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Gaming CPU Hierarchy Chart

Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: February 2013
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What about this other CPU that’s not on the list? How do I know if it’s a good deal or not?

This will happen. In fact, it’s guaranteed to happen because availability and prices change quickly. So how do you know if that CPU you have your eye on is a good buy in its price range?

Here is a resource to help you judge if a CPU is a reasonable value or not: the gaming CPU hierarchy chart, which groups CPUs with similar overall gaming performance levels into tiers. The top tier contains the highest-performing gaming CPUs available and gaming performance decreases as you go down the tiers from there.

This hierarchy was originally based on the average performance each CPU achieved in our test suite. We have since incorporated new game data into our criteria, but it should be known that any specific game title will likely perform differently depending on its unique programming. Some games, for example, will be severely graphics subsystem-limited, while others may react positively to more CPU cores, larger amounts of CPU cache, or even a specific architecture. We also did not have access to every CPU on the market, so some of the CPU performance estimates are based on the numbers similar architectures deliver. Indeed, this hierarchy chart is useful as a general guideline, but certainly not as a one-size-fits-all CPU comparison resource. For that, we recommend you check out our CPU Performance Charts.

You can use this hierarchy to compare the pricing between two processors, to see which one is a better deal, and also to determine if an upgrade is worthwhile. I don’t recommend upgrading your CPU unless the potential replacement is at least three tiers higher. Otherwise, the upgrade is somewhat parallel and you may not notice a worthwhile difference in game performance.

Gaming CPU Hierarchy Chart
IntelAMD
Core i7-2600, -2600K, -2700K, -3770, -3770K, -3820, -3930K, -3960X, -3970X
Core i7-965, -975 Extreme, -980X Extreme, -990X Extreme
Core i5-3570K, -3570, -3550, -3470, -3450P, -3450, -3350P, -3330, 2550K, -2500K, -2500, -2450P, -2400, -2380P, -2320, -2310, -2300

Core i7-980, -970, -960
Core i7-870, -875K
Core i3-3225, -3240, -3220, -3210, -2100, -2105, -2120, -2125, -2130
FX-8350, FX-8320, 8150, 6300, 4300,
Phenom II X6 1100T BE, 1090T BE
Phenom II X4 Black Edition 980, 975
Core i7-860, -920, -930, -940, -950
Core i5-3220T, -750, -760, -2405S, -2400S
Core 2 Extreme QX9775, QX9770, QX9650
Core 2 Quad Q9650
FX-8120, 6200, 4170
Phenom II X6 1075T
Phenom II X4 Black Edition 970, 965, 955
A10-5800K, -5700
A8-3850, -3870K, -5600K
Athlon II X4 651K, 645, 641, 640
Core 2 Extreme QX6850, QX6800
Core 2 Quad Q9550, Q9450, Q9400
Core i5-650, -655K, -660, -661, -670, -680
Core i3-2100T, -2120T
FX-6100, -4100, -4130
Phenom II X6 1055T, 1045T
Phenom II X4 945, 940, 920
Phenom II X3 Black Edition 720, 740
A8-5500
A6-3650, -3670K
Athlon II X4 635, 630
Core 2 Extreme QX6700
Core 2 Quad Q6700, Q9300, Q8400, Q6600, Q8300
Core 2 Duo E8600, E8500, E8400, E7600
Core i3 -530, -540, -550
Pentium G2130, G2120, G2020, G870, G860, G850, G840, G645, G640, G630
Phenom II X4 910, 910e, 810
Athlon II X4 620, 631
Athlon II X3 460
Core 2 Extreme X6800
Core 2 Quad Q8200
Core 2 Duo E8300, E8200, E8190, E7500, E7400, E6850, E6750
Pentium G620
Celeron G1620, G1610, G555, G550, G540, G530
Phenom II X4 905e, 805
Phenom II X3 710, 705e
Phenom II X2 565 BE, 560 BE, 555 BE, 550 BE, 545
Phenom X4 9950
Athlon II X3 455, 450, 445, 440, 435, 425
Core 2 Duo E7200, E6550, E7300, E6540, E6700
Pentium Dual-Core E5700, E5800, E6300, E6500, E6600, E6700
Pentium G9650
Phenom X4 9850, 9750, 9650, 9600
Phenom X3 8850, 8750
Athlon II X2 265, 260, 255
A6-5500K
A4-5300, -3400
Athlon 64 X2 6400+
Core 2 Duo E4700, E4600, E6600, E4500, E6420
Pentium Dual-Core E5400, E5300, E5200, G620T
Phenom X4 9500, 9550, 9450e, 9350e
Phenom X3 8650, 8600, 8550, 8450e, 8450, 8400, 8250e
Athlon II X2 240, 245, 250
Athlon X2 7850, 7750
Athlon 64 X2 6000+, 5600+
Core 2 Duo E4400, E4300, E6400, E6320
Celeron E3300
Phenom X4 9150e, 9100e
Athlon X2 7550, 7450, 5050e, 4850e/b
Athlon 64 X2 5400+, 5200+, 5000+, 4800+
Core 2 Duo E5500, E6300
Pentium Dual-Core E2220, E2200, E2210
Celeron E3200
Athlon X2 6550, 6500, 4450e/b,
Athlon X2 4600+, 4400+, 4200+, BE-2400
Pentium Dual-Core E2180
Celeron E1600, G440
Athlon 64 X2 4000+, 3800+
Athlon X2 4050e, BE-2300
Pentium Dual-Core E2160, E2140
Celeron E1500, E1400, E1200

Summary

There you have it folks: the best gaming CPUs for the money this month. Now all that’s left to do is to find and purchase them.

Also remember that the stores don’t follow this list. Things will change over the course of the month and you’ll probably have to adapt your buying strategy to deal with fluctuating prices. Good luck!

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  • 0 Hide
    Blahman11 , 21 February 2013 14:57
    It's nice to see AMD back on the recommendation list rather than an honorable mention. The Phenom 965 has to be one of the best value for money CPUs at the moment, especially if youre willing to overclock it.
  • 0 Hide
    aje21 , 22 February 2013 00:07
    I'd be interested to see how Lucid Logix MVP affects some of this - I have a Core i3 3225 in a media centre machine which I'm going to try out for gaming (HD4000 should be OK for some old titles), but when I get around to adding a discrete card for more modern titles will it prove to be a useful addition over the i3 3220?
  • 1 Hide
    MajinCry , 22 February 2013 05:20
    The AMD Radeon HD 5450 (Also named the 6450) is one tier, in terms of performance, above the HD 4000, so yeah. Even a 6570 ddr3 will be a significant gain.

    http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html
  • 0 Hide
    aje21 , 23 February 2013 03:49
    My question was not "will a discrete card be better" but "will HD4000 and MVP be of benefit once a discrete card has been added". If you have a few pounds (dollars) unallocated during a build, is it better to go for a slightly higher spec discrete card or the i3 3225 and MVP over i3 3220 and no MVP?
  • 0 Hide
    megadelayed , 24 February 2013 21:45
    i don't get how on the hierachy chart how the X4 640 is on the same tier as i7-9xx series and the core 2 extremes and above the Q9550
    i think that the charts gets a bit confusing if you compare some of the intel processors to the AMD ones
  • 0 Hide
    sanilmahambre , 26 February 2013 03:08
    FX 4300 gets a Honorable mention!

    Its like a first step for AMD, next is steamrollar and Excavator
  • 0 Hide
    tornadohh , 27 February 2013 20:40
    Seriously, what are you writing about? You are still using the same games/benchmarks where you hyped the Pentium G860... Still the Pentium G860 performs better in these games for the money and if you wanna upgrade just buy the cheapest i5 (which performs way better then any current AMD CPU) for your existing 1155 mainboard. Nobody knows how will perform future AM3+ CPUs yet. IF you want AMD then go FM2 maybe ?? At least thats a new platform (with mini-itx mainboards as well). AMD Athlon II X4 750K for example and even that performs worse in games compared to the G860 right now ... about the future ? well, who knows but at the moment certainly these cpus are not a recommendation for me regarding gaming performance/power consumption/future upgrades.

    If you want a cheap upgradable modern gaming PC go 1155 + G860 + discrete graphics or if you want a cheap allround/gaming pc then go FM2 + AMD integrated graphics.
  • 1 Hide
    MajinCry , 27 February 2013 22:18
    The cheapest i5 performs way better than any AMD CPU? Boys, we have an intel fan o'er here!

    The 965 BE, AMD's price:p erformance beast, is only 20% slower, at worse, than the i5 2500k. And it costs 50% of the price.

    Keep your intel jargon to yourself, tornadohh.
  • 0 Hide
    tornadohh , 28 February 2013 02:03
    actually after my Pentium 3-500 until now (Pentium G860) i just had AMD CPUs the last one being Athlon II X3 425 which was quite decent but seriously these days AMD is some generations behind Intel.

    Pls show me some benchmarks where 965 BE is just 20% slower at worse than the i5 2500k. That is at best wishful thinking and no im not Intel fan... otherwise i would have bought this wonder AMD long time ago but the truth it its old technology by now and the i5 CPUs are very well worth their money.
  • 0 Hide
    tornadohh , 28 February 2013 03:05
    okay anyway lets keep it civilized im not saying the 965 BE is a bad CPU and certainly if you can live with that its sucking a lot of power and no mini itx boards are available its still an relative well performing cpu for gaming. just not cutting edge or efficient anymore compared to intel cpus... and yes the intel quad core cpus are somewhat more expensive but you also get more performance and low power consumption.

    and honestly tomshardware was hyping the G860 like its the best thing after sliced bread (beating the 965 BE in some of the same games they are still benchmarking now) but in 2013 a dual core cpu is not good anymore so the old AMD quadcores get the recommendation because they are cheaper than the i5 s - hhhhm interesting.

    actually when i compared my Athlon II X3 425 (4th core unlocked and overclocked to 3GHz) the G860 (dual core 3GHz) performs a lot better and im talking about current simulations not only shooters.

    on the other hand there is the FM2 plattform and for example the A10 5800k really kicks some ass when its comes to a cheap TINY itx allround gaming pc (with picu psu for example). WITHOUT discrete graphics card. other than that im sorry there is not so much AMD can offer at the moment.

    and really im not intel fanboy ...

    Honourable Mention:
    FX-4300

    i wish that would have been the i5 killer but unfortunately its just not there... competing with an intel dual core cpu :( 

    The way it is we have quite the odd battle AMD quadcore vs Intel dualcore in the same price range... which makes decision not so easy because yes sometime soon there might be really no place anymore for a dual core in gaming but right now there is.