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If you’re in the market for the best CPU for Apex Legends then you’re in the right place. Our buying guide goes over only the top choices from Intel and AMD to help you maintain a high level of performance in the perennially popular shooter. Now’s a great time, too, with the battle royale entering Season 20 Breakout. You’re going to need a rig able to push those high framerates; we have your back.
For a more in depth perspective we recommend checking out the Apex Legends system requirements as well as our picks for the best gaming PC for Apex Legends. The best gaming laptops for Apex Legends are also worth considering if you’re after some portable power as well. What’s more, if your video card is in need of an upgrade then you should check out the best GPUs for Apex Legends next, too.
Best CPU for Apex Legends – the options in brief
Considering that Apex Legends was released a fair few years ago, you won’t necessarily need the absolute bleeding edge of modern day processing power to keep up. That’s where our choices come in, with upper mid-range offerings from Intel and AMD offering top value for money and punchy performance.
1. Intel Core i7-14700K – Best Intel CPU for Apex Legends
Intel Core i7-14700K
Cores
20 (8P + 12E)
Threads
28
Base clock
3.4 GHz (P) ; 2.5 GHz (E)
Boost clock
5.6 GHz (P) ; 4.3 GHz (E)
Socket
LGA 1700
- Strong performance
- Good pricing
- High boost clock potential
- Iterative on 13th Gen i7
The Intel Core i7-14700K takes the top spot in our best CPU for Apex Legends guide and that’s for a couple of key reasons, chiefly, its aggressive price-to-performance ratio which should be ideal for the shooter. We’ll start by going over the tech specs; there are 20 cores and 28 threads here which isn’t usually seen in the upper mid-range, further bolstered by leading overclocking performance of 5.6 GHz.
What’s more, you can routinely find the Intel Core i7-14700K around the $400 / £400 which make this particular chipset a market leader in terms of value. It’s not exactly budget, but you’re getting a lot for your money with what this option can do. This is partially due to the CPU being built upon the LGA 1700 socket and being a third-generation hybrid architecture chip. Well worth the price of investment.
2. AMD Ryzen 7 7700X – Best AMD CPU for Apex Legends
AMD Ryzen 7 7700X
Cores
8
Threads
16
Base clock
4.5 GHz
Boost clock
5.4 GHz
Socket
AM5
- Ready for DDR5 RAM
- High base clock speeds
- Aggressive pricing
- No support for DDR4 RAM
If you’re in the market for a powerful but well-priced current-generation processor from Team Red then the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X is absolutely the way to go. It may not be the fastest offering from the Zen 4 line-up, but it offers eight cores and 16 threads clocked at 4.5 GHz and features 32MB of L3 cache with a max boost clock of 5.4 GHz which should be ideal for the demands of Apex Legends in 2024.
What’s more, the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X (and the rest of the AM5 family), run exclusively on DDR5 RAM which is considerably faster than the older DDR4 memory. This is a way that you can ensure your games will run their smoothest as you won’t have anything bottlenecking you providing you have a decent GPU in your rig. You can find this processor for about $400 / £400, however, it’s frequently discounted.
3. Intel Core i5-14600K – Best value CPU for Apex Legends
Intel Core i5-14600K
Cores
14
Threads
20
Base Clock
3.5GHz
Boost Clock
5.3GHz
Cache
24MB
TDP
125W
- A wealth of cores and threads
- Respectable boost clock
- Relatively low TDP
- Fairly low base frequencies
There’s no reason why your next processor has to be all too expensive, especially if you’re mainly planning on playing top Esports titles such as Apex Legends which aren’t too demanding in the chipset department. Enter the Intel Core i5-14600K with its affordable pricing around the $300 / £300 mark which gets you a CPU running 14 cores and 20 threads with an boost clock of up to 5.3 GHz.
What’s more, the Intel Core i5-14600K has support for both DDR4 and DDR5 RAM which means you won’t have to upgrade your memory if you’re running a more humbly powered machine. You’ll be able to keep up with the demands of Apex but also get some serious hours of The Finals, CS2, Rainbow Six Siege, and Overwatch 2 in without having to worry about any potential bottlenecking either.
Best CPU for Apex Legends – FAQs
We’re here to answer any further questions you may have around choosing a processor for the game.
What CPU does Apex Legends support?
The lowest CPUs that Apex Legends supports is the Intel Core i5-3570K or AMD equivalent. Now, this is a very old chipset, so we recommend opting for something far more current-generation.
Is Apex Legends more CPU or GPU intensive?
Generally speaking, Apex Legends is more GPU intensive than it is taxing on an up-to-date processor. For this reason, we’ve recommended processors from the modern mid-range and up instead of flagship options.
How much RAM do you need for Apex Legends?
You will need a minimum of 6GB RAM in your machine to play Apex Legends. However, the system requirements recommend 8GB for the best experience. We think 16GB is the sweet spot to pair with an AMD or Intel CPU in 2024, though.
Image Credit: EA / Intel / AMD
