The Intel G4560 is one of the first Pentium processors to feature Hyper-threading. This means that although the G4560 only has two physical processing cores, it is able to process four threads in parallel by sharing resources between the physical cores. This typically results in a 50% performance improvement over two physical cores alone. Comparing performance between the lowest spec Kaby Lake i3 7100 and the Pentium G4560 shows that in terms of both performance and specs, very little separates them (even virtualization technology VT-d is present on the Pentium). The Pentium does lack AVX 2.0 (Advanced Vector Instructions) and it trails the i3 7100 by 400 MHz (10%) but there is no longer a clear divide between Pentiums and Core i3s. Intel have achieved an almost continuous distribution of performance levels for each price point from the cheapest Pentium to the top end i7-7700K. [Jan '17CPUPro]
The AMD 7000X3D CPUs have the same core architecture as the rest of the 7000 series but they have one group of eight "3D" cores with extra cache. The “3D” cores are priced higher but run at 10% lower clocks. For most real-world tasks performance is comparable to the 7000X variant. Cache sensitive scenarios such as low res. canned game benchmarks with an RTX 4090 ($2,000) benefit at the cost of everything else. Be wary of sponsored reviews with cherry picked games that showcase the wins, ignore frame drops and gloss over the losses. Also watch out for AMD’s army of Neanderthal social media accounts on reddit, forums and youtube, they will be singing their own praises as usual. AMD continue to develop “Advanced Marketing” relationships with select youtubers with the obvious aim of compensating for second tier products with first tier marketing. PC gamers considering a 7000X3D CPU need to work on their critical thinking skills: Influencers are paid handsomely to promote overpriced niche products (X3D, EPYC, Threadripper etc.). Rational gamers have little reason to look further than the $300 13600K which offers comparable real-world gaming and better desktop performance at a fraction of the price. Workstation users (and RTX 4080+ gamers) may find value in higher core CPUs such as the 16-core $400 13700K. Despite offering better performance at lower prices, as long as Intel continues to sample and sponsor marketers that are mostly funded by AMD, they will struggle to win market share. [Apr '23CPUPro]
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.