GPU prices are still not affordable for the average person, so if you\u2019re looking to improve your performance, a CPU upgrade can be a practical choice.<\/p>\n
However, CPUs are also quite expensive, so finding a reasonably priced model that still offers a substantial increase over what you currently have can be difficult.<\/p>\n
To help you decide on the best upgrade path, here are the five best budget CPUs that will offer excellent performance for a reasonable price.<\/p>\n
At its price point, the i5-12600K is one of the leading CPUs and offers substantially better performance than its AMD counterpart – the Ryzen 7 5800X – at a slightly lower price tag.<\/p>\n
The 12600K comes with six threaded P-cores, four E-cores, and 16 threads, along with support for DDR4 or DDR5 RAM.<\/p>\n
However, the primary drawback is that you’ll need a 600-series motherboard to support this CPU, which can add to the price if you’re upgrading.<\/p>\n
Despite this, the i5-12600k is the best budget CPU currently on the market as it offers superb performance at a lower cost than its competitors.<\/p>\n
Although beaten out by the i5-12600K for performance and price, the Ryzen 7 5800X is still an excellent option for a CPU if you’d prefer AMD rather than Intel.<\/p>\n
The 5800X boasts eight cores and 18 threads and massive performance increases over the previous-gen CPUs.<\/p>\n
Unlike the i5-12600K, however, you probably won’t need to buy a new motherboard – which makes buying the Ryzen 7 5800X the cheaper option for most buyers.<\/p>\n
The i5-11600K is one of Intel’s best CPUs for gaming, and is an excellent option for a processor upgrade given its reasonable price point<\/p>\n
The 11600K boasts six cores and 12 threads and offers solid clock speeds.<\/p>\n
Given this is an older CPU than the 12600K, you’ll probably not have to worry about upgrading your motherboard.<\/p>\n
The third i5 on this list, the i5-10600K, provides everything you could need for gaming.<\/p>\n
It has six cores and 12 threads that provide impressive performance at a very reasonable price tag.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the 10600k has high high power consumption, due in part to using older technology, so you’ll have to check your power supply is up to the job.<\/p>\n
The Ryzen 5 5600G is an excellent alternative to the i5-10600K if you prefer AMD over Intel.<\/p>\n
Like the 10600K, the 5600G has six cores and 12 threads with a high average frame rate for games.<\/p>\n
Notably, the 5600G also has excellent integrated graphics, so if you are running a very old GPU, this could improve both your CPU and GPU performance.<\/p>\n