Best desktop processors under £300 (2026)
The desktop processors we've reviewed that cost £300 or less, best first. Each is scored against products at a similar price, so a high score here means good for the money. Where we don't have today's price, we use the typical UK price we found when researching it.
Researched, not hands-on tested.How we review ›
- #1
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
6.7/10verdict: buyThe Ryzen 7 7800X3D is for gamers building an AM5 desktop who want strong gaming performance from an eight-core chip. It also suits developers and homelabbers who want DDR5, PCIe 5.0 and optional ECC support on one platform. Buyers who need many cores, low power draw or media transcoding from the processor itself should check the limits first.
8 cores / 16 threads4.2 GHz baseAM5120 W defaultRead the full review ݣ265typical UK price when researchedCheck price at Amazon UK (opens in a new tab, affiliate link)
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- #2
Intel Core Ultra 7 processor 270K Plus
6.5/10verdict: buyThe Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is for builders who want many cores for compiling, VMs and rendering on a desktop budget. It also suits media server owners who value HEVC hardware encoding from the integrated graphics. It is a poorer fit for always-on machines where idle power matters, or for gaming-first builds.
24 coresP-core base 3.7 GHz, E-core base 3.2 GHzLGA 1851Processor Base Power 125 WRead the full review ݣ273.59typical UK price when researchedCheck price at Amazon UK (opens in a new tab, affiliate link)
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- #3
AMD Ryzen 5 9600X
6.4/10verdict: good, not the bestThe Ryzen 5 9600X is for builders who want a six-core AM5 desktop processor with a 65W default TDP. It suits general development, light virtualisation and a workstation or small server where cooling matters. It is less suited to anyone who needs many cores or media transcoding from the integrated graphics.
6 cores, 12 threadsBase 3.9 GHzAM565W defaultRead the full review ݣ164.99typical UK price when researchedCheck price at Amazon UK (opens in a new tab, affiliate link)
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- #4
Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus
6.0/10verdict: good, not the bestThe Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus suits developers and homelabbers who want a lot of cores for builds, rendering and parallel workloads. It also suits anyone who needs ECC memory support on a desktop socket. It is a weaker fit for always-on servers where idle power matters, or for buyers whose main aim is gaming.
18 totalP-core base 4.2 GHz, P-core max turbo 5.3…FCLGA1851Processor Base Power 125 WRead the full review ›£216.99typical UK price when researchedCheck price at Amazon UK (opens in a new tab, affiliate link)
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- #5
Intel Core i5 processor 14400
6.0/10verdict: good, not the bestThe Core i5 14400 suits builders who want a 10-core, 16-thread desktop chip. It fits people who already have, or want, an LGA1700 board and value integrated graphics with Quick Sync. Buyers who want a long upgrade path or the strongest performance for the money should compare it with the Ryzen 5 7600 first.
10 total: 6 performance + 4 efficient…P-core base 2.5 GHzFCLGA1700Processor Base Power 65 WRead the full review ›£175typical UK price when researchedCheck price at Amazon UK (opens in a new tab, affiliate link)
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- #6
Intel Core i5-14600KF
5.8/10verdict: good, not the bestThe Core i5-14600KF suits builders who want a high thread count for compiling, VMs and containers. It pairs 14 cores and 20 threads with a 5.3 GHz performance-core turbo. Buyers should be comfortable with the owner reports on 14th-gen voltage and stability.
14P-core base 3.5 GHzFCLGA1700Processor Base Power 125 WRead the full review ݣ220typical UK price when researchedCheck price at Amazon UK (opens in a new tab, affiliate link)
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- #7
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
5.4/10verdict: good, not the bestThe Ryzen 7 5800X suits builders who want eight Zen 3 cores on the AM4 socket for compiling, VMs and general desktop work. It fits someone who already has or plans to buy a discrete graphics card. It is a poor match for a headless server or media box that needs built-in video output.
8 cores / 16 threadsBase 3.8 GHzAM4105WRead the full review ݣ199.99typical UK price when researchedCheck price at Amazon UK (opens in a new tab, affiliate link)
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- #8
Intel Core i5-14400F
5.2/10verdict: good, not the bestThe Core i5-14400F suits builders putting together a gaming or multitasking desktop who already plan to fit a discrete graphics card. It offers 10 cores and 16 threads on the LGA1700 socket, with support for either DDR5 or DDR4 memory. It is a poor fit for anyone who wants a display output or media encoding from the CPU itself.
10 totalP-core base 2.5 GHz, E-core base 1.8 GHzFCLGA1700Processor Base Power 65 WRead the full review ݣ161.50typical UK price when researchedCheck price at Amazon UK (opens in a new tab, affiliate link)
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- #9
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
5.1/10verdict: good, not the bestThe Ryzen 5 5600X is for people building a desktop or workstation who want strong per-core speed from six cores. It suits developers and gamers who already plan to fit a graphics card. It is a poor fit for a headless or always-on homelab box, because it has no integrated graphics and owner reports mention higher idle power than expected.
6 cores, 12 threadsBase 3.7 GHzAM465W default TDPRead the full review ݣ145.99typical UK price when researchedCheck price at Amazon UK (opens in a new tab, affiliate link)
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