Intel’s latest 10-core i5-12600K Alder Lake desktop processor offers an impressive 50% 64-core performance improvement over it's predecessor. The 12600K combines six hyper-threaded Golden Cove P-cores with clock speeds up to 4.9 GHz and four energy efficient Gracemont E-cores for a total of 16 threads. Alder Lake CPUs have a new LGA 1700 socket which requires new cooler brackets and a new Z690 motherboard. Z690 brings several new features including PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 memory. Most Z690 boards will ship in both DDR4 and DDR5 variants. DDR4 is likely the better option, at least until DDR5 prices settle. With an MRSP of just $290 USD, the 12600K is both cheaper and faster than the competition in both single and, notably, multi-core performance. As a result, even AMD's prolific marketing infrastructure (youtube, reddit, forums etc.) will struggle to drive sales, at least until Zen 4 launches (est. late 2022). In the meantime, Intel's i5-12600K is the obvious choice for consumers that do not wish to pay over the odds for almost unparalleled performance in the majority of workloads including gaming. That said, gamers that already own a K series CPU from the 8th gen. or higher will see limited gains in the majority of titles when paired with a 3060 (or lower) tier GPU. In some cases (e.g. PUBG or Overwatch) gamers will see fewer frame drops by disabling the E-Cores all together. If recent history is a guide, stock levels at MSRP are likely to deplete rapidly. [Nov '21CPUPro]
"Build to perform. Designed to win". Launched 25 November of 2019, this monstrous 32 core 64 thread CPU boasts 88 PCIe 4.0 lanes (16 lanes used for high-speed interconnect, 176 PCIe 3.0 lanes effective), 147MB of cache, 3.7GHz base and 4.5GHz max boost clock with 280W effective TDP. This EHEDT (Extremely High End Desktop) CPU leads well on nearly every benchmark you throw at it (not even on gaming!) and it's performance well exceed the current Intel's flagship i9-10980XE which was released at the same time as this CPU and costs $979 and Xeon W-3175X which is the previous king that costs $2999 and was released at Q2 2019. For all of that benefits you get from this CPU, you had to pay for $1999 which is way beyond reach for most consumers and were intended for serious content creator. [Nov '19ColdSpy]
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.