| Processor Charts: Normalized Performance Rating No clue what to choose?
Don't worry! Let your wallet decide, look at a x64 CPU with a NPR of 3 or higher. You should be able to run anything currently out there, you may not be able to run at the highest settings with all the cool stuff, but you should be able to have a responsive and enjoyable experience if the software is properly optimized or allow the tweaking of performance settings.
Do not base your decision on the NPR chart alone. Certain models may perform better in special areas. Be a smart consumer, study what you buy. It is your money after all.
Affordable CPUs increase in performance at about 50% per year, so it might make sense to wait two years to double your performance at around the same cost as your current CPU.
But hopefully this NPR chart is a quick starting point to help you narrow down your choices.
Upgrade Advisor instructions:
Click on your model or a model close to yours to activate the upgrade advisor. The ideal upgrade advice for average computing is roughly a doubling in performance compared to your current model.
White is your current selection. Red means you will get less performance with these. Brown means improved performance but not enough gain compared to the cost. Green means a 75%-150% NPR increase and is the advised upgrade range and hopefully affordable. Blue means too much performance increase thus potentially too expensive. | Cost Calculator instructions:
Choose two models to compare and enter their cost. The resulting cost vs performance is displayed below. Do not enter currency signs, do not enter "," or spaces. Decimal point "." is allowed though. Choosing a model in the NPR chart will auto-select it as model 2 in the calculator.
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| Brand | Model (155 entries) | Feature Level
All: x86/x64, SSE3
None: VEX3, VEX4 | NPR |
|---|
| Intel | Core i7-980X | x64, SSE4.2 | 11.2 | | Intel | Core i7-970 | x64, SSE4.2 | 10.8 | | Intel | Core i7-960 | x64, SSE4.2 | 7.4 | | AMD | Phenom II X6 1090T | x64 | 7.3 | | Intel | Core i7-880 | x64, SSE4.2 | 7.0 | | Intel | Core i7-875K | x64, SSE4.2 | 7.0 | | AMD | Phenom II X6 1075T | x64 | 6.9 | | Intel | Core i7-975 | x64, SSE4.2 | 6.9 | | Intel | Core i7-965 | x64, SSE4.2 | 6.7 | | Intel | Core i7-930 | x64, SSE4.2 | 6.5 | | AMD | Phenom II X6 1055T | x64 | 6.5 | | Intel | Core i7-950 | x64, SSE4.2 | 6.5 | | Intel | Core i7-870 | x64, SSE4.2 | 6.2 | | Intel | Core i7-940 | x64, SSE4.2 | 6.2 | | AMD | Phenom II X6 1035T | x64 | 6.0 | | Intel | Core i7-860 | x64, SSE4.2 | 5.8 | | Intel | Core 2 Extreme QX9775 | x64, SSE4.1 | 5.7 | | Intel | Core i7-920 | x64, SSE4.2 | 5.6 | | AMD | Phenom II X2 555 | x64 | 5.2 | | Intel | Pentium G6950 | x64 | 5.1 | | Intel | Core 2 Extreme QX9770 | x64, SSE4.1 | 5.1 | | AMD | Phenom II X4 965 | x64 | 5.1 | | AMD | Phenom II X4 955 | x64 | 4.9 | | Intel | Core 2 Extreme QX9650 | x64, SSE4.1 | 4.8 | | Intel | Core 2 Quad Q9650 | x64, SSE4.1 | 4.7 | | Intel | Core i5-750 | x64, SSE4.2 | 4.6 | | Intel | Core 2 Quad Q9400 | x64, SSE4.1 | 4.6 | | AMD | Phenom II X4 945 | x64 | 4.6 | | Intel | Core 2 Extreme QX6850 | x64 | 4.6 | | Intel | Core 2 Quad Q9550 | x64, SSE4.1 | 4.6 | | Intel | Core 2 Quad Q8400 | x64, SSE4.1 | 4.5 | | AMD | Athlon II X4 645 | x64 | 4.5 | | AMD | Phenom II X4 940 | x64 | 4.5 | | Intel | Core 2 Extreme QX6800 | x64 | 4.4 | | Intel | Core 2 Quad Q9300 | x64, SSE4.1 | 4.4 | | AMD | Athlon II X4 640 | x64 | 4.4 | | AMD | Phenom II X4 920 | x64 | 4.3 | | AMD | Phenom II X4 925 | x64 | 4.3 | | Intel | Core 2 Quad Q9450 | x64, SSE4.1 | 4.2 | | AMD | Athlon II X4 635 | x64 | 4.2 | | AMD | Athlon II X4 630 | x64 | 4.1 | | AMD | Phenom II X4 810 | x64 | 4.1 | | Intel | Core 2 Extreme QX6700 | x64 | 4.1 | | Intel | Core i5-661 | x64, SSE4.2 | 4.0 | | AMD | Phenom X4 9950 | x64 | 3.9 | | Intel | Core 2 Quad Q6700 | x64 | 3.9 | | AMD | Athlon II X4 620 | x64 | 3.9 | | AMD | Phenom II X4 905 | x64 | 3.9 | | Intel | Core 2 Quad Q8300 | x64, SSE4.1 | 3.9 | | AMD | Phenom X4 9850 | x64 | 3.8 | | AMD | Athlon II X4 605 | x64 | 3.8 | | Intel | Core 2 Duo E8600 | x64, SSE4.1 | 3.8 | | Intel | Core 2 Quad Q8200 | x64, SSE4.1 | 3.7 | | Intel | Core i5-660 | x64, SSE4.2 | 3.7 | | Intel | Core 2 Quad Q6600 | x64 | 3.7 | | AMD | Phenom II X3 720 | x64 | 3.7 | | AMD | Phenom X4 9750 | x64 | 3.6 | | AMD | Phenom X4 9650 | x64 | 3.5 | | AMD | Athlon II X3 435 | x64 | 3.5 | | AMD | Phenom X4 9550 | x64 | 3.4 | | AMD | Athlon II X3 445 | x64 | 3.4 | | AMD | Phenom X3 8750 | x64 | 3.4 | | AMD | Phenom II X3 710 | x64 | 3.3 | | AMD | Phenom 9700 | x64 | 3.3 | | AMD | Athlon II X3 440 | x64 | 3.3 | | AMD | Phenom X3 8650 | x64 | 3.2 | | AMD | Phenom 9600 | x64 | 3.2 | | Intel | Core i3-530 | x64, SSE4.2 | 3.2 | | Intel | Core 2 Quad Q6400 | x64 | 3.1 | | Intel | Core 2 Duo E8200 | x64, SSE4.1 | 3.1 | | AMD | Phenom 9500 | x64 | 3.0 | | Intel | Core 2 Duo E8500 | x64, SSE4.1 | 3.0 | | Intel | Core 2 Duo E6750 | x64 | 3.0 | | AMD | Phenom X3 8450 | x64 | 3.0 | | AMD | Athlon II X3 425 | x64 | 3.0 | | Intel | Core 2 Duo E6700 | x64 | 3.0 | | AMD | Athlon X2 7850 | x64 | 2.9 | | AMD | Phenom II X3 705 | x64 | 2.9 | | Intel | Core 2 Duo E8400 | x64, SSE4.1 | 2.9 | | Intel | Core 2 Duo E7500 | x64, SSE4.1 | 2.9 | | Intel | Core 2 Duo E5300 | x64 | 2.9 | | AMD | Phenom II X2 550 | x64 | 2.8 | | AMD | Phenom II X3 700 | x64 | 2.8 | | AMD | Athlon 64 X2 6400+ | x64 | 2.8 | | AMD | Athlon II X3 415 | x64 | 2.8 | | Intel | Core 2 Duo E6600 | x64 | 2.7 | | Intel | Core 2 Extreme X6800 | x64 | 2.7 | | Intel | Core 2 Duo E6850 | x64 | 2.7 | | AMD | Athlon II X2 250 | x64 | 2.6 | | AMD | Athlon X2 5400 | x64 | 2.6 | | AMD | Athlon 64 X2 6000+ | x64 | 2.6 | | Intel | Core 2 Duo E6550 | x64 | 2.5 | | AMD | Athlon 64 FX-62 | x64 | 2.5 | | AMD | Athlon 64 X2 5600+ | x64 | 2.5 | | Intel | Core 2 Duo E6420 | x64 | 2.4 | | AMD | Athlon X2 7750 | x64 | 2.4 | | AMD | Athlon II X2 240 | x64 | 2.4 | | AMD | Athlon II X2 260 | x64 | 2.4 | | AMD | Athlon 64 X2 5400+ | x64 | 2.4 | | Intel | Core 2 Duo E6400 | x64 | 2.4 | | AMD | Phenom II X2 545 | x64 | 2.3 | | AMD | Athlon 64 X2 5200+ | x64 | 2.3 | | AMD | Athlon 64 X2 5000+ | x64 | 2.2 | | AMD | Athlon II X2 245 | x64 | 2.2 | | Intel | Pentium EE 965 | x64 | 2.2 | | Intel | Core 2 Duo E6320 | x64 | 2.1 | | AMD | Athlon 64 X2 4600+ | x64 | 2.1 | | Intel | Pentium E5300 | x64 | 2.1 | | AMD | Athlon 64 X2 4800+ | x64 | 2.1 | | AMD | Athlon II X2 235 | x64 | 2.0 | | Intel | Pentium EE 955 | x64 | 2.0 | | Intel | Core 2 Duo E4300 | x64 | 2.0 | | AMD | Athlon 64 X2 4400+ | x64 | 2.0 | | AMD | Athlon 64 X2 4200+ | x64 | 1.9 | | Intel | Core 2 Duo E4700 | x64 | 1.9 | | Intel | Pentium D 960 | x64 | 1.8 | | Intel | Pentium EE 840 | x64 | 1.8 | | Intel | Core 2 Duo E6300 | x64 | 1.8 | | Intel | Pentium Dual Core E2160 | x64 | 1.8 | | AMD | Athlon 64 X2 4000+ | x64 | 1.8 | | AMD | Athlon X2 BE-2350 | x64 | 1.8 | | AMD | Athlon 64 X2 3800+ | x64 | 1.8 | | Intel | Pentium D 950 | x64 | 1.8 | | Intel | Pentium D 840 | x64 | 1.6 | | Intel | Pentium D 940 | x64 | 1.6 | | AMD | Athlon X2 BE-2300 | x64 | 1.6 | | Intel | Pentium Dual Core E2140 | x64 | 1.6 | | AMD | Athlon 64 X2 3600+ | x64 | 1.6 | | Intel | Pentium D 930 | x64 | 1.6 | | Intel | Pentium D 830 | x64 | 1.5 | | Intel | Pentium 4 EE | x64 | 1.5 | | Intel | Pentium D 920 | x64 | 1.4 | | Intel | Pentium D 820 | x64 | 1.4 | | AMD | Athlon 64 4000+ | x64 | 1.4 | | Intel | Pentium 4 "E" 661 | x64 | 1.4 | | Intel | Pentium 4 "E" 660 | x64 | 1.4 | | Intel | Pentium 4 "E" 651 | x64 | 1.3 | | AMD | Athlon 64 3800+ | x64 | 1.3 | | Intel | Pentium 4 "E" 650 | x64 | 1.3 | | Intel | Pentium D 805 | x64 | 1.3 | | Intel | Pentium 4 "E" 641 | x64 | 1.2 | | Intel | Pentium 4 "E" 640 | x64 | 1.2 | | AMD | Athlon 64 3500+ | x64 | 1.2 | | Intel | Pentium 4 "E" 631 | x64 | 1.2 | | Intel | Pentium 4 "E" 630 | x64 | 1.2 | | AMD | Athlon 64 3200+ | x64 | 1.1 | | AMD | Sempron 64 3600+ | x64 | 1.1 | | Intel | Pentium 4 "E" 620 | x64 | 1.1 | | AMD | Sempron 64 3500+ | x64 | 1.1 | | AMD | Athlon 64 3000+ | x64 | 1.0 | | AMD | Sempron 64 3400+ | x64 | 1.0 | | AMD | Sempron 64 3200+ | x64 | 0.9 | | AMD | Sempron 64 3000+ | x64 | 0.9 | | AMD | Sempron 64 2800+ | x64 | 0.8 | | Intel | Celeron 430 | x64 | 0.6 | NPR Chart, upgrade advisor, cost calculator and CSV file © Roger Hågensen, EmSai 2012
Sources: Tom's Hardware used for initial data. New models added individually when convenient from Tom's Hardware, techPowerUp, AnandTech, Firing Squad, Hot Hardware, Tech Report, Overclockers Club, Guru3D. |
