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

By Manuel Masiero, Achim Roos
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!

Tom's Hardware: CPU Benchmark Charts, Updated

86 CPUs Benchmarked: 51 From AMD And 35 From Intel

We've been hard at work updating our CPU Charts with a brand new benchmark suite. And, before 2012 comes to a close, we wanted to share the results of no fewer than 86 processors with you. The models we tested range from dual-core budget-oriented chips to eight-core flagships. Fifty-one models come from AMD, and 35 are Intel's.

In this overview, the CPUs are organized by micro-architecture, each covered on its own page. It’s a free-for-all once we hit the benchmarks. At that point, performance is all that matters. Let’s have a look at the contenders:

AMD

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AMD CPUs
FamilyFX ProcessorsA-Series APUsPhenom IIAthlon II
Architecture and Model NumberBulldozerFX-4100FX-4170FX-6100FX-6200FX-8100FX-8120FX-8140FX-8150FX-8170LlanoA6-3650A6-3670KA8-3850A8-3870KTrinityA10-5800KStarsPhenom II X2 550Phenom II X2 555Phenom II X2 560Phenom II X2 565Phenom II X3 705ePhenom II X3 710Phenom II X3 720Phenom II X3 740Phenom II X4 830Phenom II X4 840Phenom II X4 905ePhenom II X4 910ePhenom II X4 955Phenom II X4 965Phenom II X4 970Phenom II X4 975Phenom II X4 980Phenom II X6 1035TPhenom II X6 1045TPhenom II X6 1055TPhenom II X6 1065TPhenom II X6 1075TPhenom II X6 1090TPhenom II X6 1100TStarsAthlon II X2 240eAthlon II X2 250Athlon II X2 255Athlon II X2 260Athlon II X3 425Athlon II X3 435Athlon II X3 440Athlon II X3 445Athlon II X4 620Athlon II X4 630Athlon II X4 635Athlon II X4 640Athlon II X4 645

Intel

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Intel CPUs
Family Core (First Generation) Core (Second Generation) Core (Third Generation)
Architecture and Model NumberNehalemCore i3-530Core i5-661Core i5-670Core i5-750Core i5-750SCore i5-760Core i7-860Core i7-870Core i7-875KCore i7-880Core i7-920Core i7-930Core i7-960Core i7-970Core i7-975 Extreme EditionCore i7-980Core i7-980XCore i7-990XSandy BridgeCore i5-2300Core i5-2310Core i5-2400Core i5-2400SCore i5-2500KCore i5-2500TCore i7-2600KCore i7-2700KCore i7-3930XCore i7-3960XPentium G620Pentium G630Pentium G630TIvy BridgeCore i5-3450Core i5-3470Core i5-3550Core i5-3570KCore i7-3770K
Manuel Masiero
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