Honestly, dont even worry about feeling confused because the naming schemes are a total disaster lately. If you have $400 just for the CPU and youre in Chicago, you are in a great spot because of the Micro Center store there. They usually have these insane bundles where you get a motherboard and RAM for basically nothing extra, so definitely check their site before buying anything online. I would suggest looking at the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 8-Core 16-Thread Desktop Processor if you want the absolute best gaming chip on the market right now. That X3D tech is like a massive cache of memory built into the chip that makes games run way smoother, especially with those annoying stutters. But be careful... you might want to consider if that extra cash over the base model is actually worth it for your specific build. At 1440p, your graphics card is doing way more work than the CPU anyway. If you want to stay cost-effective and maybe put more money toward a beefier GPU, the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 6-Core 12-Thread Processor is honestly more than enough for high-end gaming. It runs cooler and uses way less power too. Make sure to get a decent cooler tho, because even the budget chips can get a bit toasty under load. Something like the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE CPU Air Cooler is super cheap but works like a beast. Building a PC for the first time is stressful so just take it slow. Reach out if you get stuck on the motherboard or RAM choices because that gets even more confusing.