Is AMD Ryzen 9 3900X good for gaming?

Keeping up with Intel's Core i9-9900K

Intel boasts about the single-core performance of the Core i9-9900K and rightly so as it's really good. The processor is fantastic for gaming, since modern games need more cores to run, but it also has great per-core performance, which is something AMD has struggled with in the past. Before Ryzen came along, AMD continued to increase the core and thread count without catching up to Intel with performance on each core.

Enter the Ryzen 9 3900X, which is set to take on Intel's Core i9-9900K and, fortunately, AMD has done a stellar job at matching single-core performance. What this means for games is an increased frame rate, which puts both processors up at the top of comparison charts, depending on which game you happen to be analyzing. Since the 9900K is Intel's "best gaming CPU," this makes the Ryzen 9 3900X one of the best AMD processors for gaming.

The main difference between the Intel Core i9-9900K and Ryzen 9 3900X is the number of cores and threads, with the latter CPU coming with 12 core and 24 threads, all in a 105W TDP processor, which is truly impressive. This unlocks potential for not only solid gaming performance, but also intense workloads like video editing and streaming.

If you plan on gaming on the Ryzen 9 3900X, you won't be disappointed. Just remember to pair it with the right GPU for your display resolution, buying the best card you can afford. I'd recommend an RTX 2060 (opens in new tab) for 1080p and 1440p gaming or an RTX 2080 Ti (opens in new tab) if you're going all out with a 4K gaming display. For more options, have a look at our best graphics card picks.