These are the best AMD CPUs you can buy in 2022
AMD CPUs have evolved a lot over the years to become so much more than just an affordable alternative to Intel CPUs. In fact, they’ve been stomping on Intel chips for a few generations now, offering an incredible value for money with an appealing price to performance ratio.
AMD CPUs are also dominating our collection of the best CPUs as well as the best gaming CPUs on the market right now. While Intel is doing some impressive work with its new Alder Lake processors, we still think the existing AMD CPUs offer great value, especially when you consider the platform entry cost of the new Intel chips. In this article, we’ll be taking a look at some of the best AMD CPUs you can buy right now.
Editor’s note (September 28, 2022): AMD’s newest generation CPUs, the Ryzen 7000 series, have just launched (and we’re in the process of reviewing them). The latest generation will surely feature, so this list will be going through some changes in the coming weeks.
Navigate this article:
- Best overall: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
- Best AMD CPU for gaming: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
- The best AMD CPU for enthusiasts and creators: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
- Best budget AMD CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
- Alternative budget AMD CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
- Best Workstation AMD processor: AMD Threadripper Pro 3995WX
Best overall: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
While the Ryzen 9 590X and the Ryzen 9 5900X, both dominate the high-end CPU market, we think it’s the Ryzen 5 5600X CPU that offers the best value for your money. This processor from the house of AMD is capable of delivering a stunning blow to Intel’s mid-range lineup. It’s a fantastic mainstream chip that’s equally good for gaming, content creation, productivity, and more.
The Ryzen 5 5600X comes with six cores and twelve threads powered by AMD’s Zen 3 architecture fabricated on the 7nm process. This processor offers approx. 19% improvement in instructions per cycle (IPC) over its last-gen counterpart. It also brings a ton of other noteworthy features to the table including improved memory overclocking, new cache topology, and more. The Ryzen 5 5600X is also a 65W TDP chip, which means it’s one of the most power-efficient chips in AMD’s Ryzen 5000 series.
The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X comes with a base frequency of 3.7GHz and boosts all the way up to 4.6GHz. While the official peak frequency is clocked at 4.6GHz, the chip is known to frequently cross the 5GHz mark under favorable conditions. Overclocking is also an option with the Ryzen 5 5600X with which users can get more performance out of this chip. Overclocking performance is obviously not going to be as good as the Ryzen 9 5950X, but it comes close for a fraction of its cost. It also boasts 36MB of L3 cache to topple the competition.
In terms of performance, the Ryzen 5 5600X beasts nearly Intel chips in its category and trade blows with some of the high-end chips from the blue team too. The 5600X even beats the Core i9-10900K in most single-threaded workloads including gaming at 1080p. This makes it one of the best processors you can buy for your gaming rig without burning a huge hole in your pocket.
The thing about the Ryzen 5 5600X is that it drops right into the existing motherboards with an AM4 socket, thereby reducing the overall platform entry cost. You won’t be able to upgrade to Ryzen 7000 without a whole new motherboard and set of DDR5 RAM, but the 5600X still has the bang for the buck to make it worth buying in 2022. It’s likely that the all-new Ryzen 5 7600X will ultimately succeed it though.
- The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X is our pick for the best overall CPU if you're leaning towards an AMD-based build. It's not as powerful as the Ryzen 9 5950X, but it's way cheaper and it beats nearly all the Intel chips in its category and beyond.
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Best AMD CPU for gaming: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
While the Ryzen 5 5600X is our pick for the best overall AMD CPU you can buy right now, we think hardcore gamers who’re serious about getting the best gaming performance should setup up the Ryzen 7 5800X. This particular CPU brings some meaningful upgrades to the table, making it a fantastic chip for single-threaded applications like gaming. AMD has greatly reduced the latency between cores by packing in 8 cores per CCX — up from 4 cores per CCX on Zen 2. Notably, each core also has direct access to 32MB of L3 cache, thereby improving the overall performance of the chip.
The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X comes with 8 cores and 16 threads for an impressive multi-core performance too. This makes it a solid option for those leaning towards content creation workloads as well. Not to mention, the Ryzen 7 5800X is also a great chip for streamers who’re looking to share their gameplay with others live on platforms like Twitch. The Ryzen 7 5800X can also boost up to 4.7GHz, with a total of 32MB of L3 cache. These specs are very similar to that of its last-gen counterpart, however, the Ryzen 7 5800X has a higher boost clock. That’s a huge improvement, especially when you consider each core having direct access to all the cache. We’re looking at an IPC improvement of about 39% in games.
One thing we don’t necessarily like about the Ryzen 7 5800X is that it doesn’t come bundled with a stock cooler. While most gamers and enthusiast will get their hands on an aftermarket CPU cooler, we still think it’s a glaring omission. The bundled AMD Wraith cooler used to be one of the stock coolers and we think it would’ve been great for users running this particular chip at stock settings. It also adds up to the overall cost of the build and the Ryzen 7 5800X isn’t as affordable, to begin with. At $449, the Ryzen 7 5800X costs $150 more than its last-gen counterpart, the Ryzen 7 3800X. Sure, it’s an impressive processor that’s worth considering, nonetheless, but we think a little less aggressive price or at least a bundled cooler would’ve made things that much better.
The Ryzen 7 5800X didn’t really have a competing chip from Intel until the new Alder Lake CPUs arrived recently. That those new chips still demand a new motherboard and CPU coolers, which again adds to the overall entry cost of the platform. The Ryzen 7 5800X drops into the existing set of 500-series motherboards with an AM4 socket, so we think they offer much better overall.
- The Ryzen 7 5800X is what we think is the best gaming CPU you can buy from the house of AMD. It offers impressive performance for gaming as well as content creation, making it a fantastic mainstream CPU overall.
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Best for enthusiasts and creators: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
AMD’s newest, most powerful Ryzen CPU is one that will have the creators out there pricking up their ears. One of Ryzen’s strengths ever since it first hit the market has been incredible multi-thread performance, important for taxing workloads. Intel has gone down a different route with its hybrid designs, but AMD is still keeping it a little more traditional and the Ryzen 9 7950X is 16-cores and 32-threads of raw, immense power.
Gamers can better spend their money since 16-cores is overkill and then some, but where the 7950X comes in is those who want to game and create. When you consider it in that context it makes much more sense. Want to game and stream? Render high-resolution video? Use software such as Blender or Unreal Engine? In taxing processes like all of these sometimes there’s just no substitute for more. More cores, more threads, more performance.
The Ryzen 9 7950X is one of the first Zen 4, AM5 chips from AMD, the first time we’ve had a new socket in some years. As such you’ll need to upgrade everything in your rig. It only supports DDR5, you’ll need a new motherboard, too. It’s built to support PCIe 5.0, though admittedly there are limited use cases for that right now, but you can transfer over your existing PCIe 4.0 drives.
In our testing, the Ryzen 9 7950X is every bit as impressive as you would hope it to be. It outclasses the Intel Core i9-12900K in almost every benchmark, even in single-core performance at times. Temperatures can get a little on the warm side but doesn’t exceed the 95C (203F) that AMD has previously declared. At idle it’ll sit happily at 40C (104F) under an AIO cooler, and you’d be able to drop that even further with some serious liquid cooling. It’s still a bit toastier than Intel’s competing CPUs though, and we’re yet to see the 13th Gen Core i9 on the test bench.
Ultimately AMD has made a pretty meaningful update to the Ryzen family and its flagship model is going to be popular with creators. The days of needing two PCs to stream with, for example, are increasingly looking like being over thanks to advances such as this one. It’s pricey, yes, but it’s as powerful as you can get right now on a consumer platform. And AM5 is going to be here for many years to come, so you’re as future-proofed as it gets right now.
- AMD's latest flagship is a perfect CPU for creators who need a lot of cores for intensive workloads. It's not too bad for gaming, either.
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Best budget AMD CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Buying an APU is your best bet to start playing games on your new PC without the need for a discrete GPU. And that’s particularly exciting now since getting your hands on a graphics card is more difficult than ever. Well, if you’re in the market to buy a new APU, then we think the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G is the one to buy, and it’s our pick for the best budget AMD CPU you can grab right now. Sure, the Ryzen 5 5600G is more affordable than this one, but being able to actually game without buying a discrete GPU itself makes it a budget builder’s best friend.
The Ryzen 7 5700G is a part of AMD’s new ‘Cezzane’ APUs and it’s an 8-core APU that sits on top of the Ryzen 5 5600G and the quad-core Ryzen 3 5300G in AMD’s APU product stack. This particular CPU costs less than the Ryzen 7 5800X and the Ryzen 5 5600X, but you do get more bang for your buck. AMD has always had a strong presence in the APU market and the new Ryzen 7 5700G makes it even better. It’s based on the Zen 3 architecture and brings 8 cores and 16 threads to the table. We’re looking at a base frequency of 3.8GHz and a boost frequency of 4.6GHz. Yet it still has a relatively low TDP rating of just 65W, which is quite impressive. This means it’s just as power-efficient as most other 5000 series chips.
That being said, the Ryzen 7 5700G isn’t exactly a Ryzen 7 5800X with an iGPU. AMD has lowered the L3 cache and has also ditched support for PCIe 4.0. This means the Ryzen 7 5700G is more limited overall. You do get memory support for up to DDR4-3200, which is great since Ryzen thrives the higher you can get the memory speed. Notably, the Ryzen 7 5700G also comes with AMD’s excellent Wraith Stealth cooler, which is a nice addition.
The Ryzen 7 5700G also drops right into one of the existing AM4 motherboards on the market, so it’s great if you’re upgrading from an older AMD CPU. The fact that these new 5000 series AMD chips have such a low platform entry cost makes them very desirable even though Intel’s Alder Lake CPUs are arguably more powerful. The integrated GPU is based on the Vega architecture that comprises eight compute units and 512 GCN cores operating at 2GHz.
It’s worth pointing out that these integrated GPUs rely on shared system memory, so get as much as your budget allows. Gaming is also possible with this APU, but we suggest you keep your expectations in check since this is still going to give you an entry-level gaming experience. But it’s better than you might think.
- AMD Ryzen 7 5700G is your best bet if you want to build a budget gaming PC right now without having to spend a lot of money on a discrete GPU.
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Second best AMD APU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
While the AMD Ryzen 7 5700G is the best APU you can buy right now for a budget gaming build, we think the Ryzen 5 5600G also deserves a spot in this collection mainly because of its incredible price-to-performance ratio. It’s our alternate pick for the best AMD APU you can buy on the market right now. This APU starts to take the shine off the more expensive 5700G counterpart by serving up a good percentage of its performance at a lower price.
The Ryzen 5 5600G is based on the Zen 3 architecture and it’s paired with the Radeon Vega graphics engine. The 5600G comes with six cores and twelve threads. It comes with a base frequency of 3.9GHz and a boost frequency of 4.4GHz. This particular APU is rated for 65W TDP.
The Ryzen 5000G also supports DDR4-3200 memory speeds, which is great. The integrated GPUs rely on shared system memory, so it’s a good idea to pair it with as much as your budget allows. Compared to the Ryzen 5 5600X, you get integrated graphics but you miss out on the PCIe 4.0 support. You’ll also be sacrificing 200Mhz of base clock speeds and half the L3 cache.
As for the gaming performance, well the Ryzen 5 5600G isn’t necessarily the best performing CPU out there but it’s definitely amongst the best. The 5600G, we’d say is plenty good enough for casual games, but you will still be looking at a lower visual fidelity while playing some modern titles. But you can certainly get going without a graphics card.
- The AMD Ryzen 5 5600G is a great APU for those who are currently struggling to buy a GPU on the market.
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Best Workstation AMD processor: AMD Threadripper Pro 3995WX
AMD’s Threadripper 3000 processors absolutely dominate the HEDT space with incredible powerful CPUs. Well, guess what? The Threadripper Pro CPUs are even better as they bring some meaningful upgrades by enabling all eight memory channels and all the PCIe lanes. We’re adding the AMD Threadripper Pro 3995WX to this list as an option for those who want nothing but the absolute best when it comes to raw compute power. This chip comes with 64-cores and 128 threads and it’s the leader of the pack when it comes to pure computing power.
The AMD Threadripper Pro brings a lot of noteworthy features to the table to make it one of the best workstation CPUs on the market. The 3995WX can single-handedly outperform dual-socket Intel systems that come with up to 56 cores. Well, that’s not really a surprise considering AMD’s been leading the workstation CPU space for quite some time now. The 3995WX is very similar to the Threadripper 3990X but there are some features that you simply can’t ignore. The Threadripper Pro 3995WX brings eight DDR4-3200 memory channels to life, which means we’re looking at a significantly higher memory throughout the quad-channel options. Intel’s Xeon W models top out at DDR4-2933, so there’s that too.
AMD has also bumped the max memory capacity up to 2TB in systems that support up to two DIMMs per channel. This is also a huge bump over AMD’s own consumer models that only support up to 256GB. Notably, AMD has also increased the PCIe 4.0 support from 72 lanes with the standard Threadripper models to a whopping 128 lanes on the Pro models. This makes it very desirable for professional users looking to take advantage of high-performance PCIe peripherals. Just to put things into perspective, you can connect up to four Nvidia Quadro GPUs in a single-socket chassis, which is incredible.
It’s, however, worth pointing out that this particular CPU demands special attention. The ‘WX’ suffix denotes that it’s a professional workstation chip that drops into specialized single-socket WRX80 motherboards featuring the sWRX8 socket. The supported motherboards are some of the expensive ones you can find on the market right now as they tend to offer a robust power delivery system capable of handling the raw power of these monstrous CPUs. The 280W AMD Threadripper Pro 3995WX features a max frequency of over 4.0 GHz. You’re also looking at a higher base frequency of 2.7 GHz, which is higher than EPYC’s maximum of 2.25 GHz for a 64-core processor.
Overall, the AMD Threadripper 3995WX is one of the best high-performance workstation-grade CPUs you can buy on the market right now. Nothing comes to the performance of this CPU in the single-socket ecosystem, really. That being said, average consumers are better off buying a significantly cheaper Ryzen 9. They’re not nearly as expensive as the Threadripper and they don’t demand a high platform-entry cost either. This is for the most demanding of workstations.
- The AMD Threadripper Pro 3995WX is a workstation workhorse that's best suited for heavy multi-threaded applications like 3D rending, video editing, etc.
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Best AMD CPUs to buy right now: Final Thoughts
Even after the arrival of Intel’s new Alder Lake CPUs, we think the existing lineup of AMD CPUs have a lot to offer. Not to mention, the existing Ryzen CPUs don’t come with a high platform entry cost as they drop right into the existing AM4 sockets found on the 500-series and 400-series motherboards. Between the new CPU coolers for LGA 1700 socket and the new Z690 chipset based motherboards, you’ll already be spending a lot of money on a build involving one of the new 12th Gen Intel CPUs. We think the Ryzen 5 5600X is the best overall AMD CPU you can buy on the market right now. You can also step up the more powerful Ryzen 9 5900X or even the Ryzen 9 5950X if you want the best of what AMD has to offer in the mainstream market. We’ve also added some APUs to the collection for those who are leaning towards an entry-level budget gaming rig.
AMD is expected to launch the new AM5 platform next year, so we suggest you keep an eye on this list for some significant changes based on what the company brings to the market. As always, we also encourage you to join our XDA Computing Forum to get more recommendations from our community experts in the PC hardware space.
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