Gaming CPU Hierarchy Chart

Great article
I think you guys forgot to add the AMD Phenom II X3 740 to the chart.

Nice job getting the L1 caches correct and being consistent in describing the size. You still don't mention it in some models though.

My biggest contention has been with the LGA 1156 somehow being better than LGA 775, and LGA 775 being a dead-end. I'm glad you finally mentioned LGA 1156 is dead too. Interestingly, it was from the day they made it. They still haven't introduced anything higher end than the i7 870, which was a first day release. It's not like they added USB 3.0, or SATA 6 Gbps, or a new PCIe spec either.

I still think LGA 775 is viable if you can get a good deal. It's older, but as mentioned has the same technologies as x58 and P55. On top of that, Sandy Bridge is going to bury Nehalem once it gets going, being a brand new architecture for the first time since the Pentium 4.

For many people, a cheap LGA 775 platform with a Pentium E6700 might do the trick until the new micro architecture comes out next year. If it means finally getting rid of the 1995 Pentium Pro architecture sooner rather than later with the saved money, it could make sense. But only if it's good enough.

And then there is AMD. Bulldozer is obviously not a good gaming chip, but AMD prices things so aggressively, it still might compete very well. Bobcat, to me, is just as interesting as Intel's new architecture. I guess I could be disappointed, but this processor seems to have hit the market in the perfect spot. Adequate performance (as opposed to bad for the Atom), with very good power efficiency, low heat, and small size/low cost could make this processor an extremely successful product. Maybe not for 3D games, but for 95% of the people, it's going to be an almost perfect fit, if it's as good as I'm hearing.

There's too much exciting stuff coming out next year to spend a lot this year, unless you really need it. Bobcat and Intel's next generation, not to mention Bulldozer are all dramatic departures that could easily make anyone buying stuff today regret spending a lot of money. I can't remember a year with so many exciting, and completely new processors coming out.

Keep your powder dry. 2011 is going to be exciting.

For me it doesn't matter how much Intel is ahead of AMD in the race currently, I just can't find it in my heart to support them. Maybe it is because AMD seems like the underdog that us gamers just can't help but support them so zealously.

They need 2 correct their cpu chart , the amd 970 performs equal to i5-750 & amd 965 is equal to qx9770 . Another intel marketing thing?

This is what I need.

thanks for the list but for the love of god plz remove this
"This six-core monster recently stole the bragging rights for the world's fastest CPU from the Core i7-975 Extreme"

you are destroying the definition of recent

I too think that AMD should improve and give Intel some fight on CPU front otherwise we cant have a healthy environment and with monopoly Intel will charge what ever amount they want. Come on AMD bring some fight back here...

*Facepalm*
You realize the only coverage of Bulldozer so far has been on the server side? Obviously that's not a gaming chip. But there has not been any coverage on the desktop counterpart.
It's like you saying Phenom II is not a good gaming chip because the 12 core Opteron is not a good gaming chip.

Right now the OEM Phenom II X4 940 BE is only $90.99 w free shipping at newegg.It's a STEAL and just $2 more than the OEM Phenom II X3 740 BE at $88.99 as I type and a better deal with the extra working core.

I have a 550 BE which I was able to unlock to an X3. It is awesome. I was toying with getting an i3 or i5 dual core 'cause I want that 32nm. 4Ghz on 1v? That's the new hotness. What would be more awesome? If AMD would send in the 32nm Phenoms. I don't know how long AMD can hold on with processors that can't really compete with the Core Ix. If they don't bring the heat soon, I fear things will get ugly. I want AMD to do well. Giving consumers more cores for less money is a great thing until the cores you get are not the relative performer that they need to be to keep up. Things change in a hurry. My Pentium 4 still does okay, but that doesn't mean I'd buy a new one even if they are really cheap. AMD, please drop the new stuff.

I wouldn't mind a 12 core Opteron in my gaming PC to be honest

I myself went with the X3 440 and got it up to 3.6 ghz with the stock cooler and tons of case fan-flow. You get all the gaming benefits of good single core speeds, which is important as previous articles have shown, and you also get 3 cores worth of multitasking...or dvd ripping for a good price.

Yes I could have afforded an i5 or maybe stretched to a i7 920, but looking at what I really needed a cpu to do, anything more than the 440 would have been great for bragging rights but a waste for my wallet.

Cant wait until the new microarchitectures come up. 2011 will be a year of tech. Sandy and Bulldozer!

It's the Pentium G6950, not the 9650.
But yeah- not a real exciting time to buy: unless, of course, you have an AM3 mainboard.

On the other hand, I wonder how many spaces will be filled by Intel once the Sandy Bridge platform comes out: since some of these CPUs are also sorted by overclocking value, I wonder how much value the totally-locked Intel CPUs will offer against the easily-overclocked AMDs?

The QX9300 in my laptop is still in the top tier with a minimal overclock lol.......with a high overclock (4.33 GHz) it beats anything that AMD has right now

......in my laptop.....

nice joke

That is some tight pricing. Makes me wonder were all the money on my build went.
I didn't know there was a price cut on the i7-950. That's quite dramatic.

I was going nuts trying to ensure I got a i7-920 D0 batch, not a C0. Then the i7-930, and now the i7-950 for the same price.
Sure, nothing dramatic, but slow and gradual improvements. On a 920 I'm running 3.57GHz on stock voltage, what could these do?

It certainly will. I'm waiting. Intel and its mysterious Sandy Ridge, and AMD with them touting that Bulldozer will have both higher clocks and IPC mixed with a couple extra cores.

Always love the updated Best for the money articles. Unfortunately, it always makes me want to build more computers, which my wife assures me we don't need.

There is a lot of design stuff out for the Bulldozer, if you cared to read it. You can't slip lipstick on a pig and instantly transform it into a hyena.

The processor is not designed for single-threaded performance. There is nothing they can do to change that; it's integral to the design. It's made to maximize multiple thread performance very economically and beat Intel there. Intel maximized single-threaded performance, which is better suited for games, since games can't use 12 logical processors effectively.

That's integral to the design, and a lot is known about the design. AMD will no doubt price it competitively, like I mentioned, but the best gaming CPU will continue to come from Intel for quite some time.

Bulldozer should clock pretty high though, but it won't be enough. You might not like it, because you think AMD is your buddy and loves you back, but they aren't, they don't, and they probably made the right design decision since the area they will be superior isn't trivial, and they aren't superior in anything right now (from a design perspective).

how is a phenom 9850 for $65 not the best gaming value out there ? Tigerdirect.com