AMD's best gaming CPU is on sale for Black Friday, making a pitch to be the heart of your next gaming PC

(Image credit: AMD)

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D | 8 cores | 16 threads | 5.0GHz | AM5 Socket | 96MB L3 cache | 120W TDP | $449.00 $359.00 at Newegg (save $90 w/ promo code BFDAYW23)
The 7800X3D is pretty much one of the very best, if not the best CPU you can get for a pure gaming PC. Its performance is only matched by Intel's Core i9-13900K but that's a lot more expensive and uses more power. It's not as well rounded as the 13900K, so gamers also wanting strong productivity chops might want to consider something else. But if you're building a new PC for nothing but gaming, this is the one to get. Make sure to use the code BFDAYW23 to get another $10 off.

AMD's first CPU to sport 3D V-cache—the Zen 3-powered Ryzen 7 5800X3D—proved to be a real hit with PC gamers. And that was no surprise; the extra slice of L3 cache attached on top of the CPU die did wonders for minimum frame rates in dozens of games, especially the likes of Factorio, Minecraft, and many others that were traditionally really CPU-heavy.

Such gaming strength does put into stark relief what it's not so good at, however. The relatively small number of cores and threads, and low clock speed owing to that L3 cache hat atop the compute die, means the are better choices if you're going to be doing productivity work alongside your hobby, or just need something that provides a good balance between gaming and content creation.

We're curating all the best Black Friday PC gaming deals right here.

Nick, gaming, and computers all first met in the early 1980s. After leaving university, he became a physics and IT teacher and started writing about tech in the late 1990s. That resulted in him working with MadOnion to write the help files for 3DMark and PCMark. After a short stint working at Beyond3D.com, Nick joined Futuremark (MadOnion rebranded) full-time, as editor-in-chief for its PC gaming section, YouGamers. After the site shutdown, he became an engineering and computing lecturer for many years, but missed the writing bug. Cue four years at TechSpot.com covering everything and anything to do with tech and PCs. He freely admits to being far too obsessed with GPUs and open-world grindy RPGs, but who isn't these days?