Budget CPU Tier List: Best Processors for Gaming Under $200

These are the best budget CPUs under $200 currently available.

Picking a “best CPU” for a budget or mid-range gaming build isn’t just about raw performance—it’s about total platform cost, the upgrade path available, and how much money you can save so that you can put that extra money towards your graphics card.

Prices swing, compatible motherboards vary wildly in quality, and the decision you make between DDR4 and DDR5 memory can nudge your build over (or under) your budget.

In this guide, we’ve grouped popular budget-oriented processors into tiers that reflect real-world value. These picks are all based on the price at the time of writing this guide, so be sure to double check prices, as a ~$30 drop on a specific CPU could make it a much better option than it currently is.

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Quick Look: CPU Tier List

C-Tier Section

This tier consists of Intel’s i5-12600K, i7-12700KF, and i5-13400F, as well as AMD’s Ryzen 7 5700X, 5800X, and 5800XT.

None of these options are bad per se, but they are all CPUs that don’t make a lot of sense to buy right now simply because of how much they currently cost.

This should really be called the “watch price” section, because any of these CPUs could become viable options for budget builders if they were to drop to certain price levels.

Ultra Budget CPU Options in the B-Tier

Moving on to the cheapest options on our list we have Intel’s Core i3-12100F, 13100F, and 14100F, and AMD’s Ryzen 5 5500. These four CPUs all fall into our B-tier range and all make sense for gamers who want to build a PC with all new parts and who are working with a very tight budget.

In my opinion, these CPUs will work well if the total budget for your gaming PC build is between $400-$600.

Also Read: The Best $500 Gaming PC Build for 2025

However, at this low of a price range, there is a real case to be made for shopping the used market as you could find these options for even less, or better options for the same price.

Ultimately, these CPUs aren’t the best options in terms of performance, but because they are so cheap, they will allow you to put more money towards your GPU or help you stay under your budget.

The Case for Intel’s Core i3s…

The upside of the 12100F, 13100F, and 14100F is that they can be paired with a DDR5 motherboard. However, there aren’t a lot of great cheap DDR5 motherboards available on the LGA 1700 socket.

You’d either have to settle for a weaker H-series chipset micro-ATX motherboard—which may limit your CPU upgrade options in the future due to having to settle for a board that has a weak VRM—or you’d have to pay well over $100 for a better B-series chipset board—sort of killing the value proposition these CPUs’ lower price tag offers.

The Case for AMD’s Ryzen 5 5500…

AMD’s Ryzen 5 5500, on the other hand, has the advantage to where there ARE some solid B550 chipset motherboards that you can pair it with. There are B550 standard ATX motherboards available right now that cost under $100. And these boards will easily handle an upgrade in the future to something like the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D.

The downside of the 5500, though—and the AM4 socket in general—is that you will be limited to DDR4 memory.

But, of course, that could also be viewed as a positive for budget builders, as opting for a DDR4 build will save you even more money than if you were to build a DDR5 system.

Higher-Performance B-Tier Options

The Intel Core i5-12400F, i5-12600KF, and Ryzen 5 5600 & 5600X also fall into our B-tier. They are all somewhat interchangeable depending on whether or not you have a use-case that requires an Intel CPU or whether or not you want to use DDR5 memory.

In our opinion, the 5600/5600X is the better value option right now as there are better budget motherboard options available on the AM4 socket than the 12400F and 12600KF have on the LGA 1700 socket. And the 5600/5600X also have a better gaming-oriented upgrade path in the Ryzen 7 5700X3D.

But, the 12400F and 12600KF offer a little more gaming performance out-of-the-box, can be used with DDR5 memory, and there are applications outside of gaming where they will work better than the 5600 and 5600X.

AMD’s S-Tier CPU Options

Two of the best value options for gaming CPUs under $200 right now are AMD’s Ryzen 5 7600X and 9600X—both of which fall into our S-tier.

The 9600X is only a little faster than the 7600X, but seeing as how its only ~$10 more than the $7600X right now, it’s probably the better pick of the two.

Both of these CPUs offer the same advantages…. excellent in-game performance, DDR5 memory compatibility, and the future-proofing that comes with AMD’s AM5 socket.

These CPUs will not only work for gamers who are looking to build a higher-end budget system—but also for users who are looking to build a higher-end system and who want to save as much money as possible on their CPU so that they can put those savings towards their GPU.

Just be sure to watch the prices on these two. If the 7600X were to drop in price, it may be worth choosing over the newer 9600X.

Intel’s A-Tier Alternatives

On the Intel side, the best alternatives to the 9600 would be the Intel Core i5-14600KF or Intel Core Intel Core i5-14400F.

However, the 14600KF is more expensive than the 9600X (despite offering similar gaming performance) and it won’t offer as good of a future upgrade path as the 9600X will. So, it really should only be chosen by those who will be using their system for tasks that perform better on Intel CPUs.

The 1440F is much cheaper, which, at just $130, will make building a DDR5-based system a lot more affordable.

The 14400F can’t be overclocked, so you do lose a little bit of headroom when compared to the 9600X and 14600KF, and it’s upgrade path on the LGA 1700 socket is closed off now that Intel has moved on to the LGA 1851 socket.

But if you have use-cases where you would get more performance with an Intel-based CPU, the 1440F would be a really solid value option.

So, while Intel’s CPUs aren’t our top pick for gaming-first builds, for the right builders they will make sense to choose over AMD’s alternatives.

The S+-Tier Value King (If You Can Find It)

However, there’s also the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F—an option that combines the best of all worlds…

The 7500F is quite a bit cheaper than the 9600X, 7600X, 14600KF, and Ultra 5 225F, it’s better future-proofed than the 14600KF and 14400F, and it offers similar gaming performance to all five of those choices.

The only downside of the 7500F is that it wasn’t truly launched in the Western markets and, as such, the only reliable way to buy one is to purchase it from online sellers based in Asia.

You can currently pick one up on Newegg for $155, but it does ship from Hong Kong, so expect a long ship time.

If you’re willing to wait, though, we consider the 7500F at its current price as the cream of the crop, placing it in our S+ tier for the price-to-performance value it currently offers.

Verify Price Before You Buy

It’s important to note that while we believe this CPU tier list is accurate at the time of writing, the reality is that CPU prices change daily. If any of these CPUs change in price, they may become better (or worse) options.

So, be sure to check prices before you choose any of these processors.