CPU Charts 2012: 86 Processors From AMD And Intel, Tested

By Achim Roos, Manuel Masiero
published

Benchmarking 86 CPUs takes a while. After long last, though, we have 51 models from AMD and 35 from Intel tested in our current suite. If you want to know how your processor sizes up to its competition, you'll find plenty of comparison data inside!

Benchmark Hardware And Software

Our Benchmark Hardware and Software

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Benchmark System Hardware
HardwareDetails
Performance Benchmarks
Socket AM3 MotherboardAsus M5A99X Evo, Chipset: AMD 990X, BIOS: 1208
Socket FM1 MotherboardMSI A75MA-G55, Chipset: Intel Z77, BIOS: 1.6b6
LGA 1156 MotherboardGigabyte P55A-UD7, Chipset: Intel P55, BIOS: F8b
LGA 1155 MotherboardGigabyte Z77X-UD3H Wi-Fi, Chipset: Intel Z77, BIOS: 1504
LGA 1366 MotherboardMSI Big Bang, Chipset: Intel X58, BIOS: 1.2 (2010-06-18)
LGA 2011 MotherboardIntel DX79SI, Chipset: Intel X79, BIOS: 0537
DDR3 Memory (Dual-Channel)2 x 8 GB DDR3-1600 CL10-10-10-27, (Corsair Vengance CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10)
DDR3 Memory (Dual-Channel)2 x 8 GB DDR3-1866 CL10-11-10-30, (G.Skill RipjawsX F3-14900CL10D-16GBXL)
DDR3 Memory (Triple-Channel)3 x 4 GB Kingston KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX
DDR3 Memory (Quad-Channel)4 x 4 GB Kingston KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX
GraphicsSapphire Radeon HD 7870 FleX GPU: Pitcairn (1000 MHz), Graphics RAM: 2048 MB GDDR5 (2400 MT/s), Stream Processors: 1280
System DriveSamsung PM810, 256 GB, SATA 3Gb/s , MZ5PA256HMDR
Power Supply UnitSeasonic X-760, SS-760KM Active PFC F3
System Software
Operating SystemWindows 7 Ultimate SP1 x64
Drivers and Settings
Graphics DriverAMD Catalyst 12.8 Suite for Windows 7
Chipset Driver AMDAMD Catalyst 12.8 Suite for Windows 7
Chipset Driver IntelChipset Installation Utility Ver. 9.3.0.1019
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Game Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
Crysis 2Version: 1.9 Video Mode: 1280x720 Game Settings - Anti-Aliasing none - Filtering Trilinear - Wait for vertical sync disabled - Shader Detail Medium - Effect Detail Medium - Model/Texture Detail Medium Demo: THG Demo 1
Mafia IIVideo Mode: 1024x768 Game Settings - Anti-Aliasing disabled - Filtering Anisotropic Trilinear - Wait for vertical sync disabled - Shader Detail Medium - Effect Detail Medium - Model/Texture Detail Medium Demo: THG Demo 1
Audio Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
iTunesVersion: 9.0.3.15 Audio CD ("Terminator II" SE), 53 min. Convert to AAC Audio Format
Lame MP3Version 3.98.3 Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min Convert wav to mp3 Audio Format Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s)
Video Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
HandBrake CLIVersion: 0.98 Video: Video from Canon EOS 7D (1920x1080, 25 frames) 1 Minutes 22 Seconds Audio: PCM-S16, 48,000 Hz, Two-Channel, to Video: AVC1 Audio: AAC (High Profile)
TotalCode Studio 2.5Version: 2.5.0.10677 MPEG2 to H.264 MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2) Audio: MPEG2 (44.1 kHz, Two-Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s) Codec: H.264 Pro Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS) Profile: H.264 BD HDMV
Application Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
7-ZipVersion: 9.28 LZMA2 Syntax "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5" Benchmark: THG-Workload-2012
WinRARVersion: 4.2 RAR Syntax "winrar a -r -m3" Benchmark: THG-Workload-2012
Autodesk 3d Studio Max 2010Version: 10 x64 Rendering Space Flyby Mentalray (SPECapc_3dsmax9) Frame: 248 Resolution: 1440 x 1080
BlenderVersion: 2.62 Syntax blender -b Helicopter-2.6.1-toms.blend -f 1 Helicopter-2.6.1 (scene-Helicopter-2.6.1.blend) Frame: 1 Resolution: 1280x720 Threads: Auto-Detect
Cinebench 11.5Version 11.5 Build CB25720DEMO CPU Test single- and multi-threaded
Adobe After Effects CS5.5Create Video which includes 3 Streams Frames: 210 Render Multiple Frames Simultaneosly: on
Adobe After Effects CS6Create Video which includes 3 Streams Frames: 210 Render Multiple Frames Simultaneosly: on
Adobe Premiere Pro CS6Video Length 2 min 21 sec Export to H.264 Blu-ray Source 960x720 Output 1280x720
Adobe Photoshop CS 6 (64-Bit) CPUVersion: 13 Filtering a 16 MB TIF (15,000x7266) Filters: Radial Blur (Amount: 10; Method: zoom; Quality: good) Shape Blur (Radius: 46 px; custom shape: Trademark sysmbol) Median (Radius: 1px) Polar Coordinates (Rectangular to Polar)
Adobe Acrobat X ProfessionalVersion: 10.0.0 Pro == Printing Preferenced Menu == Default Settings: Standard == Adobe PDF Security - Edit Menu == Encrypt all documents (128 bit RC4) Open Password: 123 Permissions Password: 321
Microsoft PowerPoint 2010Version: 14.0.4734.1000 (32-bit) PPT to PDF Powerpoint Document (115 Pages) Adobe PDF-Printer
Abbyy FineReaderVersion: 10 Professional Build (10.0.102.82) Read PDF save to Doc Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages
Microsoft Visual Studio 2010Compile Miranda in Two Editions with MSBuild form .NET 4.0.30319 1. Release Unicode Win32 2. Release Unicode x64
Microsoft Visual Studio 2010Compile Chrome Project (1/31/2012) with devenv.com /build Release
FritzFritz Chess Benchmark Version 4.3.2
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
3DMark 11Version: 1.0
PCMark 7Version: 1.04
SiSoftware Sandra 2012Version: 2012.06.18.53 Processor Arithmetic, Cryptography, Memory Bandwith

Benchmark Motherboards and Graphics Card

Asus M5A99X EVO:

MSI A75MA-G55:

Gigabyte P55A-UD7:

Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H Wi-Fi:

MSI Big Bang:

Intel DX79SI:

Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 FleX:

Achim Roos
Achim Roos
108 Comments Comment from the forums
  • amdfangirl
    Sometimes I wish you updated legacy CPUs like the Core 2 Duo or even perhaps the Athlon 64 X2 series, just one or two models so that people upgrading can have an idea how much faster the CPU is in relation to their new purchase.
    Reply
  • Where are the Visual Studio Test results?
    Reply
  • johnsonjohnson
    Sandy and Ivy i3s are MIA.
    Reply
  • emperor piehead
    Why is the fx6300 missing i wanted to see how it fit into this
    Reply
  • Thanks Toms, now i know that i can get double the performance and 3/4 the power consumption going from AMD 955 to a Core i5 3570K.
    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1
    Great benchmarks.
    But i want some processors which were legendary overclockers, and representatives of their generation of CPU's, included with a nominal OC :

    intel C2D E7300 : 2.66- > 3.33
    Intel C2Q Q6600 : 2.4- > 3.0ghz
    Intel i5-750 : 2.66 - >3.33

    Its highly likely that a person has owned at least one of these CPU's. I want to know how well these compare to modern processors.
    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1
    And please update the Winrar to version 4.2 . The 3.9 you are using is quite old and has poor multithreading.
    Reply
  • bak0n
    amdfangirlSometimes I wish you updated legacy CPUs like the Core 2 Duo or even perhaps the Athlon 64 X2 series, just one or two models so that people upgrading can have an idea how much faster the CPU is in relation to their new purchase.I always wish this. Beyond that the AM3 Athlon X2's are still being sold at newegg and the Phenom X2's are not...
    Reply
  • Soma42
    amdfangirlSometimes I wish you updated legacy CPUs like the Core 2 Duo or even perhaps the Athlon 64 X2 series, just one or two models so that people upgrading can have an idea how much faster the CPU is in relation to their new purchase.
    Agreed, maybe just one dual core and one quad? q9550 and e6850? not that I still own both of those or anything...

    But let's do some math. Just for a rough order of magnitude I figure an average of 15% increase in performance per clock cycle, per generation (not including clock speed, number of cores, etc.). So if we start back at Conroe and work our way to present day Ivy Bridge, that's 5 new generations of processors. 1.15^5 = 2.01

    Which means that an Ivy Bridge CPU at the same speed as a Conroe CPU (2006ish) is about 2x as fast per clock cycle, on average. Once you take into account faster clock speeds, number of cores, cache sizes, integrated memory controllers, etc. and more importantly what software will be used with the CPUs the real world performance difference could be almost nothing to somewhere around 10-15x as fast.

    I digress. The point being, is I would like to see some more benchies Tom's! Prove me wrong!
    Reply
  • flyflinger
    Lot of great info here, but missing Core i3 info leaves a big hole in the data point. Please add.
    Reply