Processors: Buying Advice, Tips, and News
Choosing the right CPU can have a bigger impact on your PC experience than almost any other component. From gaming and streaming to productivity and creative work, processor performance shapes how your system feels every day. We put every desktop CPU through extensive testing to determine which chips deliver the best mix of value, performance, and efficiency.
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Deep Dive: Understanding Desktop ProcessorsWhether you're upgrading your desktop PC or building a new one, choosing the right processor is the most crucial and complex choice you will make. Let's simplify it! Here's how to make sense of AMD's and Intel's lines, backed by dozens of our deep-dive reviews.
By John Burek
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Latest Processor Stories
Intel says its new Wildcat Lake Core 3 Series chip family is built for affordable laptops. My first wave of tests shows exactly where it shines and struggles—and who should consider it.
CEO Cristiano Amon says the company is moving to become a 'full-stack player,' which includes partnerships with Microsoft, Meta, and AI-software firm Hugging Face.
With its "Panther Lake" Xe graphics cores, Intel's new G3 Series processors are purpose-built for PC gaming handhelds. I tested the flagship G3 Extreme chip inside MSI's spendy Claw 8 EX AI+. What type of frame rates can you expect?
'We will reinstate this option in an upcoming BIOS release in July,' AMD says.
Whether you're upgrading your desktop PC or building a new one, choosing the right processor is the most crucial and complex choice you will make. Let's simplify it! Here's how to make sense of AMD's and Intel's lines, backed by dozens of our deep-dive reviews.
Considering DDR5 pricing, this could be surprisingly welcome news.
AMD claims the per-rack performance of its new chips could be more than three times higher than Vera's. This just gets me more excited for Zen 6 consumer chips.
Nineteen games now benefit from Intel's Binary Optimization Tool (iBOT), but the new additions are a real mix of new and old titles.
AMD's resurgence is a slow burn; this time last year, it reached 40% of the market, and it's now just 10% behind Intel.
At Computex 2026, I sat down with Microsoft product designers to ask them how they put Nvidia's latest hot chip into a Surface laptop.
At Computex, AMD introduced a new 3D V-Cache desktop processor and resurrected an old one. Here's why you should think carefully before buying either one.
The ever-popular Ryzen 7 5800X3D will re-release for $349 on June 25. AMD is also launching its Radeon RX 9070 GRE worldwide to try to keep graphics card pricing down.
Pure muscle and localized agentic AI are about to ignite a PC revolution.
The company hopes to usher in the era of the AI supercomputer at home with laptops and mini PCs powered by RTX Spark arriving this fall.
Huang will take the stage in Taipei on Sunday, May 31, at 11 p.m. EDT.
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan takes the stage on June 2 at 1:30 p.m. Taipei time. Expect him to discuss Wildcat Lake laptops, Panther Lake handhelds, as well as AI PCs and data centers.
CEO Cristiano Amon is speaking on June 1 at 2 p.m. Taipei time. With Nvidia potentially debuting its N1 platform, Qualcomm may have stiff competition for its own Arm efforts.
The Arc G-Series is heading to Acer's new Windows-based Predator Atlas 8 handheld. MSI and OneXPlayer plan on adopting the chips, too.
It's shaping up to be an exciting week in Taipei. Here's what AMD, Intel, Nvidia, and the PC industry’s biggest players are likely to unveil.
Upgrading or building out your workhorse PC on a tight budget? Here's how to shop for the right AMD or Intel processor for less than $300, along with the top-performing chips in our benchmark tests.