Choosing the Best CPU for Your Gaming Computer

Child playing video games.

PC games rely on high-end graphics and tend to be resource hogs. As you shop for the right CPU, or central processing unit, for your gaming needs, it's important that you realize what type of CPUs will provide the power you need to control your gaming experience and why those processors' capabilities should be considered above all others. From multi-core CPUs to multithreaded CPUs with high thermal design power, various considerations should be taken into account.

CPU Cores And Processor Speeds

The number of cores found on your CPU will help determine how many processes your computer can complete simultaneously. For example a dual-core processor will be slower than a quad-core option. Intel offers a line of processors that are well-suited for gaming, including the i3, i5 and i7 processors. Since your PC's graphics processing unit, or GPU, will handle each game's graphics, a dual-core processor is often enough for a basic gamer's needs, while a quad-core is recommended for heavy gaming and online play. At least a 2GHz processor speed is also recommended for gaming, although faster speeds will yield better results. Simply put, the processor speed is the rate at which a CPU can process requests sent from hardware and software, both important factors for heavy games.

Thermal Design Power

More commonly referred to as TDP, thermal design power is a way of expressing the hottest temperature a CPU can reach and maintain without causing degradation to its function. The hotter a CPU can become while maintaining maximum effectiveness, the more information it can process and therefore the faster it can run at higher capacities. TDP is expressed as an amount of power the unit can handle and still maintain its heat protection.

A processor that is pushed to draw more power than its TDP rating will slow down to compensate and may fail altogether, so it is important to give your system enough TDP capacity to handle the high power demands of gaming. The rating numbers are rough indications of capacity, but it's safe to say that a processor with a TDP rating of 100 W has a much higher capacity than one rated at 10 W, while processors from different manufacturers that are rated at, say, 100 W and 90 W will likely have comparable capacities.

Multi-Threaded Cores

Intel offers a technology that allows each processing core to handle more than one task, or thread, at a time, which takes full advantage of the processors' power while reducing the amount of time various tasks wait in line for attention. This, in turn, allows for smoother game processing. Using Turbo Boost technology, Intel CPUs are also able to increase the "clock frequency," or working speed, of a processing system by putting idle capacity to work. This boosts the productivity of the cores in use, an important aspect for gaming systems.

Dedicated Memory Supply

Cache memory is used to access recently used data upon request from the CPU's cores. The more cache available, the faster a CPU can recall information, an important attribute when gaming. L2 and L3 cache types are typically suggested and cache options can run up to 8MB in size.

Front Side Bus Speeds

The Front Side Bus is the speed at which the CPU can communicate with external devices and the actual processor. The higher the frequency of the FSB, the higher the overall performance of the CPU. An FSB of 1066Mh/z or higher is recommended for gaming.

References

• Tom's Hardware: Best Gaming CPUs For The Money - January 2010
• Build-Gaming-Computers: Choosing The Right CPU For Your Gaming Computer
• iGaming Computers: Selecting the Best Gaming Processor
• "EE Times"; Demystifying multithreading and multi-core; Kevin D. Kissell; Sept. 26, 2007
• Intel: Turbo Boost Technology