How to measure CPU performance

Single core performance.

The performance of a cpu is primarily determined by the architecture, clock rate and number/type of cores.

A reasonable way is to search for the passmark performance rating.
You will see two numbers of primary interest.
The main number is the rating when all cores/threads are fully utilized.
That is important for multithreaded apps like editing/rendering.
An example might be the popular FX-8350:
total 8394, single thread 1506
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+FX-8350+Eight-Core

If your use is gaming, that depends much more on single thread speeds.
An example might be the i3-4170.
total 5178, single thread 2134:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i3-4170+%40+3.70GHz
Intel architecture does much more per clock which is why you see better single thread performance.
Newer gen processors will have better architecture.

To complicate matters a bit, processors can be overclocked for added performance.
How much more is related to individual luck in getting a fast chip.

google-fiber,

Of you want the specifications- the details- of CPU's, the Intel ARK site is very good:

http://ark.intel.com

The corresponding site for AMD is:

http://www.amd.com/en-us/products/processors

And you do a search by category or exact product. The results of the search will display all the information about that CPU- socket, speeds, cache, memory supported, lithography (spacing of transistors), power use, and so on, plus links to the chipsets. If you're upgrading your system, this information can show to you the different CPU's that will work in your computer.

If you want to know more about the CPU in your computer, there are free programs like CPU-Z that will identify it and HW-Monitor that will tell you the temperatures of: each CPU core, the RAM, and graphics card.

To see the performance of CPU's, I like the Passmark list:

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php

The list can be set to show CPU"s in order of relative performance. You can enter the name of any CPU and the search will show the relative performance. The list will quickly show which CPU performs better than another by results in actual user systems. At the bottom of the page, there are links to similar lists for graphics cards and hard drives. - Very, very useful.

If you want to test your computer's performance, Passmark makes the Performance Test software. There's a 30-day free trial and your computer will be tested for: CPU, 2D, 3D, memory, and disk speeds with an overall rating. You can then do a search for computers using the same model, CPU, motherboard, GPU, or disk and see how your system compares.

http://www.passmark.com/products/pt.htm

For example, these are my two current computers:

1. HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz > 32GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K4200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> Logitech z2300 > Linksys AE3000 USB WiFi > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) > Windows 7 Professional 64 >
[ Passmark Rating = 5064 > CPU= 13989 / 2D= 819 / 3D= 4596 / Mem= 2772 / Disk= 4555] [Cinebench R15 > CPU = 1014 OpenGL= 126.59 FPS] 7.8.15

With Quadro K2200:
[ Passmark Rating = 4918 > CPU= 13941 / 2D= 823 / 3D= 3463 / Mem= 2668 / Disk= 4764

2. Dell Precision T5500 (2011) > Xeon X5680 six -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz, 24GB DDR3 ECC 1333 > Quadro K2200 (4GB ) > Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > Linksys WMP600N PCI WiFi > 875W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3490 / CPU = 9178 / 2D= 685 / 3D= 3566 / Mem= 1865 / Disk= 2122] [Cinebench 15 > CPU = 772 OpenGL= 99.72 FPS] 7.8.15

with Quadro K4200:
[ Passmark system rating = 3585 / CPU = 9346 / 2D= 683 / 3D= 4708 / Mem= 1850 / Disk= 2202]

With Quadro 4000
[ Passmark system rating = 3339 / CPU = 9347 / 2D= 684 / 3D= 2030 / Mem= 1871 / Disk= 2234]

> And I can compare how these computers perform with dfferent GPU's.

Cheers,

BambiBoom