AMD's Ryzen processors are generally regarded as one of the best CPUs for gaming, thanks to their abundant CPU core count and low price. However, Intel processors still have the upper hand in some areas, such as single-core performance. Right now, you can get the previous generation Core i7 processor, the 9700F, for just $279.99. This is the lowest price ever recorded for the same CPU.

The Intel Core i7-9700F has 8 cores and 8 threads, with a base clock speed of 3 GHz and a maximum clock speed of 4.7 GHz. It was released about a year ago for $335, but the price was officially lowered to $298 in October. [The CPU is nearly identical to the Core i7-9700K, with one major difference. Most people probably won't build a gaming PC with a high-end CPU without purchasing a dedicated graphics card, so this is not a deal-breaker. However, if the graphics card suddenly dies, there is no backup.

Aside from the lack of integrated graphics, the Core i7-9700F is a very capable processor as long as you have a compatible motherboard with an FCLGA1151 socket (most commonly Z390).