Best CPU for Team Fortress 2

The highly acclaimed multiplayer FPS Team Fortress 2 has been around since 2007. The game is hailed as a classic and held in high regard by gamers for the personality of its well-written characters. The action-packed gameplay is pretty fun too of course!

Now read: Best processor for gaming 2023

If you want to experience Team Fortress 2, you’ll need a process that can run it at a constant 60fps at your desired resolution.

01

Best processor for TF2

Core i3-12100f

Intel Core i3-12100F

02

Runner UP processor for TF2

Ryzen 5 5600X

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X

03

CPU budget for TF2

Ryzen 5 3600

AMD Ryzen 5 3600

What are the CPU requirements for Team Fortress 2?

The good news is that Team Fortress 2 is very undemanding on your computer’s hardware, and you’d expect that since the game is over ten years old now.

Valve recommends that you have the following specs for Team Fortress 2.

• Operating system: Windows® 7 (32/64 bit)
• Processor: Pentium 4 processor (3.0 GHz or higher)
• Memory: 1 GB RAM
• DirectX: Version 9.0c
• Network: Broadband Internet connection
• Storage: 15 GB of available space

As you can see, these are pretty straightforward specs. The officially recommended Pentium 4 processor is a single-core processor with a boost clock of 3.0 GHz, which sets the bar very low here.

Any Core or Ryzen processor released in the last few years will have no problem running Team Fortress 2.

Best CPU for Team Fortress 2 – Intel i3-12100F

Our top pick for the best Team Fortress 2 processor is the Intel Core i3-12100F processor.

Believe it or not, the Core i3-12100F is actually a pretty competent gaming processor. It is a hyperthreaded quad-core, which means it has 4 cores and 8 threads. That seems pretty low by modern standards, but 8 threads is really all you need for 1080p gaming. Games don’t use a lot of threads very efficiently.

Intel Core i3-12100F

The 12th Gen Core i3 processor will not only give you a top-tier Team Fortress 2 gaming experience, but it will also run your other more demanding titles at a comfortable 60 FPS or better.

You can pair it with an entry-level to mid-range GPU, such as the 1660 Ti or the RTX 3050, to get a very budget-friendly, low-cost setup that’s perfect for games like Team Fortress 2.

AMD Ryzen 3 5300G

Although the i3-10100 is the best CPU for Team Fortress 2 overall, as it can run the game as well as any at the cheapest price, it would be unfair not to give the honorable mention Ryzen 3 5300G.

The processor is a hyperthreaded quad-core, much like the Intel i3 above. It offers almost identical performance, but it stands out on one point.

The Ryzen 3 5300G is an APU (accelerated processing unit). It’s a fancy way of saying it has integrated graphics. In this case, Vega 6 Graphics.

The iGPU here is strong to give you 60FPS or more at 1080p in Team Fortress 2 with medium to high visual settings. This means you can get by without having a dedicated GPU.

I have to mention here that the only reason Vega 6 is able to deliver such performance here is because of the old age of the title and its low graphics requirements. You’ll be limited to older titles like TF2 without a dedicated GPU.