Intel Core i5-9400F Desktop Processor 6 Cores 4.1 GHz Turbo (Open Box)

This is probably the cheapest processor on the market that won't bottleneck your graphics card. I did some early testing with an RX 5700 to see if there was any sign of bottlenecks caused by the CPU. What I found is that I was getting the exact same performance as tech sites were with the RX 5700 where they were using the i9-9900k processors. Its possible that perhaps a RTX 2080 might be too much for it, but even that I doubt and if it were, the bottleneck would probably be minimal. I'm seeing 100% GPU bound in games like Gears 5/Gears 4 (where that rating is available). I now have my RX 5700 overclocked with custom power tables to 2024mhz. I still see 100% GPU bound ratings so the CPU is definitely strong enough for the RX 5700 XT as well. I did put a larger CPU cooler and 120mm fan. From what I can tell the CPU runs nearly 100% of the time (in game) at the boost speed, which is 3.9ghz for all cores. The temperature with the cooler I have on it does not exceed 52C, I know the boost clocks will slowdown if the CPU gets too hot, so that was my reason for installing the better cooler, although I'm not sure it was entirely necessary. For less than $150, I'm not sure there is anything that currently beats this CPU provided you are using a discrete graphics card. I nearly bought an i3-9100f with the plan to upgrade the CPU later, but after doing the research determine the i5-9400f would be a better value and last me much longer before the need to upgrade, especially since this was a gaming build. At present, I don't believe there was any reason for a more expensive processor for gaming. Obviously if you are building at the top end, you would probably be going with a higher end processor anyway. I was trying to get bang for my buck and I think the i5-9400f and RX 5700 build (esp since I got the RX 5700 for $280) accomplished that.