The AMD Phenom II X4 955 is a quad-core processor based on the K10 micro-architecture. When it launched in Q2 of 2009, it was AMD’s fastest CPU. Given its base clock of 3.2 GHz, with appropriate cooling, this unlocked Black Edition chip can be overclocked to speeds in excess of 4 GHz. The 955’s effective speed of 63 isn’t impressive by today’s standards, but when coupled with a decent graphics card, it won't cause major bottlenecks for most games. The 955 was pitched against the high-end of Intel’s Core 2 quads, and now costs a fraction of its original list price as one would expect, however there are better alternatives on the market now. [Dec '14CPUPro]
The AMD FX-4300 is a budget quad-core processor which unlike its predecessor, the Bulldozer FX-4100, is based on the Piledriver micro-architecture which was released in Q4 of 2012. Its base clock speed of 3.8 GHz boosts to 4.0 GHz in turbo mode and with appropriate cooling can be overclocked to speeds of over 4.5 GHz. Even though these numbers are impressive, the real world effective speed is only 66. This is ok for general computing and even gaming when coupled with an appropriate GPU. The user experience will, however, be noticeably snappier with a CPU that has better single-core performance. Whilst the FX-4300 is cheap, it’s not so differently priced from the hexa core FX-6300 which offers significantly improved multi-core performance. [Nov '14CPUPro]
We calculate effective speed which measures real world performance for typical users. Effective speed is adjusted by current prices to yield a value for money rating. Our calculated values are checked against thousands of individual user ratings. The customizable table below combines these factors to bring you the definitive list of top CPUs. [CPUPro]
Welcome to our PC speed test tool. UserBenchmark will test your PC and compare the results to other users with the same components. You can quickly size up your PC, identify hardware problems and explore the best value for money upgrades.