Best Gaming Processors in the UK

Every CPU Spec, Explained

A processor decides how fast your PC thinks, but past a certain point extra spending buys you nothing a gamer will feel. Below is what each filter and column in the table measures, how much it matters, and where the money is usually better spent elsewhere.

Gaming score (1080p)

A single 0 to 100 number for gaming performance, measured at 1080p with a fast graphics card so the CPU is the limiting factor. Testing this way is deliberate: at 4K the graphics card does almost all the work and nearly every modern chip performs the same, which hides the differences you are trying to compare. Importance: high for high-refresh gaming, low at 4K. Advice: if you play at 4K or 1440p with a mid-range card, a mid-tier CPU will not hold you back. Chase this number only if you run a fast monitor and a strong GPU.

L3 cache

The pool of fast memory built into the chip, in megabytes. Games love it: a large L3 cache keeps the data the cores need closest to hand, which is exactly why AMD’s X3D chips, with their stacked extra cache, sit at the top of the gaming ranking. Importance: high for gaming, low for most other work. Advice: raise the Min L3 cache slider to surface the chips built for frame rates. If you mainly render or encode, core count and clocks matter more than cache.

Productivity benchmarks: Geekbench, Cinebench and Blender

Standardized scores for heavy, parallel work like video exports, 3D rendering, compiling, and batch photo edits. The swappable benchmark column and the Benchmarks filter cover Geekbench 7, Cinebench 2024 and Cinebench R23, each in a multi-core and a single-core version, plus the Blender benchmark’s CPU render, which is multi-core only. Multi-core tracks how fast a chip clears threaded work; single-core tracks the responsiveness you feel in everyday and lightly-threaded apps. Importance: high for creative work, low for gaming. Games rarely use more than a handful of cores well, so a chip can post a huge multi-core score and still lose to a cheaper part in games. Advice: pick the suite your software is quoted in, set a minimum, and sort by it only if you actually render or encode.

Perf/£ and the gaming and productivity toggle

Performance per pound divides one of those two scores by the current cheapest in-stock price. The toggle above the table decides which: Gaming value uses the 1080p gaming score, Productivity value uses Cinebench multi-core. Importance: high. The two rankings can look completely different, and the flagship chips rarely lead either. Advice: set the toggle to match what you actually do before reading the table. If you both game and create, check where a chip lands on both and take the one that is respectable on each rather than the winner of either.

Price includes: the CPU alone, or the CPU with its platform

A processor cannot run alone. It needs a motherboard with the right socket, memory, and a cooler when the one in the box is missing or too small. The Price includes switch above the table adds the cheapest in-stock compatible motherboard, a 16GB kit of two 8GB sticks, and a cooler if the bundled one is not enough to every price, then recalculates Perf/£ on that total. Importance: high for a new build, none for a drop-in upgrade. Memory prices can differ sharply between DDR4 and DDR5, so a cheap chip on an expensive platform can cost more to get running than a pricier chip on a cheap one. Intel LGA1700 chips run on either memory type, so they are listed twice, once per platform, and the DDR4 row carries a lower gaming score because these chips are measured on DDR5. Advice: switch it on when you are buying a whole system, and leave it off when you already own the board and memory. Processors on older sockets with no motherboard we track are hidden while it is on.

Cores and threads

Cores are the physical processing units. Threads are the work streams they handle, and most modern chips run two threads per core. The table shows both, as 6/12 for a six-core chip with twelve threads. Importance: medium, with a hard floor. Six cores is the practical minimum for a current gaming build, eight is the comfortable spot, and past twelve you are buying capacity that only rendering and compiling will use. Advice: do not pay for core count you will not load. A faster six or eight-core chip beats a slower sixteen-core one in games.

Socket and platform

The physical connector, and the single hardest compatibility rule in a build: the socket must match your motherboard exactly. AM5 covers current Ryzen, LGA1851 covers Intel Core Ultra, and LGA1700 covers older Intel Core. AM4 is AMD’s previous platform and still worth considering for cheap upgrades. Importance: high. Advice: if you are reusing a motherboard, filter to its socket first and ignore everything else. If you are building fresh, note that AM5 has a longer upgrade runway than LGA1700, which is at the end of its life.

Memory type (DDR4 or DDR5)

Which memory generation the platform runs. DDR5 is the current standard and what a new build should use; DDR4 is older and cheaper, worth it mainly when you are reusing kit or squeezing a tight budget. Some Intel LGA1700 chips support both, so there the choice falls to the motherboard. Importance: medium. Advice: filter to DDR5 for a fresh build, or DDR4 if you already own memory you want to carry over. The memory itself is a separate cost from the chip, so factor it in.

TDP

Rated power draw in watts, which is also a rough proxy for how much cooling the chip needs. A 65W chip runs happily on a modest air cooler; a 170W or 250W part wants a large tower cooler or an AIO, and it will heat the case around it. Importance: medium. Advice: use the Max TDP filter if you are building small, keeping noise down, or reusing a cooler. Otherwise treat it as a reminder to budget for cooling on the higher-wattage chips.

Bundled stock cooler

Whether the chip ships with a cooler in the box. When it does, that is one part you do not have to buy, which can decide a tight budget build. Higher-end and X3D chips usually leave it out and expect you to bring your own. Importance: medium on a budget, low otherwise. Advice: turn on Includes stock cooler to find chips that need nothing extra to run. If you want lower temperatures or quieter operation, plan for an aftermarket cooler anyway.

Integrated graphics

Whether the chip can drive a display without a separate graphics card. Useful as a fallback if a GPU fails, for troubleshooting a new build, and for machines that will not game at all. Importance: low if you are buying a graphics card, high if you are not. Advice: turn the filter on if you want a build that can boot and display without a GPU. Integrated graphics will not deliver serious gaming performance.

AMD or Intel

AMD’s X3D chips hold the lead in gaming thanks to their large cache, and the AM5 platform gives you a longer upgrade path. Intel tends to compete harder on multi-threaded work per pound and often wins at the budget end once motherboard cost is included. Importance: medium. Advice: decide on price and the two scores at your budget, not on brand. Factor in the motherboard, because a cheap chip on an expensive platform is not a cheap build.

Price and retailer

Prices refresh daily from live retailer stock, and the “From” column shows the cheapest in-stock listing we track across CCL and Senetic. Prices include 20% VAT. The shipping each shop charges is shown under the price, and “cheapest” means the lowest price plus shipping, so a chip that costs a little more but ships free can be listed ahead of a cheaper one. Importance: high. CPU pricing moves with launches and sales, and a chip that looked mediocre can become the value pick after a cut. Advice: treat every price here as a snapshot to confirm before buying, and remember the motherboard is part of the real cost.