Best Budget CPU 2022

At the core of every computer, you’ll have the CPU. It’s crucial to everything, with its performance capable of enabling or bottlenecking the performance of other hardware. If you’re looking at getting a budget computer, you’ll want a skilled but budget-friendly CPU. The exact CPU best for you depends on your use cases and budget.

Single-threaded performance is critical for some tasks, with one of the most common being gaming. In the current market, Intel has the single-threaded performance crown. Having recently released a new generation of CPUs, AMD’s current generation is starting to show its age. Even in multithreaded workloads, the latest Intel generation tends to win. If you’re trying to balance the budget, though, AMD offers better-multithreaded performance per dollar.

Current generation AMD CPUs will also result in cheaper computers as the motherboards and RAM are more affordable than Intel’s latest ones, especially if you opt for DDR5. The overall price savings from going AMD might even allow you to upgrade your CPU or GPU for better performance. So, if you’re trying to balance a tight budget, try planning out a configuration for both Intel and AMD to see what makes sense for you.

Integrated graphics can be helpful for computers if you’re looking to keep the budget down, as you don’t need to buy a discrete GPU just to output to a screen. Suppose you do plan on getting a discrete GPU. In that case, however, you may be able to save yourself some money by buying a CPU without integrated graphics. Intel CPUs without integrated graphics are always labeled with an F.

They are typically around $15 cheaper than their counterparts with integrated graphics. Technically, X series CPUs also lacks an integrated graphics chip, but they’re not going to fit into anyone’s budget build. AMD does offer APUs with integrated graphics. However, the prices aren’t great. The CPU clock speed takes a 0.2GHz hit compared to models without integrated graphics.

To help you find the best CPU for your budget build, we’ve drawn up our list of the best budget CPUs in 2022.

The Intel Core i3-12100 is the baby of Intel’s 12^th generation desktop CPUs. The new Alder Lake architecture features two core types: performance and efficiency. This model features four performance cores and no efficiency cores for 8 threads. Those four cores can boost up to 4.3 GHz.

Due to the lack of cores, single-threaded performance is stronger than multithreaded performance. Neither is particularly strong. But as the bottom tier Core CPU, that’s to be expected. Performance is still more than enough for primary home and office work. Integrated graphics mean you don’t need a discrete GPU. Lacking the -K identifier, this CPU is not overclockable.

The Intel Core i5-12400 is one of the strongest budget entries in Intel’s lineup. At 4.4GHz, it only has a small single-threaded boost over the i3-12100. Thanks to the extra pair of hyperthreaded performance cores, it does much better in multithreaded work. The maximum power rating is also increased, allowing peaks up to 117W.

Integrated graphics are great for budget computers because you don’t need to get a dedicated GPU. Like the i3-12100, this CPU lacks the -K identifier meaning it’s not overclockable. The stock cooler should do a good enough job at cooling this. But temperatures might get a little high under sustained load.

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X is realistically AMDs best budget CPU at the moment. It trades performance blows with the i5-12400 but costs $20 less. The Intel CPU takes the crown in single-threaded performance, but the 5600X is notably better at multithreaded workloads. This performance mismatch is interesting as both CPUs have the same number of cores.

A potentially significant factor is that the 5600X is overclockable. While the AMD CPUs aren’t known for lots of overclocking headroom, you can likely squeeze a bit of extra performance out of it. Especially if you’re willing to get a mid-range after-market cooler rather than the included stock cooler. The lack of integrated graphics may be an issue for a budget build, requiring a discrete GPU.

The Intel Core i5-12600K is the king of budget CPUs. Core-count-wise, it gets an extra four efficiency cores over the i5-12400. However, it also gets a big clock boost to 4.9GHz. Critically, this is the lowest tier Intel CPU to support overclocking, allowing further increased performance.

Integrated graphics mean you don’t need to get a discrete GPU. You would have to obtain a third-party cooler. However, as no stock cooler is included, and it wouldn’t be sufficient if it was. The power draw is relatively high, peaking at 150W. The price is quite high, though, especially for a budget CPU.

That was our roundup of the best budget CPUs in 2022. Have you recently bought a Budget CPU? What sold you on it, and what has your experience been with it so far? Let us know down below.