Check out more of the year's best tech in our PC Gamer Hardware Awards 2024 coverage.
This year, there has been a glut of fresh CPUs from AMD and Intel for desktop PCs, with both vendors launching new processor architectures and model variants of older designs.
Over in the Team Red corner, 2024 started with a Zen 3 chip, in the form of the Ryzen 7 5700X3D. Essentially nothing more than a processor not quite good enough to be sold as a Ryzen 7 5800X3D, it's arguably better because it's a lot cheaper but not much slower.
Zen 5 made an official appearance in August, to a somewhat muted reception. That's because despite being a complete architectural overhaul, it isn't that much faster than Zen 4. But for sheer processing power, the Ryzen 9 9950X is hard to beat. Particularly when it uses less power than the competition.
We all had high hopes for Intel's Core Ultra 200S chips but it's fair to say that they missed the mark. Truth be told, most PC gaming enthusiasts were really only interested in one CPU and when the Ryzen 7 9800X3D finally appeared, we weren't disappointed. AMD's third generation of 3D V-Cache is just as magic as ever.
I've specifically mentioned these three processors because those are the nominees for best gaming CPU of 2024. We'll announce the winner on New Year's Eve but for now, let's see why they were chosen.
Best gaming CPU 2024: the nominees
The winner of the PC Gamer Hardware Award for the best gaming CPU will be announced on New Year's Eve. AMD wins no matter what but only one of its 2024 CPUs can be crowned best.
