GoKawiilIf you're a gamer, the best CPU you can buy is going to come from AMD right now, and the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is going to be on your shortlist. While it isn't technically the most powerful chip on the market anymore, the 9800X3D is still an absolute powerhouse performer and our top pick for best gaming CPU in 2026, and it's just hit its lowest ever price in the UK on Amazon, costing just £339.99.
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The data from Camelcamelcamel confirms what we know about Amazon's price, and an early check across the other big tech retailers in the UK points to a minimum £30 price drop compared to the cost elsewhere. There are few CPUs that offer the reputation that the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D. Until very recently, it was the fastest CPU for gaming in the world, and it's still our best pick overall. This 8-core, 16-thread processor features AMD's newest Zen 5 architecture and comes equipped with a boost clock speed of up to 5.2 GHz.
The performance upgrade, however, is really noticeable in one area: the cache. These 3D V-cache chips feature a boosted 96MB L3 cache capacity, stacked beneath the CPU cores, closer to the integrated heat spreader on a reconfigured die. For gaming, that means that it doesn't need to drop down and rely on the slower system RAM, reducing latency and ensuring much higher frame rates in-game.
Save 9% (£32.01) AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D: was £372 now £339.99 at Amazon This 8-core X3D beast of a processor is on sale at its lowest ever price right now. While the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is faster by around 3%, benchmark data compiled by the Tom's Hardware team confirms how close of a run it is, with this CPU requiring 30% more electrical power for almost the same performance.
The 9800X3D comes fully unlocked, making overclocking a possibility, something which wasn't available on earlier 3D V-cache chips. That said, base performance is pretty stellar on its own, and there really isn't a more efficient gaming CPU on the market at this level.
You aren't having to juice for power here. It offers the best performance per watt of any gaming CPU on sale, besting newer upgrades like the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D. Our CPU benchmark data confirms that, showing that the FPS difference between the earlier AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and newer Ryzen 7 9850X3D sits at only 3% at 1080p. You're probably running your games at 1440p or 4K with a chip like this one, too, which will close the gap even further.
Pair the 9800X3D with a modern GPU, and you won't find too many bottlenecks from the CPU end. If you combine it with a top-class option like the RTX 5080 or RTX 5090, however, and it'll smash through anything. High frame rates, high resolutions, even in CPU-heavy games like Cyberpunk 2077. The 96MB of L3 cache will give you the performance upgrade you need to perform at any level.
Image 1 of 3 (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) (Image credit: Tom's Hardware)
Another bonus for the 9800X3D is its lifespan. This is a long-term CPU, with performance that sits near the top, and which is very much expected to continue to dominate gaming for years into the future. This is an AMD AM5 processor, too, and that's a platform that AMD has publicly committed to support for several years to come.
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