Minecraft CPU Benchmarks: Conclusion

Published: Apr. 14, 2024

As I'm not a fan of giving "single best" advice, as there is always nuance, I will look at the results from a few different angles.

Outright Best Option

This one is probably the simplest, albeit I don't have hard data for it, but seeing the margins between the Core i7-12700KF and the Ryzen 9 7900X3D, alongside the clear win for Intel in Beta 1.7.3, I believe the best CPU for Minecraft currently on the market as of writing to be the Intel Core i9-14900KS, although realistically the "sensible" option is the Core i7-14700K or the KF variant.

Most Efficient Option

The most efficient option is almost certainly the Ryzen 7 7800X3D paired with a B650 motherboard, given what we've seen from the Ryzen 9 7900X3D it offers top tier performance and class leading power efficiency. At least when playing games, but I wouldn't worry about the idle power that much unless you need a high end motherboard for a lot of PCIe devices, in which case Intel is likely the better buy.

Best Mainstream Option

The go-to mainstream option is split in my opinion, you can't really go wrong with either a Ryzen 5 7600 or 7500F or a discounted Core i7-12700, K, F or KF. The Intel processor is somewhat snappier to use for day to day tasks over Ryzen 9 7900X3D and by proxy the Ryzen 5 7600 and also offers more productivity performance, while the Ryzen option may offer better upgrade possibilities down the line.

Best Low-Budget Option

This is for when you simply don't have the money to buy a shiny new DDR5 platform for Ryzen 7000 or latest Intel. If you are on an old system and want an upgrade, I think the Ryzen 5 5600 proved itself to be an amazing option - or even the Ryzen 5 5500, delivering performance in the ballpark of the highest end CPUs while costing a fraction of the money. Especially if you can find a second hand deal or are already using the AMD AM4 platform.

Closing Words

As usual, keep in mind I'm giving these recommendations with the assumption that you solely care about Minecraft, in some of them I did lay out other option based on other requirements, but it is still largely just a guideline and my opinion.

I hope you enjoyed the article and found the information useful. I will be trying to make these Minecraft benchmarking articles a more regular thing, but I will repeat myself here, getting some of the latest pieces of hardware can be quite expensive, so if you'd like to support me and my work, feel free to reach out to me.