AMD is resurgent in 2023 with the launch of its Ryzen 9 7950X3D and Ryzen 9 7900X3D chips as it looks to take a larger chunk of the processor market fueled by better value and better gaming performance. With the advent of Zen 4, locating the best value for money when it comes to processors for gaming has been a task with moving goalposts; The Ryzen 7000 series (non-X3D) received several price cuts for example that make them considerably more promising in terms of value and price-to-performance ratios.

UPDATE: 2023/05/19 BY RAHIM AMIR

Updated for AMD's new Ryzen X3D Releases

Thanks to the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D and higher-end X3D processor releases, our guide for the best budget AMD CPUs for Gaming has been overhauled due to the new performance benchmarks and price points in play.

At the same time, there is the cost of AMD's AM5 platform that tends to be borderline prohibitive in nature thanks to the relatively expensive motherboard options, with DDR5 being a standard as well as the performance scaling based on cooling options which are often not included in most of its unlocked processors such as the 6-core 12-thread Ryzen 5 7600X.

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X 6-Core 12-Thread CPU is an excellent hexacore offering that delivers some of the best single-core performance that the Ryzen 7000 series lineup has to offer while coming in at an interesting post-sale price that dethrones the Ryzen 5 5800X3D in a close finish to become the best budget AMD Gaming CPU on our recommendations list.

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Thanks to the price cut it has seen itself get across multiple retails coupled with slightly cheaper B650 motherboards emerging in the sub $200 range with cheaper DD5 in tow. The 7600X is now a much more viable choice than it was in 2022 as a result. It does get rid of the stock cooling option than its lower-clocked (and cheaper) Ryzen 5 7600 sibling comes with, but bundling a cheap liquid cooler should fix that issue with ease while remaining at a respectable price point.

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is not exactly a winner at first glance; it seems to be a crippled Ryzen 5 5600 thanks to lower clocks and half the L3 Cache while being limited to PCI-E 3.0 speeds. With its conservative clocks and boost speeds, one could argue that it is a poor man's Hexacore Ryzen 5, and it would be a fairly correct assumption. It does however not paint the complete picture given its unique value proposition.

It does offer Zen 3 cores much like all of its more pricey siblings and a minor performance edge over its last-gen equivalent, the Ryzen 5 3500X/3600 while offering reliably decent multicore performance and an adequate stock cooler in tow. It does take a beating in some titles, however, primarily due to its relatively low clocks affecting single-core performance, somewhere the current-gen 4-core Intel Core i3 13100F has it beat with ease, albeit at a much higher price point.

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600G 6-Core 12-Thread APU is our pick for the best AMD gaming APU and for all the right reasons. While it isn't the best APU that AMD has (that credit goes to the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G), it is the most cost-effective option by far while sporting a 7-core iGPU and a 6-core, 12-thread configuration that is marginally slower than the Ryzen 5 5600/5600X processors.

The 5600G isn't pulling rabbits out of hats however when it comes to price points. While it delivers stellar gaming performance for an APU with one of the strongest showings in the market for an integrated GPU, it does sacrifice half of its L3 cache, cutting it to half the size of 5600 and 5600X while also being limited to PCI-E 3.0 at a CPU level which would hurt potential upgrades down the line; PCI-E 4.0 is a well-established market standard now and this is a crippling factor for an otherwise very capable processor. But at the price-point it sells at, one can choose to ignore it to build a PC well under $500 that outdoes the competition handily.

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 6-Core 12-Thread CPU is AMD's go-to processor in the Ryzen 5000 series and essentially a replacement for the wildly popular Ryzen 5 3600 processors. Given that it trades close to the sub $150 price point lately, it is a no-brainer for our best-budget gaming processor and should meet most video game requirements with ease for the next few years.

Unlike the 5600G, it has slightly better clocks, twice the L3 cache, and PCI-E 4.0 support out of the box, making it the CPU you want to pair with a discrete GPU. The 5600X is comparable in performance directly with the Intel Core I5-12400 or 12400F which is no mean feat by any measure for an AMD that was until the last few years playing catch-up to Intel's CPUs. All in all, the hexacore chip is an extremely versatile processor that should remain a mainstream CPU in terms of performance targets for the foreseeable future with ease and will feature in many budget-centric PC builds in the coming days.

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D 8-Core 16-Thread Processor is an entry that nearly made it to the top of our list (and probably would have if the Ryzen 7 7600X did not receive a sizable price cut). The octa-core behemoth was AMD's stopgap solution to Intel's 11th and 12th generation's superior gaming performance, and it has aged like fine wine in the process thanks mostly to its 3D stacked V-cache technology; The same technology has driven AMD to the top of the hill yet again with the X3D refresh of the Ryzen 7000 series processors.

RELATED: Best AMD CPUs For Gaming in 2023

The 5800X3D does have some drawbacks. Unlike its competing AMD CPU, it is a little slower in performance for most of the games when tested for in 1080P and 1440P benchmarks. It also happens to be at the tail-end of the AM4 socket's upgrade line, meaning that users will have no processor to 'upgrade' to if gaming performance is a key metric.

It is also limited to now slightly dated technologies such as PCI-E 4.0 and DDR4 memory. It does still make a compelling upgrade case however; It is still a solid performer and throws 2 more cores into the mix versus the 7600X, our overall winner, which means content creators might be more inclined to pick up the 5800X3D over its Ryzen 7000 series hexacore counterpart.

The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D is the fastest gaming processor that money can buy currently and pushes both, benchmarks and budget constraints, barely making it a viable option for the latter at sub $450 a pop for AMD's latest and greatest Zen4 and 3D V-Cache enabled experience that puts higher-end Intel and AMD processors to shame in benchmarks while consuming a fraction of the power that some higher end Intel offerings do.

Unlike its previous iteration, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D comes unlocked out of the box, and despite its thermal limitations remaining stringent thanks to a TJMax of 89 degrees, it can push a tier above thanks to AMD's PBO overclocking built-in on the platform. With efficiency being a strong theme for AMD this generation, the 7800X3D doesn't disappoint, benchmarking at ~50W for most game-related use.

It does have performance limitations in multicore workloads, but as a gaming CPU, it is by far the best CPU money can buy currently, also making it the best AMD CPU for gaming as a result, even if calling it a budget CPU is a stretch for some users, making it a more premium entry on our list.

FAQ:

Q: Should I get an AM4 or AM5-based processor?

A: To answer this, one would need to consider how much you can afford to splurge on the accompanying motherboard and memory; EXPO DDR5 memory and AM5-based motherboards cost a multiple of their DDR4 and AM4 counterparts currently and with good reason: They are bleeding edge technology. If the ability to upgrade is important one should consider getting an AM5 processor. If a cost-effective build is a priority, AM4 might be the way to go.

Q: What is the best overall budget gaming processor from AMD?

A: While there are multiple contenders, for gamers on a budget, the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X hexacore processor pulls ahead comfortably thanks to its current price cut and formidable gaming-specific performance offerings.