Intel’s Alder Lake i5-12400F offers six hyper-threaded performance cores at an MSRP of just $180 USD. This represents excellent value for consumers and, in particular, gamers. It has a boost frequency of 4.4 GHz, 18 MB of L3 cache and a TDP of 65W. The F-version of the CPU does not have integrated graphics, however this will be of little concern to gamers with discrete GPUs. Whilst Intel’s overclockable i5-12600K has four additional efficiency cores and offers around 12% more performance than the 12400F, it also costs around 50% more. The 12400F offers great value, but to achieve optimal performance the requisite B660 motherboard (which supports 3200+ RAM) is, at least for now, difficult to find at reasonable ($150 USD) prices. AMD’s top value hex-core Ryzen 5 5600X offers similar performance for 50% more money. Despite Intel’s price / performance lead, AMD’s prolific marketers (forums, youtube, reddit etc.) have historically outsold Intel whilst carrying a similar handicap.[Jan '22CPUPro]
The Ryzen 7 5800X is one of four new processors from AMD’s latest range of Zen 3 CPUs. The new architecture is more power efficient than Zen 2 and also yields significant performance improvements. All four new CPUs have the ‘X’ nomenclature, indicating that they are tuned to their maximum clock speeds out-of-box. The 5800X has 8 cores and 16 threads with base/boost clock speeds of 3.8/4.7 GHz, 36 MB of cache and a 105W TDP. At $449 USD, the 5800X is relatively expensive, but it still offers far better value than the 5900X. A 500 series motherboard is recommended but the new Zen 3 CPUs will work with most 400 series motherboard following a BIOS update (expected in Q1 2021). At AMD’s launch presentation, they said they finally had the best CPUs for gaming. Our benchmarks show that the 5800X is comparable to Intel’s $175 USD 11400F. Gamers that do not wish to pay “marketing fees” can invest those savings in a better GPU which will produce an unquestionably faster gaming PC. [Nov '20CPUPro]
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.