CPUs are thone of the most crucial components of your personal computer. They are tasked with numerous calculations and are involved in almost every pipeline from making a simple search to tracing the path of a bullet in Call of Duty. Choosing an underpowered CPU can make your life extremely difficult, while overspending on one will waste your hard-earned money. Thus, in this guide, we will help you to choose the best CPUs in the market while not crossing the US$ 200 mark.
1. Best Performer: Intel Core i5-12400 6C/12T
Intel’s newly launched Alder Lake series of processors have taken the industry by storm. After continuously losing market share to AMD, the Blue Team made a solid comeback with a revamped process node and an all-new socket. The Core i5-12400 benefits from all of these changes while being priced below the $200 mark. It has 6 hyperthreading-enabled Golden Cove cores with a base clock of 2.50 GHz. At turbo speeds, the Golden Cove cores can hit up to 4.40 GHz.
Intel also sells a Core i5-12400F. The ‘F’variant is the same processor as the non-‘F’ variant but it does not include the UHD 730 graphics processor. It is also priced slightly lesser than the Core i5-12400. At $167, it is one of the best performers available for the price.
Core Count | 6 “Alder Lake” Performance cores 0 “Alder Lake Efficiency cores |
Thread Count | 12 |
Manufacturing Process | Intel 7 |
Onboard Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 730 |
Base Clock | 2.50 GHz |
Boost Clock | 4.40 GHz |
Unlocked for Overclocking | No |
TDP | 65W |
Max. Memory Support | 128 GB DDR5 4800 MT/s 128GB DDR4 3200 MT/s |
Price | $192.00 |
Pros
+ Supports both DDR5 and DDR4 memory
+ Great single-core performance
+ Great multi-core performance
+ Suited for gaming and productivity
+ Power efficient 65W design
+ Memory overclocking support
Cons
– No CPU overclocking support
– Supported motherboards are very costly
– Weak iGPU
2. Best AMD Offering: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 6C/12T
The non-X processors always amaze the market in terms of value for money. The Ryzen 5 5600 is a spiritual successor to the very successful Ryzen 5 3600. Its performance is slightly short of the Ryzen 5 5600X and is priced at a very competitive range. Coming in at just $186.98, the processor is a genuine bang for the buck. The Ryzen 5 5600 can easily run on a decent B350 motherboard, which propels its value proposition further.
This processor, however, does not have a graphics processor on board. Users will have to buy a dedicated GPU to finish their build. Like any other AMD Zen 3 processor, the Ryzen 5 5600 is unlocked meaning you can overclock the CPU. It also supports memory overclocking. However, you will need at least a B450 or higher motherboard to be able to successfully achieve stable clocks.
Core Count | 6 “Zen 3” cores |
Thread Count | 12 |
Manufacturing Process | TSMC 7nm FinFET |
Onboard Graphics | N/A |
Base Clock | 3.50 GHz |
Boost Clock | 4.40 GHz |
Unlocked for Overclocking | Yes |
TDP | 65W |
Max. Memory Support | 128GB DDR4 3200MHz |
Price | $186.98 |
Pros
+ Good value for money
+ Support for memory overclocking
+ Support for CPU overclocking
+ Power efficient 65W design
+ Decent single-core performance
+ Competitive multi-core performance
Cons
– No graphics processor on-board
– No DDR5 memory support
3. Best APU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G 6C/12T + Radeon Vega 7
The Ryzen 5 5600G is one of the most powerful APUs available in the market today. This processor is capable of running AAA games at lower resolutions at playable framerates. Running less intensive competitive titles like Valorant and CS: GO is a breeze for this processor. This makes the Ryzen 5 5600G a viable option for esports gamers on a budget.
The processor also supports both memory and CPU overclocking. Any decent B350 motherboard can easily run this processor without missing out on any necessary features. Coming in at just $198, this processor is one of the best offerings under $200.
Core Count | 6 “Zen 3” cores |
Thread Count | 12 |
Manufacturing Process | TSMC 7nm FinFET |
Onboard Graphics | Radeon Vega 7-core |
Base Clock | 3.9GHz |
Boost Clock | 4.4GHz |
Unlocked for Overclocking | Yes |
TDP | 65W |
Max. Memory Support | 128GB DDR4 3200MHz |
Price | $198 |
Pros
+ Powerful 7-core graphics processor onboard
+ Support for memory overclocking
+ Support for CPU overclocking
+ Power efficient 65W design
+ Decent single-core performance
+ Competitive multi-core performance
Cons
– Limited to a PCIe 3.0 interface
– No DDR5 memory support
4. Worthy Mention: Intel Core i5-11400 6C/12T
The Intel Core i5-11400 was the best-selling Rocket Lake processor. This chip was critically acclaimed for its great value proposition and acceptable single-core performance. The Core i5-11400 also introduced memory overclocking to budget Intel offerings. This allowed for further performance gains too.
The Core i5-11400 is available for $182.00, which makes it one of the most affordable processors on this list. However, its multi-core performance is not impressive. The processor suffers in multi-core performance, and, thus, is not suited for productivity workloads. But, if you intend to use it for gaming purposes only, the Core i5-11400 is a great choice.
Core | 6 “Rocket Lake” cores |
Thread Count | 12 |
Manufacturing Process | Intel 14nm FinFET |
Onboard Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 730 |
Base Clock | 2.60 GHz |
Boost Clock | 4.30 GHz |
Unlocked for Overclocking | No |
TDP | 65W |
Max. Memory Support | 128GB DDR4 3200 MT/s |
Price | $182.00 |
Pros
+ Affordable
+ Good single-core performance
+ Suited for gaming
+ Power efficient 65W design
+ Memory overclocking support
Cons
– Unsatisfactory multi-core performance
– Not suited for productivity
– No support for CPU overclocking
– Weak iGPU
5. Worthy Mention: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6C/12T
On a very tight budget, the Ryzen 5 3600 is a great choice. The Zen 2-based chip is already aging but it is a great performer to date. Although the Ryzen 5 3600 has a price tag of $179.99, you can easily find it faring for much less as AMD keeps slashing the price to keep their old chips competitive.
The Ryzen 5 3600 supports both memory and CPU overclocking. The chip, however, does not have a graphics processor on board requiring users to purchase a dedicated GPU.
Core Count | 6 “Zen 2” cores |
Thread Count | 12 |
Manufacturing Process | TSMC 7nm FinFET |
Onboard Graphics | N/A |
Base Clock | 3.60 GHz |
Boost Clock | 4.20 GHz |
Unlocked for Overclocking | Yes |
TDP | 65W |
Max. Memory Support | 128GB DDR4 3200 MT/s |
Price | $179.99 |
Pros
+ Good value for money
+ Support for memory overclocking
+ Support for CPU overclocking
+ Power efficient 65W design
+ Good single-core performance
+ Good multi-core performance
Cons
– No graphics processor on-board
– No DDR5 memory support
Conclusion
These five processors are currently the best choices under the US$ 200 mark. We strongly recommend the Ryzen 5 5600 if you are tight on budget. The Core i5-12400 manages to beat the Ryzen processor in every scenario, but you need DDR5 memory to fully utilize its power. DDR5 memory is insanely pricey currently. Also, Intel Alder Lake motherboards are very costly. This robs the Core i5-12400 of its value proposition.