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]
Intel’s 13th gen. Raptor Lake CPUs offer around 10% faster gaming and 45% faster multi-core performance than their predecessors. The new CPUs are compatible with DDR4 memory and Z690/B660 ($150) motherboards. New high-end gaming builders need look no further than the 13600K. The 13600K beats AMD’s flagship 7950X in gaming and almost matches the 7900X in multi-core performance. Extreme workstation users may find value in the 13700K or 13900K. Gamers on a tight budget can save $40 USD with a 13600KF which is a 13600K without integrated graphics. Although Ryzen 7000 has weaker multi-core, weaker single-core, higher platform costs and higher unit prices AMD have a 3D joker up their sleeve (7800X3D est. 2023). Via “Advanced Marketing” on youtube, forums, reddit, and twitter AMD will demonstrate that their upcoming CPU is the “best in the world” and offer “proof” by way of a small handful of obscure workloads. Games that few people play e.g. (Factorio, SotTR) will be cherry picked, video footage of the gameplay/settings won’t be provided and frame drops will be conveniently ignored. This playbook has easily outsold Intel in recent years but with every overhyped release, consumers lose trust in AMD. Based on social media/press coverage, you would never guess that the combined market share for all of AMD’s Radeon 5000 and 6000 GPUs amongst PC gamers is just 2.12% (Steam stats). Meanwhile Nvidia’s RTX 2060 alone accounts for a whopping 5.03%. Largely thanks to marketing incompetence, Intel is existentially motivated to deliver material annual performance improvements. Consumers can look forward to Meteor Lake (14th gen) in less than a years time. [Oct '22CPUPro]
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.