The Core i7-6900K is one of four new Broadwell-E prosumer CPUs. This model has eight cores with base and turbo frequencies of 3.2 and 4.0 GHz respectively. The 6900K is based on a 14 nm architecture, it has a TDP of 140 watts, 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes and no integrated graphics. Because of its MSRP of $1,100, the 6900K only makes sense for very niche use cases which include top end graphics design and video production. Comparing the 6900K and 6700K shows that for typical desktop use the 6900K only offers a gain of around 12% for a whopping three fold price increase. This is because desktop computing largely depends on single core performance and the Skylake i7-6700K is both clocked higher and has higher IPC due to its one generation lead over the 6900K. That said, as a workstation CPU the 6900K is bested only by the $2,000 flagship ten core 6950X. (6900K vs 6950X) [Jun '16CPUPro]
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.