The hex-core i5-8500 hails from Intel’s eighth generation of Coffee Lake processors, known for featuring a higher number of cores at each SKU than in previous generations and their refinement of the 14nm architecture as seen in 6th and 7th generation processors. At an estimated price of $184 it offers good multi-core value for money. Its quad core performance nearly rivals the more expensive i7-7700K (the 2017 CPU of choice for many top-end gamers). However based on preliminary benchmarks, the i5-8500 is only marginally faster (2% greater effective speed) than the i5-8400 which is also a recent and competitively priced hex-core Coffee Lake processor. Also, like the i5-8400, the 8500 features 9MB of L3 cache and a frugal TDP of 65W, leaving not much to choose between them. As is the case of all Coffee Lake processors, currently the only motherboards that the 8500 can be paired with feature Intel’s high-end Z370 chipset for overclocking. However, alternative and more suitable 300 series motherboards are long overdue and expected to be available soon. [Mar '18CPUPro]
The Ryzen 7 3800X is an 8-core, 16-thread high end desktop Zen 2 processor, built on AMD’s seminal 7nm manufacturing process. It has a boost clock speed of 4.5 GHz, overtaking the previous Zen+ flagship, the Ryzen 7 2700X, by 200 MHz and around 16% in terms of effective speed. The 3800X is available at launch for $399 USD alongside four other new Zen 2 processors, including the similarly specified Ryzen 7 3700X. The main differences between the 3800X and 3700X being an extra 100 MHz of boost clock frequency on the 3800X and extra TDP headroom (105W for the 3800X versus 65W for the 3700X) for a $70 USD premium. The 21% higher release price translates to just a 2% higher effective speed over the 3700X. The 3800X is in direct competition with Intel’s i7-9700K, benchmarks show that, when overclocked, the 3800X is 10% worse for gaming but 30% faster for 64-core processing. The 3800X is also 15% ($50 USD) more expensive than the i7-9700K. Additionally, the 3800X's memory controller, although significantly improved over previous Ryzen iterations, still has limited bandwidth and high latency which can also impact gaming. Like the other third generation Ryzen processors, the 3800X is compatible with the new PCIe 4.0 enabled X570 chipset as well as the 400 and 300 series motherboards. At $380 USD, the 3800X offers reasonable value for purely workstation tasks such as film production but streamers should look elsewhere. Streaming with dedicated hardware such as NVENC or a separate stream PC will nearly always result in fewer dropped frames. [Jul '19CPUPro]
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.