That it soundly beats the Core i9 11900K is just the icing on the cake. It not only beats the similarly priced 5600X in pretty much every game, but it outperforms the $750 Ryzen 9 5950X in plenty of tests too. The Core i5 12600K is the standout processor for gamers because it not only offers great gaming performance across the board, but it does so at a price point that isn't going to reduce you to tears. It's a gamble that has unquestionably paid off though, and the gaming performance offered by Intel's latest CPUs is nothing short of incredible. Its underlying hybrid design was seen as a gamble when it was first announced, with its combo of performance and efficient cores not obviously bringing much to the desktop experience. Intel's 12th Gen Alder Lake processors are a vital return to form for Intel. Still more power hungry than Ryzen -Doesn't play nice with some games Make sure you check our best gaming motherboard list if you are planning to do a brand new build. Games are still the most important tests for us though, hopefully for obvious reasons. This is made up of plenty of the latest games as well as 3D and video rendering workloads, just because we're all content creators and streamers now.

Looking for AMD instead? These are these best Black Friday AMD dealsĮvery chip on this list has been tested through our intense CPU benchmarking suite on our PC Gamer test rig.

Intel's CPUs are enjoying some Black Friday price cuts.

Here are the best Black Friday 2021 deals for PC gamers.

That's something we can definitely get behind. Saving a few dollars here and there on the core components can lead to a much better overall gaming PC. This is one of the reasons we're always eager to find the best deals in the Black Friday sales season. Value for money is important, if only because it means you can spend more of your budget on other things like SSDs, better motherboards, more memory, or maybe, just maybe, a better graphics card at some point-if the silicon shortage ever ends. You'll find the Intel Core i5 12600K newly installed at the top of our list, and for very good reason-it offers awesome gaming performance at a great price point. Indeed, with the launch of Intel's 12th Gen Alder Lake family, the best processor for gaming isn't the all-singing, all-dancing halo chip at the pinnacle of Intel's lineup, but one a little further down the pecking order.

The good news is that there are plenty of great processors out there at affordable price points right now.

5th generation i5 processor