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

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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!

AMD: K10 (Stars)

AMD offers a great many multi-core CPUs built using its K10 architecture. The most modern models are sold under the Athlon II and Phenom II brands. The company code-named each unique configuration of cores and cache using stars, so the architecture is also commonly referred to as Stars as well.

Athlon II CPUs entered the market in 2009, manufactured using 45 nm process technology. They include two to four cores and drop into the Socket AM3 interface. Dual-core versions are branded as Athlon II X2, triple-core models are Athlon II X3, and the quad-core versions are sold as Athlon II X4. The Athlon IIs don't have any L3 cache.

In contrast, Phenom IIs do generally come with up to 6 MB of L3 cache, though AMD decided to get tricky and sell a few Phenom IIs with less or no L3 memory. The 45 nm Phenom II line-up is similarly named to indicate core count: from the dual-core Phenom II X2 to the hexa-core Phenom II X6, which was introduced in 2010.

The most modern Phenom IIs (the Thuban-based Phenom II X6 and Zosma-based Phenom II X4) also sport Turbo Core technology, which automatically overclocks up to half of the processor's cores when thermal conditions allow.

More information:

Benchmarked AMD Athlon II CPUs:

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Athlon IICode NameRev.CPU SocketNumber of CoresClock FrequencyL2 CacheMemory ControllerTDP
Athlon II X2 240eRegorC2AM322.8 GHz2 x 64 KBintegrated up to DDR3-106645 W
Athlon II X2 250RegorC2AM323.0 GHz2 x 64 KBintegrated up to DDR3-106665 W
Athlon II X2 255RegorC3AM323.1 GHz2 x 64 KBintegrated up to DDR3-106665 W
Athlon II X2 260RegorC3AM323.2 GHz2 x 64 KBintegrated up to DDR3-106665 W
Athlon II X3 425RanaC2AM332.7 GHz3 x 512 KBintegrated up to DDR3-133395 W
Athlon II X3 435RanaC2AM332.9 GHz3 x 512 KBintegrated up to DDR3-133395 W
Athlon II X3 440RanaC3AM333.0 GHz3 x 512 KBintegrated up to DDR3-133395 W
Athlon II X3 445RanaC3AM333.1 GHz3 x 512 KBintegrated up to DDR3-133395 W
Athlon II X4 620PropusC2AM342.6 GHz4 x 512 KBintegrated up to DDR3-133395 W
Athlon II X4 630PropusC2AM342.8 GHz4 x 512 KBintegrated up to DDR3-133395 W
Athlon II X4 635PropusC3AM342.9 GHz4 x 512 KBintegrated up to DDR3-133395 W
Athlon II X4 640PropusC3AM343.0 GHz4 x 512 KBintegrated up to DDR3-133395 W
Athlon II X4 645PropusC3AM343.1 GHz4 x 512 KBintegrated up to DDR3-133395 W

Benchmarked AMD Phenom II CPUs:

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Phenom IICode NameRev.CPU SocketNumber of CoresClock FrequencyL2 CacheL3 CacheMemory ControllerTDP
Phenom II X2 550CallistoC3AM323.1 GHz2 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-133380 W
Phenom II X2 555CallistoC3AM323.2 GHz2 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-133380 W
Phenom II X2 560CallistoC3AM323.3 GHz2 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-133380 W
Phenom II X2 565CallistoC3AM323.4 GHz2 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-133380 W
Phenom II X3 705eHekaC2AM332.5 GHz3 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-133365 W
Phenom II X3 710HekaC2AM332.6 GHz3 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-133395 W
Phenom II X3 720HekaC2AM332.8 GHz3 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-133395 W
Phenom II X3 740HekaC2AM333.0 GHz3 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-133395 W
Phenom II X4 830DenebC3AM342.8 GHz4 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-133395 W
Phenom II X4 840DenebC3AM343.2 GHz4 x 512 KB-integrated up to DDR3-133395 W
Phenom II X4 905eDenebC2AM342.5 GHz4 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-133365 W
Phenom II X4 910eDenebC3AM342.6 GHz4 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-133365 W
Phenom II X4 955DenebC3AM343.2 GHz4 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-1333125 W
Phenom II X4 965DenebC3AM343.4 GHz4 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-1333125 W
Phenom II X4 970DenebC3AM343.5 GHz4 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-1333125 W
Phenom II X4 975DenebC3AM343.6 GHz4 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-1333125 W
Phenom II X4 980DenebC3AM343.7 GHz4 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-1333125 W
Phenom II X6 1035TThubanE0AM362.6 GHz6 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-133395 W
Phenom II X6 1045TThubanE0AM362.7 GHz6 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-133395 W
Phenom II X6 1055TThubanE0AM362.8 GHz6 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-133395 W
Phenom II X6 1065TThubanE0AM362.9 GHz6 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-133395 W
Phenom II X6 1075TThubanE0AM363.0 GHz6 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-1333125 W
Phenom II X6 1090TThubanE0AM363.2 GHz6 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-1333125 W
Phenom II X6 1100TThubanE0AM363.3 GHz6 x 512 KB6 MBintegrated up to DDR3-1333125 W
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