Intel’s tenth gen, six-core i5-10600K is one of the fastest consumer CPUs currently available. Out of the box, its maximum all core frequency is 4.5 GHz, but a simple overclock allows all 12 threads to hit 5.0 GHz. Although a new Z490 (LGA1200) motherboard is required, Intel have indicated that LGA1200 will remain compatible with Rocket Lake CPUs which are due later this year. The eight-core Ryzen 3700X currently competes in the 10600K’s price bracket. CPU based encoding is akin to using hair clippers on a lawn but If dedicated hardware such as NVENC or QuickSync is not an option, the 3700X can outperform the 10600K in encoding workloads such as UserBenchmark 64-core, Cinebench, Blender-CPU and Handbrake-CPU. Meanwhile, the 10600K is better for almost everything else. Currently, the real problem with the 10600K, and much of the Comet Lake line up, is availability. Whilst there was a paper launch in Q2 2020, at the time of writing, the 10600K is still largely unavailable for purchase. In order to achieve better value for money, without compromising on gaming performance, it is necessary to consider the older generation 9600K which is 26% cheaper and offers similar gaming performance.[Jun '20CPUPro]
The Ryzen 9000 CPUs have the same integrated graphics, PCIe lanes, USB support and DRAM controller as the Ryzen 7000 series. The only difference is improved cores which have moved from TSMC's 5 nm process to 4 nm. The new cores offer 15% more performance under cherry-picked conditions but for latency-sensitive workloads, like gaming, they are just few percent faster. The 9600X, 9700X, 9900X, and 9950X are priced at $280, $360, $500, and $650, respectively, making them $80-$200 USD more expensive than the 7000 series. Since the 7000 series flopped (7800X3D somewhat excluded) due to unrealistic pricing, slow boot times, high platform costs and windows gamebar requirements etc., the 9000 series is more or less DOA. When the 9000X3D variants launch (expected in early 2025) gamers who play cache sensitive games such as SoTTR or Factorio with a 4090 and don’t mind frame drops, may find value in the 9800X3D. Meanwhile, Intel’s 12th and 13th gen CPUs continue to offer the best value for money in today’s market. Furthermore, Intel is scheduled to launch Arrow-Lake (est. +10% performance vs 14th gen) and Lunar-Lake (snapdragon competitive x86 battery life) this year, but they face serious challenges due to reliance on marketers who are mostly funded by AMD. Even if Arrow and Lunar Lake deliver stellar performance, without significant improvements in social media marketing: forums, reddit, youtube etc., Intel now face the very real risk of bankruptcy (third worst-performing S&P500 stock from Jan to Aug 2024). [Aug '24CPUPro]
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.