Intel are celebrating the 40th anniversary of their x86 architecture and 8086 processor with the launch of their high-end i7-8086K. Just 50,000 units of this hex core, twelve threaded Coffee Lake processor have been made available globally. Exactly like the i7-8700K, the 8086K features 12MB of smart (L3) cache, 2 channels of DDR4 RAM and has a TDP of 95W. Essentially, the 8086K is Intel’s current Coffee Lake flagship, the i7-8700K, with a single-core turbo frequency factory overclocked by 300 MHz. Thermals permitting, out of the box, the i7-8086K achieves a single core boost speed of 5.0 GHz – which is a new record for Intel. That said, you would be unlucky if you were unable to achieve a 5.0 GHz single core OC with an 8700K. For everything other than single core, the turbo clock speeds on the 8086K exactly match the 8700K which puts the 8086K firmly into gimmick territory. Directly comparing the 8086K and 8700K shows that for a $100 (24%) price premium you get around a 5% performance improvement which drops to around 2% when both chips are overclocked. If the price gap between the 8086K and the 8700K were to fall to less than 20 USD it may be worth considering the 8086K. [Jun '18CPUPro]
The Ryzen 9000 CPUs have the same integrated graphics, PCIe lanes, USB support and DRAM controller as the Ryzen 7000 series. The only difference is improved cores which have moved from TSMC's 5 nm process to 4 nm. The new cores offer 15% more performance under cherry-picked conditions but for latency-sensitive workloads, like gaming, they are just few percent faster. The 9600X, 9700X, 9900X, and 9950X are priced at $280, $360, $500, and $650, respectively, making them $80-$200 USD more expensive than the 7000 series. Since the 7000 series flopped (7800X3D somewhat excluded) due to unrealistic pricing, slow boot times, high platform costs and windows gamebar requirements etc., the 9000 series is more or less DOA. When the 9000X3D variants launch (expected in early 2025) gamers who play cache sensitive games such as SoTTR or Factorio with a 4090 and don’t mind frame drops, may find value in the 9800X3D. Meanwhile, Intel’s 12th and 13th gen CPUs continue to offer the best value for money in today’s market. Furthermore, Intel is scheduled to launch Arrow-Lake (est. +10% performance vs 14th gen) and Lunar-Lake (snapdragon competitive x86 battery life) this year, but they face serious challenges due to reliance on marketers who are mostly funded by AMD. Even if Arrow and Lunar Lake deliver stellar performance, without significant improvements in social media marketing: forums, reddit, youtube etc., Intel now face the very real risk of bankruptcy (third worst-performing S&P500 stock from Jan to Aug 2024). [Aug '24CPUPro]
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.