CPU Hierarchy 2020: Intel and AMD Processors Ranked

Your CPU has a huge effect on overall performance and, to many, is a computer's most important component. But when it comes time to buy a CPU for your desktop, you'll find a dizzying morass of model numbers and specs from both Intel and AMD. We've listed our the best CPUs for gaming and best processors for applications in other articles, but if you want to know how each chip stacks up against all the others, this CPU Hierarchy is for you. 

Below, we've ranked all the consumer Intel 9th, 8th and 7th Gen processors, along with AMD's Ryzen and latest Ryzen 3000 and Threadripper chips. We determined the order based on average gaming performance across our test suite, but we also include an application performance metric in the application score column. We generate this metric via a geometric mean of application performance in compression, decompression, HandBrake, Blender and the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite.

Recent updates to our application testing suite, along with performance-altering updates to a few of our game titles, have forced us to recalculate our scoring metrics. We've left our historical data, in which the most powerful chip gets a 100 and all others are scored relative to it, but we're working to update to the new metric and will include it in a future update. If you want our recommendations, please check out our Best CPUs page.

The biggest news for those in need of lots of cores and threads is the Ryzen 9 3950X. It sports 16 cores and 32 threads, a boost clock of 4.7GHz, and runs $749. Paired with a lower-cost X570 or X470 motherboard, it is even faster than lower-end Threadripper builds a run for their money. It doesn't take the absolute gaming crown, but given the value and its spacious core accommodations, it is better for most than the Core i9-9900K or the Core i9-9900KS. It also delivers a big blow to Intel's Core i9-10980XE, offering more performance in most workloads at a far lower price point. 

Speaking of the Core i9-10980XE, Intel's new flagship landed amidst AMD's third-gen Ryzen Threadripper assault, making it appear rather lackluster in terms of sheer threaded power. At 18 cores and 36 threads, it's no challenge to AMD's new behemoths, so it now slots into a lower price point. Overall, the chip trails Threadripper 3000 for overall performance in threaded applications, though it still takes the win in gaming, but is pressured by the Ryzen 9 3950X at its lower price point. This processor is a tough sell for all but those who need quad-channel memory or more PCIe lanes than the 3950X has to offer. 

AMD's Threadripper 3970X and 3960X landed to broad acclaim, taking home Editor's Choice awards. These processors set the new benchmark for overall performance as they also create a new upper tier of the HEDT market, one that Intel has no answer for. Instead, these powerful chips have pushed Intel down a price and performance bracket and come with the 7nm process, Zen 2 microartchitecture, and PCIe 4.0 interface. AMD's typical competitive pricing also comes into play, making these the only option for the upper echelons of HEDT performance.

Most recently, we tested Intel's Core i3-9350KF. While its gaming and single-thread performance are good (the former with a required dedicated GPU), it offers little in the way of substantive features over the previous-generation part it replaces. And given the excellent competition from AMD both above and below it, Intel's latest unlocked Core i3 is tough to recommend. 

*GM = gaming mode

You may be surprised to find that some less-expensive chips ranked above their upscale siblings. For example, the AMD Ryzen 5 2600X comes out ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X on this list because it offers better sustained performance, which was enough to help it do better on the overall suite of tests. However, depending on the application, you may see stronger results from the higher-end chip.

How We Tested

Unfortunately, the Spectre and Meltdown patches found us updating our testing image after the Ryzen 2000-series launch, which has left us with two distinct groups of test results. We have numerous entries in both databases, but neither is entirely complete (yet). As such, we've combined the test pools based upon relative results to the leading processors.

The numbers above represent gaming performance using eight game titles. We're using a geometric mean of the 99th percentile frame rate data, which we convert to an frames per second (FPS) metric, as our overall measure of gaming performance over the entirety of our gaming test suite. We used the Nvidia GTX 1080 GPU for our tests at HD resolution.

We compare a geometric mean of application performance in compression, decompression, HandBrake, Blender and the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite to generate an application performance score.

We have also included several newer processors that we haven't tested yet, but we've assigned them basic positions in our hierarchy based on their capabilities. Naturally, this list will grow as we add more processors.

Test System and Configuration

Legacy Desktop Processor Hierarchy

Recognizing that a lot of older platforms are going to be paired with graphics subsystems multiple generations old, we wanted to define the top of our range to encourage balance between host processing and complementary GPUs. At this point, anyone with a Sandy Bridge-based Core i7 would realize a gain from stepping up to Coffee Lake or Kaby Lake, for example. And putting AMD's top FX CPUs next to a handful of Core i7s and those older Core i5s represents an upgrade to their status.

Currently, our hierarchy consists of 13 total tiers. The bottom half of the chart is largely outdated; you'll notice those CPUs dragging down performance in the latest games, regardless of the graphics card installed in your PC. If you own a CPU in that range, an upgrade could really take your experience to another level.

Really, it's the top five tiers or so that remain viable. And in that top half of the chart, an upgrade is typically worthwhile if it's a least a couple of tiers higher. Otherwise, there's just not enough improvement to warrant the expense of a fresh CPU, motherboard and RAM (not to mention the graphics card and storage solution you'd be considering as well).

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