Honest opinion on current day CPU's MAY 2026.
So as a PC builder/Modder/Electronics Tech, i have some current day advice after owning and trying out a lot of current AMD/Intel CPU's. Here's my break down-
BEST CPU-AMD R7 7800x3d@less than $350 price. (microcenter/sales) (got mine used on FB marketplace for $200 cash). Here is why: cost/performance. only pulls about 67watts to get near identical (6% difference) performance to the 9850x3d which is a rebadged 9800x3d. I've tested all 3 CPU's extensively in Gaming, workstation, production, browsing, and 3d modeling environments. the cost to step up to anything better VS performance is not worth the money currently and anything with less performance is not worth it to spend money on if you can get this CPU for just a few dollars more...
Honorable mention-AMD R7-5700x/x3d for older systems still on AM4 platform while keeping PCIE 4.0. and DDR4
Systems with integrated graphics-AMD R7 5700G@$167 price point it cannot be beaten! but is still stuck with PCIE 3.0. and DDR4
The only reason i did not choose the 9800x3d was its cost/performance is $100 more for 6% performance. I down graded a PC recently to move my 9800x3d into a work system and i was amazed by the power of the 7800x3d.
I am not an AMD fanboy, i did build a few Z790, Z890 intel i5, i7, i9 systems as well, but all of these run hot/pull a lot of power vs AMD's with the exception of an i5-13600k that performed well but i got at a steal @ $100. Another note i felt the intel systems just weren't as snappy/fast in everything i did on them, which is a huge turn from the i7-8086k, i9-9900k days.