This next CPU generation is starting to feel skippable for gamers

The two most exciting PC components to upgrade are the graphics card and the processor. We haven’t seen next-gen graphics cards yet, and we’re unlikely to see them this year, but both Intel and AMD have released (or will release) new processors. However, this generation of CPUs is quickly turning out to be the one to skip.

With AMD Ryzen 9000 series already here, and with Intel Arrow Lake-S on the imminent horizon, you’d think that gamers would be lining up to upgrade. But as a gamer, I haven’t felt less excited about a generation of CPUs in quite a long time.

Ryzen 9000 barely makes a difference

It’s been over a month since the first batch of Zen 5 processors was released, and it’s safe to say that these CPUs haven’t made much of a splash so far. Sales data is hard to come by, but certain retailers report that Zen 5 sales have been slow, and it’s no surprise. There’s just not that much of a difference between Zen 4 and Zen 5 to justify the purchase — at least for gamers.

Don’t get me wrong. Based on our tests, Ryzen 9000 CPUs are doing just fine. We’ve tested all four: the high-end Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X, as well as the mainstream Ryzen 7 9700X and Ryzen 5 9600X. They are better than their Zen 4 counterparts, but the single-digit performance uplift is just not enough to make people want to spend well over $300 on a CPU. I know that personally, as I’m not tempted at all.

Zen 5 chips shine in productivity and single-core tasks, but those things don’t matter as much in most gaming scenarios. We’ve compared the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, which is still the king of gaming processors, to the Ryzen 7 9700X, and found that the former gets obliterated in single-core performance, losing by around 20%. Flip the switch to gaming, though, and it’s a whole different story.

Take a look at our benchmarks. In some titles, the Ryzen 7 9700X and the Ryzen 7 7800X3D are nearly even, but those aren’t common. More often than not, we’re seeing wins for the last-gen CPU, including a massive lead in F1 2022, where the CPU beat the Zen 5 part by 18%, reaching 400 frames per second (fps), where the 9700X maxed out at 328 fps.

Of course, comparing the 9700X to the 7800X3D is not exactly fair — the extra 3D V-Cache gives the CPU a lot more oomph in gaming scenarios. But since gaming is what we care about here, it’s hard not to view the 9700X as a little “meh.” And matching up the CPU against the last-gen 7700X also doesn’t make things any better.

Hardware Unboxed compared the 9700X to the 7700X across a test suite of 40 games. This was done with the new Windows Update, which boosts the performance of Ryzen 7000 and 9000 by up to 13%. The result wasn’t very encouraging for those who might want to buy the Zen 5 CPU — the two chips are within 2% of each other. That’s practically nothing; you’ll certainly never see the difference in any game.

To sum it up, while Zen 5 comes with improvements on the productivity front, it’s a disappointing release for gamers. If you have Zen 4, you have next to no reason to buy Zen 5 right now.

Intel Arrow Lake may be a disappointment

Intel Arrow Lake, or Intel Core Ultra 200 (will we ever get used to the new naming scheme?), is what Intel’s cooking up for this generation of desktop processors. We haven’t had any official release dates yet, but rumor has it that it’s now scheduled for an October 10 reveal and an October 24 release, so it’s not far off.

But is there any reason for us gamers to get excited? Not really, it seems like.

Various sources talk about the possible performance uplift that the Core Ultra 200 might deliver. The largest figure I’ve seen thrown around was a 15% boost in instructions per cycle (IPC), but some leakers pin it as low as 5%. We have to remember that a 15% improvement in IPC doesn’t translate to a 15% improvement in gaming, or at least it doesn’t have to.

Leaked benchmarks, such as this one from Benchleaks, pin the Core Ultra 7 265KF as somewhat better than the Core i7-14700KF in single-core performance but the same or worse in multi-core. Meanwhile, this test from IT Home actually puts the Core i7-14700KF ahead.

It’s not the end of the world — single benchmarks such as this one don’t tell us much, and the Core Ultra 7 265KF is likely to turn out better than the previous generation, as should the rest of the lineup. But if the worst predictions come true and we’re looking at gains around 5% to 15%, and that’s not even in straight-up gaming, there’s not much to look forward to in this generation.

There’s one more problem with such a small lead for the Core Ultra 200 — value for the money. With the Ryzen 7 7800X3D still an option, it’s hard to justify buying a CPU along the likes of the Core Ultra 9 285K, which might cost as much as $650. Sure, it’s bound to be much better for productivity and might even beat the 7800X3D in gaming, but who’s going to pay up to $250 extra just for that and then put that chip in a pure gaming system?

Intel’s only saving grace might be that the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is now shockingly hard to come by. It’s either sold out or experiencing strange price hikes, perhaps due to the recent launch of the Micro Center-exclusive Ryzen 5 7600X3D.

With an unimpressive generational leap and the issues Raptor Lake owners have been going through, many gamers might give Intel a pass this generation. But who knows — it might turn out to be a pleasant surprise after all.

Fortunately, there’s one CPU that gamers know they can count on, and it’s still on the horizon.

One CPU left to count on

The savior I’m talking about is, of course, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. Ever since AMD launched the Ryzen 7 5800X3D and showed off the power of the 3D V-Cache in gaming, the X3D processor has been the one to wait for, and this generation is no different. If anything, I’m anticipating the CPU all the more now that I know that its non-X3D counterpart is … well, to put it bluntly, disappointing.

We’re still not sure when AMD might launch the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, but we do know that it’s coming. I’m not the only one who has high hopes for the chip. In fact, Moore’s Law Is Dead cites his own anonymous source that claims that Intel’s best Arrow Lake CPU won’t beat the Ryzen 7 9800X3D in gaming. This brings us back to the “bang for your buck” situation. Warning: Pure speculation ahead.

Let’s assume that Moore’s Law Is Dead is right on this one. If you’re a gamer with no need for the extra cores that the 285K is going to pack, and gaming is all that you care about, there might be virtually no reason to pick Intel once the 9800X3D is out. AMD is unlikely to price the 9800X3D at more than $500, and Intel is equally unlikely to price the Core Ultra 9 285K at less than $600. The Core Ultra 7 is a likelier competitor, but it’ll fall behind in gaming.

What about the difference between the Ryzen 7 7800X3D and the next-gen 9800X3D? It’s hard to say right now. The 5800X3D and the 7800X3D are about 15% to 20% apart, and if we get that much in Zen 5, it’ll be a good result. It won’t be enough to tempt me to upgrade, though, but that’s because I already own a Zen 4 CPU.

The gamers who are still on Zen 3 might jump in on this generation once the X3D chip comes out. But until then?

This year is, so far, pretty disappointing for PC hardware. With next-gen GPUs likely not coming out until later this year, and CPU releases being as unimpressive as they appear to be, we might all just need to save our money and wait for early 2025 when Nvidia’s RTX 50-series and AMD’s RDNA 4 hit, along with (hopefully) Intel’s Battlemage. For CPUs, I’m personally going to wait until Zen 6.