--- title: These "outdated" CPUs still hold their own in 2026, and... description: CPUs from 2020–2022 remain competitive for gaming in 2026, and the ongoing global RAM shortage makes upgrading to DDR5/AM5 platforms even less compelling.... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/these-outdated-cpus-still-hold-their-own-in-2026-and-the-ram-crisis-makes-them-smarter-than-ever-i2aajxzzb twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: These "outdated" CPUs still hold their own in 2026, and the RAM crisis makes them smarter than ever | daily.dev og:description: CPUs from 2020–2022 remain competitive for gaming in 2026, and the ongoing global RAM shortage makes upgrading to DDR5/AM5 platforms even less compelling.... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/these-outdated-cpus-still-hold-their-own-in-2026-and-the-ram-crisis-makes-them-smarter-than-ever-i2aajxzzb og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/i2AAJXZZB.png og:image:alt: These "outdated" CPUs still hold their own in 2026, and the RAM crisis makes them smarter than ever og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # These "outdated" CPUs still hold their own in 2026, and the RAM crisis makes them smarter than ever **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary CPUs from 2020–2022 remain competitive for gaming in 2026, and the ongoing global RAM shortage makes upgrading to DDR5/AM5 platforms even less compelling. Specific chips highlighted as still-viable include the Ryzen 5 5600/5600X (Zen 3), Ryzen 5 3600 (Zen 2), Core i5-12400F (Alder Lake), and Core i7-10700K. A DDR4-based build can save roughly $300 compared to an AM5 equivalent with minimal gaming performance loss. The GPU remains the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, making CPU upgrades less urgent for most gamers. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [6 "old" CPUs worth buying in 2026 because they work with the RAM you already own](https://daily.dev/posts/6-old-cpus-worth-buying-in-2026-because-they-work-with-the-ram-you-already-own-thn8thnxd) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [My 5-year-old 5600X is still good enough for 2026, and I'm not upgrading to AM5](https://daily.dev/posts/my-5-year-old-5600x-is-still-good-enough-for-2026-and-i-m-not-upgrading-to-am5-jab9vz8av) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [6 CPUs that are officially too old in 2026](https://daily.dev/posts/6-cpus-that-are-officially-too-old-in-2026-vaefjwfgp) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [While Your GPU Bankrupted You, Motherboards Quietly Got Cheap. Here’s What’s Actually Going On.](https://daily.dev/posts/while-your-gpu-bankrupted-you-motherboards-quietly-got-cheap-here-s-what-s-actually-going-on--qtqwku1gq) · Medium · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [AM4 might still be supported when AM6 launches, but that doesn’t mean you should buy into the platform now](https://daily.dev/posts/am4-might-still-be-supported-when-am6-launches-but-that-doesn-t-mean-you-should-buy-into-the-platfo-xwt9yxr4t) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#computing](https://daily.dev/tags/computing), [#intel](https://daily.dev/tags/intel), [#amd](https://daily.dev/tags/amd) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/these-outdated-cpus-still-hold-their-own-in-2026-and-the-ram-crisis-makes-them-smarter-than-ever-i2aajxzzb) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"These \"outdated\" CPUs still hold their own in 2026, and the RAM crisis makes them smarter than ever","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/these-outdated-cpus-still-hold-their-own-in-2026-and-the-ram-crisis-makes-them-smarter-than-ever-i2aajxzzb","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/these-outdated-cpus-still-hold-their-own-in-2026-and-the-ram-crisis-makes-them-smarter-than-ever-i2aajxzzb"},"datePublished":"2026-07-24T21:32:50.203Z","dateModified":"2026-07-25T00:49:26.878Z","description":"CPUs from 2020–2022 remain competitive for gaming in 2026, and the ongoing global RAM shortage makes upgrading to DDR5/AM5 platforms even less compelling....","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/9b4e093a717b9a2922142bd65cfbc8f5?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/9b4e093a717b9a2922142bd65cfbc8f5?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/these-outdated-cpus-still-hold-their-own-in-2026-and-the-ram-crisis-makes-them-smarter-than-ever-i2aajxzzb","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"computing,intel,amd","timeRequired":"PT4M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"These \"outdated\" CPUs still hold their own in 2026, and the RAM crisis makes them smarter than ever"}]} ```