Gaming Shoot-Out: 18 CPUs And APUs Under $200, Benchmarked

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Now that Piledriver-based CPUs and APUs are widely available (and the FX-8350 is selling for less than $200), it's a great time to compare value-oriented chips in our favorite titles. We're also breaking out a test that conveys the latency between frames.

Results: Far Cry 3

With Metro 2033 behind us, along with our first look at average consecutive frame time difference, let's apply the same methodology to Far Cry 3.

This time, the Pentium, Athlon II X3, and dual-core APUs are brutalized at 30 FPS and under, while the rest of the pack delivers smooth frame rates. This is in line with our CPU scaling results from Far Cry 3 Performance, Benchmarked, except that the Phenom II X4 fares much better. We're benchmarking with more demanding graphics settings this time around, so perhaps that is helping normalize the processor performance.

The order falls in place just as we'd expect it to when we look at frame rates over time.

We didn't expect this; the Intel chips generate the highest consecutive frame latencies in Far Cry 3. With that said, those latencies are pretty low. They're almost irrelevant, in fact, until we get down to the Core i3-2120 and Pentium G860.

Don Woligroski
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Don Woligroski was a former senior hardware editor for Tom's Hardware. He has covered a wide range of PC hardware topics, including CPUs, GPUs, system building, and emerging technologies.