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Best CPU for Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut PC – our top picks

Find the perfect CPU to run Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut on your PC
Last Updated on May 21, 2024
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The open-world action-adventure game, Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut is now available on PC, and if you’re looking for the best CPUs to run it then you’ve come to the right place.

Knowing whether your system will be able to run Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut or not is the first step in getting your hands on the exciting features of this story-based game. This is why we’ve already laid out the minimum and recommended system requirements in our Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut PC guide. However, if you’re looking to get the absolute most out of this game then finding the perfect CPU to play it on is paramount.

This guide will walk you through the various CPU options that will allow you to play Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut on PC to the best of your ability. We’ll be looking at the best overall, Intel, and high-end to provide you with multiple choices when deciding whether to upgrade your hardware or not.

Products at a glance

How we picked the best CPU for the Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut on PC

When considering what CPUs would work best for running the Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut on PC, we look to useful internet guides, public benchmarks, customer reviews, and our own topic knowledge to come up with a comprehensive list suitable for a range of gamers. In addition to this, the CPUs selected for this guide have all been tested and reviewed making our knowledge of their capabilities even more thorough.

The Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut is an expansion of the original game and features additional storylines and characters, and although this isn’t the most demanding game, we think using an up-to-date powerful CPU can only benefit the performance of this game on your PC. When upgrading your components it’s always important to consider how this hardware will serve the rest of your system, which is why we’ve chosen a CPU that will not only be able to handle the Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut but also a range of other demanding titles and workloads.

Our top picks

Best CPU for Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut
  • A close-up photo of an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X processor box on a blurred background.
  • AMD Ryzen 5 5600X gaming CPU on a plain white background.
Best in ClassExcellent
Specifications
  • Cores: 6
  • Threads : 12
  • Boost speed : up to 4.6 GHz
  • Base speed: 3.7 GHz
  • L3 Cache: 32 MB
  • TDP: 65W
  • Platform: AMD (AM4)
Reasons to Buy
  • Good price to performance ratio
  • Efficient
  • Included cooler
Reasons to Avoid
  • Not as powerful as current Gen
  • Locking yourself into AM4
  • No integrated graphics

The Ryzen 5 5600X is a great CPU that is certainly capable of handling the features of Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut. This AM4 CPU offers a great value overall option for those intending to upgrade their CPU to play this game. Its 6 core and 12 threads make it perfectly able to handle the game even on ultra-high settings. This CPU takes the top spot on this list due to its price-to-performance ratio. It comes in at an attractive price of $134 on Amazon, although this number may vary from store to store.

The high core and thread count of this CPU makes it extremely capable of multitasking, which is perfect for running a game like Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut. On top of this, the 5 5600X has a base speed of 3.7 GHz and a boost speed of 4.6 GHz, making it able to handle Ghost of Tsushima at a fast pace and power. Its 32MB L3 cache ensures quick response times and low latency meaning you’ll be able to have a seamless experience when playing.

If you fear playing Ghost of Tsushima among other demanding games will have an impact on the temperature of your components, well you’re in luck because the 5 5600X comes with a Wraith Stealth cooler.

To cut this long review short, if you’re looking for an incredible, affordable CPU that can handle most gaming workloads, then the 5600X might just be for you.

PC Guide

What users say

When considering if a CPU upgrade is for you then looking at customer reviews on Amazon is a useful way to tell if you feel this processor could work in your system. The Ryzen 5 5600X has a large number of positive reviews on Amazon making it a reliable product.

The majority of the reviews mention the ease of installation, value, and performance, with one customer expressing their satisfaction, stating “paired with some 3600mhz ram you got yourself a real nice gaming PC. very fast and smooth experience.
Best CPU for around £140″. Another user mentions the cooling system of the product “She has had no issues at all and coupled with a more efficient cooler it really runs cold.”

Best Intel CPU Ghost of Tsushima director’s cut
  • Intel Core i5-12600K processor in front of its packaging box with "core" and "unlocked" visible on a blurred blue background.
  • An Intel Core i5-12600K processor with its retail box displayed on a desk with a blurred background.
  • An Intel Core i5-12600K processor chip on a plain, light-colored background.
Excellent
4.5 /5
Editor’s Rating
How We Review
Reasons to Buy
  • Included cooler
  • Very low power consumption
  • Strong single core performance
Reasons to Avoid
  • Higher price
  • Runs a little hot during intensive programs

For our choice of the best Intel CPU for the Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, we’ve chosen the Intel Core i5-12600K. This impressive CPU offers an overall great performance, perfect for playing demanding games. Its 10 cores and 16 threads make it the perfect CPU for multitasking during heavy loads or intense gaming sessions. If you’re hoping to play Ghost of Tsushima on ultra-high settings then this CPU has got you covered.

The intel Core i5-12600K offers a high boost speed of 4.9 GHz making it perfectly capable of handling Ghost of Tsushima at a fast pace. It features 20 MB of L3 cache, which is a little less than the Ryzen option featured above, therefore if you’re looking for the absolute fastest response times then opting for something with a higher cache size may be a better option.

Unfortunately, the CPU does come with a higher price than the last option, being sold on Amazon for $217.54. However, when compared to other high-end CPUs on the market it lands on the more affordable side of the spectrum, and when the included cooler is considered it can be deemed quite the affordable purchase.

If you need a relatively cheap CPU that will work across multiple chipsets with both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, then this CPU might be for you.

PC Guide

What users say

The Intel Core i5-12600K has garnered a number of reviews on Amazon, where customers mainly express their satisfaction with the efficiency, value, and overall power of the product.

One customer describes how the CPU handles games that are on a similar power level to Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, stating “She mostly plays fortnight, Minecraft, Hogwarts legacy, etc and she plays on high settings while screen sharing in discord for the fam, and using OBS to record her gameplay no problem.” Another customer offers so great advice concerning the CPUs lack of warranty, “If I remember correctly, the CPU does not come with a warranty, which is probably fine as CPUs are known to be very durable. So make sure you test it when you receive it so you know if it’s faulty.”

Best high-end CPU for Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut
9 5900X
Highly Recommended
4 /5
Editor’s Rating
How We Review
Specifications
  • Cores: 12
  • Threads: 24
  • Boost clock speed: 4.8 GHz
  • Base clock speed: 3.7 GHz
  • L3 Cache: 63 MB
  • TDP: 105 W
  • Platform: AMD Socket AM4
Reasons to Buy
  • Good overclocking potential
  • Goof for multitasking
  • Frequently discounted
Reasons to Avoid
  • No support for DDR5 RAM
  • Relatively low boost clock

If you’re looking for a high-end CPU that will not only be able to handle the ultra-settings of Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, but a range of other demanding games, then the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X may just be the option for you. This AM4 CPU offers the best processing capabilities, however, it comes with a premium price. Upon release, the 9 5900X was priced at a whopping $549, however, it is frequently discounted and at the moment it is being sold for $253, making it a much more affordable option.

The 9 5900X offers a huge 12 cores and 24 threads, much larger amounts than any of the other options featured on this list. This means it has great multitasking capabilities making it perfect for playing Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut for long hours on end during demanding gaming stints. In addition to this, the Ryzen 9 5900X offers 63MB of L3 cache, which is the largest of all three CPU options on this list. This means that the response times during while playing Ghost of Tsushima will be super quick and the latency will be low.

Armed with some impressive specs, a competitive price tag, and good overclocking potential, those looking for an AM4 upgrade, or to leap to the red corner over from Intel, could be satisfied with what this hardware can do.

PC Guide

What users say

The impressive Ryzen 5 5900X has received a lot of positive feedback on Amazon reviews, where users mainly mention their satisfaction with the ease of installation, value, and overall performance of the product. One user comments “The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X Processor is an absolute game-changer for enthusiasts and power users. This CPU is a beast, offering incredible processing power and efficiency that will make any PC build shine.” Another states “Whether you’re a gamer, content creator, or running resource-intensive applications, the Ryzen 9 5900X handles it all with ease”, demonstrating the range of ways you can apply this CPU.

Features and considerations

If you’re upgrading your CPU to run Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, then there are a few things to consider first. Firstly, it’s important to look at price. In the options outlined in this guide, we’ve provided 3 varying options with 3 different price points. To play Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut on Steam on your PC then you’ll have to pay $59.99. Depending on your budget, this could be viewed as quite an expensive addition to your gaming collection. This is why it’s important to consider the price of upgrading your CPU in addition to paying for the game itself.

Another aspect to consider is the amount of cores and threads found in your CPU. To run Ghost of Tsusima’s Director’s Cut you won’t need a CPU with many cores, in fact, you can run the game on a minimum of 2 total cores. However, if you’re hoping to play the game in high-ultra settings then you’ll want something with a bit more powerful. This is why we’ve opted for the options outlined above.

Do I need to upgrade my CPU for Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut?

If you’re hoping to play Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut on your PC then you may be wondering if it’s worth upgrading your CPU. The minimum system requirements to run this game demonstrate that you don’t need a very powerful processor. However, if you’re looking to play the game on high settings then opting for a CPU, much like one of the ones listed above, is a good option.

Eve is a writer and copy editor at PC Guide, who focuses on a broad range of topics but main interest lies in the development of AI technology.