Best CPU

(This article is one of 16 parts in our Tech Awards 2025: Editor's Choice content series.)

Choosing the best CPU isn’t as straightforward as it used to be. Once upon a time, you simply went with the fastest chip and then pick the rest of the components. But 2024 and 2025 has shown us a market that’s far more diverse and competitive than that. Gaming processors are squeezing out every last frame at high refresh rates, desktop CPUs are evolving into multi-purpose powerhouses for creators and AI workloads, and mobile chips are blurring the line between laptops and workstations.

That’s why for this year’s Tech Awards, we’ve split our CPU picks into three categories: Best Gaming CPU, Best Desktop CPU, and Best Mobile CPU. Each represents a different side of how we use our computers today, and each winner reflects not just raw performance, but how well it balances features, efficiency, and the realities of modern computing.

Nominees

1. AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
2. Intel Core Ultra 5 245K
3. AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
4. Intel Core Ultra 9 285K
5. AMD Ryzen AI 9 365
6. Intel Core Ultra 9 285H

Best Gaming CPU

Gaming performance still lives and dies by frame rates, and in 2025 the gap between the top contenders has never been clearer. This year’s winner shows how far cache design and smart architecture can push gaming performance and the contenders from the duopoly of Intel and AMD are:-

• AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
• Intel Core Ultra 5 245K

And the winner is...

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D – Best Gaming CPU

Our benchmarks make it clear: the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the gaming CPU to beat. It delivers the kind of frame rates that solidify AMD’s already comfortable lead over Intel, while also holding its own in productivity and creative tasks – something its predecessor, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D, wasn’t as convincing at. That said, its limited core count means heavy-duty creators will still be better served by a Ryzen 9, like the one we’re featuring below. But if your focus is primarily gaming with a side of content creation, the 9800X3D is the sweet spot.

The catch is pricing. AMD has positioned this chip closer to the Ryzen 9 9900X than the Ryzen 7 9700X, which makes it feel a little harder to justify than the 7800X3D it replaces. Still, considering the uplift in both gaming and general-purpose performance, the higher price doesn’t feel unreasonable. In short, the 9800X3D isn’t just another X3D refresh – it’s a more rounded processor that makes fewer compromises outside of gaming.

Here’s a snapshot of how the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D performed in our benchmarks.

Check out our full review here.

Best Desktop CPU

For desktop users, it’s no longer just about raw power – it’s about balancing all-out performance with efficiency, thermals, and versatility. This year’s pick proved it could dominate in both gaming and productivity, redefining what a true flagship desktop CPU should deliver. Meanwhile, here are the flagship contenders from Intel and AMD:-

• AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
• Intel Core Ultra 9 285K

And the winner is...

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D – Best Desktop CPU

When it comes to desktop CPUs, AMD’s Ryzen 9 9950X3D sits comfortably at the top of the stack. Building on the success of its X3D predecessors, this processor shows just how far AMD has refined its 3D V-Cache technology. The big difference this time is balance – where its predecessor, the Ryzen 9 7950X3D only improved gaming but not productivity performance over its non-X3D Ryzen 9 7950X variant, the 9950X3D manages to do both without compromise. It’s just as happy chewing through multi-threaded creative workloads as it is delivering impressive frame rates.

That’s partly down to AMD’s revised chiplet design, which finally solves the thermal constraints that held back the 7950X3D. With better thermal management and the ability to keep to the same TDP as the Ryzen 9 9950X, the 9950X3D can stretch its legs in ways its predecessor never could. The result is a processor that runs cooler, scales better, and performs consistently whether you’re gaming, rendering, or juggling both.

Here’s a snapshot of how the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D performed in our benchmarks.

Read our full review here.

Best Mobile CPU

Mobile computers, aka laptops, demand a different kind of balance: power that lasts, efficiency that doesn’t cripple performance, and today they even have to have enough smarts to handle modern AI-assisted workloads. In 2025, one mobile processor stood out by delivering that balance better than anyone else. To make the cut, we had to consider only the most capable top-end mobile platforms that can fit in premium lightweight laptops, free from any limitations or caveats. This meant we had to exclude Qualcomm this time around.

The nominees:

• AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 / MSI Prestige A16 AI+
• Intel Core Ultra 9 285H / MSI Prestige 16 AI Evo

And the winner is...

Intel Core Ultra 9 285H – Best Mobile CPU

Intel may have been outgunned in the gaming and desktop CPU categories in Tech Awards 2025, but it remains extremely strong in the mobile space and nowhere is that clearer than with the Core Ultra 9 285H. The ultraportable laptop has always been a balancing act – enough performance to handle real work, but with the efficiency to keep you unplugged for hours. In 2025, no mobile processor managed that balance better than Intel’s latest flagship.

What won it, as far as we are concerned, was how complete the package feels. Battery life is its biggest strength, delivering runtimes that consistently outlast the competition without forcing you to drop performance profiles. AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 365 did show flashes of strength, particularly in gaming and video encoding, but it couldn’t close the gap when the focus shifted to battery life and broader productivity. At the same time, the Core Ultra 9 285H isn’t just sipping power – it also tops charts in general productivity and AI-assisted tasks.

That’s why it takes the crown as Best Mobile CPU this year. It isn’t the flashiest win, but it’s the one that reflects what people actually need from their laptops: long battery life, consistent all-around performance, and enough headroom to take advantage of the AI-powered features that are starting to define this new generation of PCs.

Here’s a snapshot of how the Intel Core Ultra 9 285H performed in our benchmarks. For the first time in a long time, we were able to also easily level the playing field as we had access to two almost identical laptops to carry out our tests.

Check out our full review with more details here.

The other Contenders for the Best CPU award

Intel Core Ultra 5 245K

Intel’s Core Ultra 5 245K was the closest challenger to AMD’s Ryzen 7 9800X3D in the gaming space this year, but it ultimately fell short where it mattered most: gaming performance. On paper, it looked like Intel had a strong contender – a solid balance of cores, competitive clock speeds, and better power efficiency than its previous generation. In our benchmarks, though, it simply couldn’t keep up with AMD’s 3D V-Cache advantage in real-world gaming benchmarks.

That’s not to say the Core Ultra 5 245K is a bad processor. For mixed workloads, especially those leaning on multi-threaded performance, it can edge closer to AMD’s offering. It’s also friendlier on power draw (albeit just slightly). Intel certainly deserves credit for being more competitive again in this segment, but the Core Ultra 5 245K serves as a reminder of how difficult it is to dislodge AMD’s current gaming crown. Until Intel finds a way to match or surpass the cache magic that AMD has pulled off, the gaming spotlight doesn’t look like it will shift anytime soon.

Check out our full review here.

Intel Core Ultra 9 285K

The Core Ultra 9 285K was meant to be Intel’s big statement piece for the desktop market – a halo product to go toe-to-toe with AMD’s best. Instead, it feels more like a reminder of how far behind Intel still is at the very top end. It isn’t a weak processor by any stretch, as our benchmarks show the processor delivering respectable all-core performance and can power through demanding workloads. But it just “respectable” isn’t good enough when you’re up against the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, which manages to be both faster in games and more efficient in productivity tasks.

It’s unfortunate that even after several rounds of chipset driver and Windows updates, the Core Ultra 285K hasn’t closed the gap. Where AMD’s refinements to 3D V-Cache have eliminated many of the trade-offs of earlier Ryzen processors, Intel simply has no counterpunch. As a result, the Core Ultra 9 285K ends up in an awkward position – a high-end processor that’s overshadowed not only by AMD’s flagship, but also by AMD’s own non-X3D Ryzen 9 9950X in certain workloads.

That makes the Core Ultra 9 285K difficult to recommend for anyone shopping at this level. It’s still a powerful CPU, but when its rival is offering more frames, more efficiency, and fewer compromises for roughly the same price, “powerful” isn’t enough. In the high-end desktop space, Intel badly needed a win. What we got instead was a reminder of how far and quickly the former heavyweight has fallen behind.

Check out our full review here.

AMD Ryzen AI 9 365

AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 365 put up a solid fight in the mobile space and showed that Team Red is far from out of the conversation. In fact, it impressed us in areas where Intel usually doesn’t get challenged in this space – gaming and video encoding – thanks to its strong integrated graphics and efficient handling of heavier multimedia workloads. On paper, it does look like a mobile processor that could go toe-to-toe with Intel’s best.

But mobile CPUs are judged on more than just bursts of performance. Day-to-day usability hinges on battery life and all-round consistency, and that’s where the Ryzen AI 9 365 fell short in our benchmarks. Against Intel’s Core Ultra 9 285H, it couldn’t stretch runtimes nearly as far, and its general productivity scores lagged behind when the benchmarks were broadened beyond a few standout workloads.

That makes the Ryzen AI 9 365 a chip with flashes of brilliance, but not enough balance to take the crown. For gamers on the go or users who care most about video work, it’s still an attractive option. But for ultraportable laptops that need to last and perform across a wide spectrum of tasks, Intel’s Core Ultra 9 285H remains the more compelling choice.

Check out our full review here.

(This article is one of 16 parts in our Tech Awards 2025: Editor's Choice content series.)

Test References