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 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.