(Image credit: Future)

It's been a relatively quiet year for new gaming CPUs, as AMD and Intel launched the bulk of their latest processors back in 2024. Ryzen 9000-series chips first appeared in the summer, with the Core Ultra 200S range making an appearance a few months later in October.

And the same is somewhat true of the Ryzen AI Max and Max+ processors, better known as Strix Halo. AMD announced them at CES, and we didn't have to wait too long before we saw mighty APUs in use in the Framework Desktop and even in some handhelds.

The real surprise was the Ryzen 5 7500X3D. Basically just a cut-down Ryzen 7 7800X3D, it pretty much popped out of nowhere in November, and given that AMD had already launched the Ryzen 5 7600X3D in August, few folks expected another version of it (we're still waiting for a Zen 4 version of the Ryzen 7 5700X3D).

Intel did launch its Panther Lake mobile processor architecture in October, but the chips themselves won't be available until after the official launch at CES 2026. Team Blue chipped away at improving Arrow Lake, but fresh desktop processors are for next year only.

So while 2025 hasn't been an outstanding year for new gaming CPUs, there are three that are more than good enough to warrant special attention for a PC Gamer Hardware award.

Best gaming CPU 2025: the nominees

The winner of the PC Gamer Hardware Award for the best gaming CPU will be announced on New Year's Eve. It's obvious that AMD will win again this year, but as to which one gets all the glory, you'll just have to wait and see.

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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?

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