Which CPU Is Right for Me?
Today we’re talking about one of the most important components in your system—the CPU, or central processing unit. Choosing the right CPU depends on what you’re planning to use your PC for. Let's break it down by usage type to help you decide.
🎮 Are You Gaming?
AAA Games (High-End Gaming)
If you’re playing AAA titles—the big-budget, graphically intense games—then you’ll need a fast CPU that can keep up. These games often push both the graphics card and the CPU to their limits, especially in open-world scenarios or fast-paced competitive environments.
In this case, we recommend AMD’s Ryzen X3D series. These CPUs are designed with extra cache (known as 3D V-Cache), which helps dramatically improve performance in games by reducing latency and speeding up data access. If you're after maximum performance and future-proofing, an AMD Ryzen 9 9800X3D is the way to go.
If you want strong performance at a more reasonable cost, an AMD Ryzen 5 9600X still delivers great frame rates in modern games without pushing your budget too far.
Indie or Light Gaming
If you’re mostly playing indie games, classic titles, or lighter eSports games like Rocket League, Stardew Valley, or Valorant, you don’t need top-tier CPUs. These games are far less demanding, so you can get excellent performance from older but still capable CPUs.
In this category, we suggest sticking to more affordable and efficient options from previous generations, like AMD’s AM4 platform or Intel’s 12th-gen Core i5s. CPUs like the Ryzen 5 5600 or Intel Core i5-12400 offer more than enough power for 1080p gaming and general use, and they leave room in your budget for a better GPU—where it really counts for gaming.
👨💻 Are You Using Your PC for Work or Content Creation?
Streaming (Single PC Setup)
If you’re streaming and gaming from the same PC, you’ll need a CPU that can multitask without performance drops. In this case, we recommend Intel CPUs with hybrid architectures—like the Core i7 and i9 series from the 13th and 14th generations.
Why Intel? Their CPUs combine high-performance cores with efficient “economy” cores. This means the CPU can assign the demanding game workload to the performance cores while the efficient cores handle the encoding and background processes needed for streaming. This makes for smoother streams and better in-game performance—especially important if you’re using OBS or streaming to platforms like Twitch or YouTube.
A CPU like the Intel Core i7-14700K or i9-14900K is ideal if you want to stream at high quality and play competitive games at the same time.
Video Editing, 3D Rendering, and Creative Work
If your main focus is video editing, 3D modeling, or using software like Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, or Blender, then CPU core count becomes much more important and we recommend 20+ cores.
For Adobe software, Intel CPUs tend to perform better, thanks to better optimization and support for Intel's Quick Sync video encoding. This can significantly reduce render times and improve real-time editing playback.
In DaVinci Resolve and Blender, performance depends on both CPU and GPU power. Still, having a CPU with more threads allows smoother multitasking, faster rendering, and a better overall workflow.
For all of these use cases, the Intel Core i7 and i9 range provides excellent performance. If your projects are very demanding or you're working professionally with tight deadlines, go for higher-end CPUs in these families.
High-End Workloads (Rendering, Simulation, Scientific Work)
For truly demanding tasks—like 3D rendering, data simulations, or professional-level editing pipelines—core count is king. Here, standard consumer CPUs may not be enough.
This is where AMD Threadripper comes into play. These CPUs can have up to 96 cores, designed for heavy multitasking and professional workloads. If you’re doing CPU-intensive rendering, simulations, or running virtual machines and servers, Threadripper is a serious upgrade that can save hours of time in large-scale projects.
We offer custom Threadripper workstations at Gamertech. Just reach out, and we’ll help you spec a system that’s ready to handle anything you throw at it.
💡 Final Thoughts
We’ve kept things fairly high level in this guide, but hopefully, it gives you a clear starting point based on your needs:
- High-end gaming → AMD X3D series
- Budget or casual gaming → AMD 5600 or Intel 12400
- Streaming or content creation → Intel 14700/265K or higher
- Professional creative work → Go Intel for Adobe, or high-core AMD/Intel CPUs for Blender and more
- Extreme workloads → Consider AMD Threadripper
If you need a custom build or more specific guidance, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re always happy to help you pick the right parts or build your next gaming or workstation PC.
👉 Check out our latest prebuilt and custom PCs.
Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next time!
Tarl