a little wary of Battlefield 6 benchmarks as it is difficult to have consistency between runs and how well various CPUs do in the game can vary depending on scenario so one benchmarker might get quite different results to another.

I think one reviewer used bot matches or something so the fps was similar for multiple matches.

jigger · Saturday at 14:42

9950X3D tops all benchmarks.

Tetras · Saturday at 14:46

SkScotchegg said:
Oh I see, I just presumed based on price + the 5.7ghz but I admit, I know nothing about PC hardware lol

The quoted boost clocks on any CPU are normally the maximum clock it will reach:
1. Under ideal conditions (not overheating, not power throttling).
2. Single core/thread (e.g. just opening an app).

The more load it has on each core, the lower the boost clock will be.

humbug · Saturday at 15:15

Its al about the X3D, they have extra cache which makes them faster in games. 96MB L3 instead of 32MB.

Disco_P · Saturday at 15:30

9800x3d

/thread

jigger · Saturday at 16:07

Disco_P said:
9800x3d

/thread

7800X3D has better efficiency. The 7950X3D is also a contender at current prices.

opethdisciple · Saturday at 17:33

jigger said:
7800X3D has better efficiency. The 7950X3D is also a contender at current prices.

I don't think this is very helpful to the conversation.

I doubt the op cares about efficiency (and really how many do when people are asking for the fastest chip) and the x950X3d CPU's are more expensive and take some fiddling to get games to launch on the correct CCD.

Keeping it simple the correct answer is the 9800X3d.

Alex h · Saturday at 17:59

9800x3d like others have said

jigger · Saturday at 18:34

opethdisciple said:
I don't think this is very helpful to the conversation.

I doubt the op cares about efficiency (and really how many do when people are asking for the fastest chip) and the x950X3d CPU's are more expensive and take some fiddling to get games to launch on the correct CCD.

Keeping it simple the correct answer is the 9800X3d.

Unless I’ve read this wrong, the OP is asking for the best* gaming chip. Fastest is 9950X3D. Best is another question entirely.

Fastest=9950X3D/end

Gray2233 · Saturday at 18:53

jigger said:
Unless I’ve read this wrong, the OP is asking for the best* gaming chip. Fastest is 9950X3D. Best is another question entirely.

Fastest=9950X3D/end

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Review - Great for Gaming and Productivity

The new AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D brings Zen 5 with 3D V-Cache to the high-end. This new $700 flagship offers the best application performance, beating even the 9950X, and at the same time you get a fantastic gaming experience that's better than any other non-X3D processor on the market.

www.techpowerup.com

Not according to this it isn't.

SkScotchegg · Sunday at 00:50

Thanks for all your replies guys, much appreciated!

Based on everything you've said and the reviews you've posted, I feel confident now that the 9800x3d will be a perfect fit for me and my 5070ti and should be a great upgrade over my existing 9900k.

Apparently, according to my account on overclockers, I ordered my 9900k rig on 13/04/2021, so that's 4 years, 6 months, and 16 days (taking into account next day delivery) so I feel like this would be a perfect time to upgrade as I've noticed my current CPU struggling in a few games recently, such as Alan Wake 2 and Stalker 2.

I'm wanting to work out the specs and then put this new build together before Christmas. Really looking forward to making a new rig.

Thanks again!

EDIT: Sorry, I just had one last question guys before you go, if you don't mind. Can I still use my existing CPU cooler when I build the new rig? The one I have on the 9900k is called "Corsair Hydro Series iCUE H115i Elite CAPELLIX RGB Performance Liquid CPU Cooler - 280mm (CW-9060047"?

I just thought I'd ask as it would save me money to use the existing one, and I kind of like it for the RGB effect.

And if I can still use it, my second question would be, would I have to worry about the liquid inside those pipes being ok for the next 4-5 years? Or does that liquid stuff last for many years? Thanks again.

MyBrainz · Sunday at 06:44

SkScotchegg said:
EDIT: Sorry, I just had one last question guys before you go, if you don't mind. Can I still use my existing CPU cooler when I build the new rig? The one I have on the 9900k is called "Corsair Hydro Series iCUE H115i Elite CAPELLIX RGB Performance Liquid CPU Cooler - 280mm (CW-9060047"?

I just thought I'd ask as it would save me money to use the existing one, and I kind of like it for the RGB effect.

And if I can still use it, my second question would be, would I have to worry about the liquid inside those pipes being ok for the next 4-5 years? Or does that liquid stuff last for many years? Thanks again.

If this is cooler you have then it says AMD AM5 in the Tech Specs.. Check the box for the AM5 retention kit.

Posting this link should be fine as I cant see these on OcUK..

iCUE H115i ELITE CAPELLIX Liquid CPU Cooler

The CORSAIR iCUE H115i ELITE CAPELLIX Liquid CPU Cooler delivers powerful, low-noise cooling for your CPU, with a 280mm radiator, two CORSAIR ML140 RGB PWM fans, and an ultra-bright CAPELLIX RGB pump head.

www.corsair.com

I bought an H100i PRO RGB AIO 240mm that cooled three AM4 CPU's and that is over 5 years old and is now cooling my Ryzen 4300G in a second PC so you should be good. I'd just keep an eye on your temps if you're concerned about it not cooling well enough. If it starts to fail you'll probably see high idle temps when just on the desktop.

As you're going for the 9800X3D I'd recommend you buy a decent X670E/X870/E motherboard with that £200 odd quid you're saving from not going with the 9950X3D

Also, RAM prices are shooting up so try and find a good deal somewhere, Gamers Nexus thinks those prices are still going to go up more

My 32GB kit cost me £100 in May this year, same place is now selling it for £170 :eek:

opethdisciple · Sunday at 12:50

I'm still using a NH-D14 on my 9800x3d which I bought when I got my 3570k.