Gaming CPU Heirarchy Chart
What about this other CPU that’s not on the list? How do I know if it’s a good deal or not?
This will happen. In fact, it’s guaranteed to happen because availability and prices change quickly. So how do you know if that CPU you’ve got your eye on is a good buy in its price range?
Here is a resource to help you judge if a CPU is a good buy or not: the gaming CPU hierarchy chart, which groups CPUs with similar overall gaming performance levels into tiers. The top tier contains the highest-performing gaming CPUs available and gaming performance decreases as you go down the tiers from there.
However, a word of caution: this hierarchy is based on the average performance each CPU achieved in our charts test suite using only four game titles: Crysis, Unreal Tournament 3, World in Conflict, and Supreme Commander. While we feel this represents an acceptable cross-section of typical gaming scenarios, a specific game title will likely perform differently. Some games, for example, will be severely graphics subsystem-limited, while others may react positively to more CPU cores, larger amounts of CPU cache, or even a specific architecture. We also did not have access to every CPU on the market, so some of the CPU performance estimates are based on the numbers similar architectures deliver. Indeed, this hierarchy chart is useful as a general guideline, but certainly not as a gospel one-size-fits-all perfect CPU comparison resource.
You can use this hierarchy to compare the pricing between two processors, to see which one is a better deal, and also to determine if an upgrade is worthwhile. I don’t recommend upgrading your CPU unless the potential replacement is at least three tiers higher. Otherwise, the upgrade is somewhat parallel and you may not notice a worthwhile difference in game performance.
| Gaming CPU Heirarchy Chart | |
|---|---|
| Intel | AMD |
| Core i7-965, -975 Extreme, -980X Extreme Core i7-860, -870, -875K, -920, -930, -940, -950, -960, -970 Core i5-750, -760 Core 2 Extreme QX9775, QX9770, QX9650 Core 2 Quad Q9650 | |
| Core 2 Extreme QX6850, QX6800 Core 2 Quad Q9550, Q9450, Q9400 Core i5-650, -655K, -660, -661, -670, -680 | Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Phenom II X4 Black Edition 955, 965 |
| Core 2 Extreme QX6700 Core 2 Quad Q6700, Q9300, Q8400, Q6600, Q8300 Core 2 Duo E8600, E8500, E8400, E7600 Core i3 -530, -540, -550 | Phenom II X6 1055T Phenom II X4 945, 940, 920, 910, 910e, 810 Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition Athlon II X4 640, 635, 630 Athlon II X3 445, 440, 435 |
| Core 2 Extreme X6800 Core 2 Quad Q8200 Core 2 Duo E8300, E8200, E8190, E7500, E7400, E6850, E6750 | Phenom II X4 905e, 805 Phenom II X3 710, 705e Phenom II X2 555 BE, 550 BE, 545 Phenom X4 9950 Athlon II X4 620 Athlon II X3 425 |
| Core 2 Duo E7200, E6550, E7300, E6540, E6700 Pentium Dual-Core E6300, E6500, E6600, E6700 Pentium G9650 | Phenom X4 9850, 9750, 9650, 9600 Phenom X3 8850, 8750 Athlon II X2 255, 260 Athlon 64 X2 6400+ |
| Core 2 Duo E4700, E4600, E6600, E4500, E6420 Pentium Dual-Core E5400, E5300, E5200 | Phenom X4 9500, 9550, 9450e, 9350e Phenom X3 8650, 8600, 8550, 8450e, 8450, 8400, 8250e Athlon II X2 240, 245, 250 Athlon X2 7850, 7750 Athlon 64 X2 6000+, 5600+ |
| Core 2 Duo E4400, E4300, E6400, E6320 Celeron E3300 | Phenom X4 9150e, 9100e Athlon X2 7550, 7450, 5050e, 4850e/b Athlon 64 X2 5400+, 5200+, 5000+, 4800+ |
| Core 2 Duo E5500, E6300 Pentium Dual-Core E2220, E2200, E2210 Celeron E3200 | Athlon X2 6550, 6500, 4450e/b, Athlon X2 4600+, 4400+, 4200+, BE-2400 |
| Pentium Dual-Core E2180 Celeron E1600 | Athlon 64 X2 4000+, 3800+ Athlon X2 4050e, BE-2300 |
| Pentium Dual-Core E2160, E2140 Celeron E1500, E1400, E1200 | |
Summary
There you have it folks: the best gaming CPUs for the money this month. Now all that’s left to do is to find and purchase them.
Also remember that the stores don’t follow this list. Things will change over the course of the month and you’ll probably have to adapt your buying strategy to deal with fluctuating prices. Good luck!
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Can't wait until sandy bridge and bulldozer comes out and to see how they stack up against the current chips.
first coment
, actually the fastest triple-core Athlon II is available for only $77, new lower price!!! plus c3 stepping, and the athlon II x4 640 (3.0 Ghz, the fastest and c3 too ) for only $107, i hope amd will do this with ati products too...
the phenom II 940 is actually at 95watt TDP with c3 stepping,
=D
if you put the Core i7-980X Extreme, why don't you put any of the amd phenom II x6, they do deserve to be mentioned.
the phenom II 940 is actually at 95watt TDP with c3 stepping, =D
I meant phenom II x4 945 not 940
@Daggs
The Phenom II X6 is not in there because it is not as good as the other CPUs in its price range at GAMING.
The i7-930 was available this weekend at Fry's for $260. Seems to be widely available for about $270... Which makes it even sexier.
"Is Intel putting pressure on the Phenom II X6?" Maybe Intel's telling itself that lowering a 1000 dollar Cpu's price by 100 dollars is "competing" with a 200 dollar chip... lol
The 945 really should have always been on the list since the C3 stepping because of all the budget boards with 95W limitations. The 640 is still a better deal, but hey if 775 CPUs are still listed, CPUs catering to limited AM2+/AM3 boards should be too!
"Is Intel putting pressure on the Phenom II X6?" Maybe Intel's telling itself that lowering a 1000 dollar Cpu's price by 100 dollars is "competing" with a 200 dollar chip... lol
Um... in terms of gaming, the $300 1095T can't compete with a $200 i5 760.
Back when AMD held the performance crown the FX line was similarly ridiculously overpriced. More likely Intel is just naming it's price to maximize it's profit. Supply and demand.
The Intel Core i7 980X is worth it (even at its high cost) especially for hard core Flight Simulator X users.Yes,it's worth it.Good to see a newer faster i5 760 there too.
Thanks for the heads up.
Can't wait until sandy bridge and bulldozer comes out and to see how they stack up against the current chips.
Absolutely. I really want to see AMD get their head's back into the game as far as high-end performance goes cos intel is ruling that area right now.
I can guarantee that if AMD had a chip in the i7 performance range, intel wouldn't be charging us $1000 for a suped up i7-975. Competition = lower prices = happiness
I would like to see GPU recommendations for each CPU to make these articles even more informative
Good article. keep em coming.
My question is why on earth is Tomshardware still listing the i7-930 at $290. MicroCenter has been selling this processor for $199.99 since mid June!!! Tomshardware definitely needs to review where they are finding their current processor costs.
My question is why on earth is Tomshardware still listing the i7-930 at $290. MicroCenter has been selling this processor for $199.99 since mid June!!! Tomshardware definitely needs to review where they are finding their current processor costs.
Processors are almost always cheaper at Microcenter than anywhere else. But there are only a handful of Microcenter locations across the country, so it's not a price everyone can get. You can't base universal prices on the few areas that do have access.
would like to request the multiplier lock for each CPU to be included.
This is important info for overclockers.
Really happy with my 965BE C3 its cool, fast and reliable.
Um... in terms of gaming, the $300 1095T can't compete with a $200 i5 760.Back when AMD held the performance crown the FX line was similarly ridiculously overpriced. More likely Intel is just naming it's price to maximize it's profit. Supply and demand.
yeah, cause we all know how important gaming is to the bottom line. Those few extra frames always influence my overall purchase decisions... [/sarc]
yeah, cause we all know how important gaming is to the bottom line...
As much as I'd like to see something similar done for productivity apps, this article is about gaming CPUs. So, gaming will be the most important thing to the bottom line.
With a Q9450 in my primary PC, going to AMD would be a lateral move, not worth the upgrade price. I have high hopes for Bulldozer though, and for Sandy Bridge.