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Intel & AMD Processor Hierarchy

By Chris Angelini NOVEMBER 3, 2015 12:00 PM

34
COMMENTS

Fans of our Best Gaming CPUs for the Money column will recognize the hierarchy chart as a side-by-side
comparison tool designed to help you pick an appropriate processing upgrade. It groups CPUs with
roughly similar gaming performance

into tiers. The top tier contains the highest-performing CPUs

available and gaming performance decreases as you descend.

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 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 on-die
cache or even a specific architecture. We don't have access to every CPU on the market, so some of the
placements are based on the results similar models deliver. Indeed, this hierarchy chart is useful as a
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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.

Perhaps you noticed that we split the former top tier in half, moving a handful of quad-module AMD CPUs
up in the process. Recognizing that a lot of older platforms are going to be paired with graphics
subsystems multiple generations old, we wanted to define the top of our range

to encourage balance

between host processing and complementary GPUs. At this point, anyone with a Sandy Bridge-based Core
i7 would realize a gain from stepping up to Skylake or Haswell-E, for example. And putting AMD's top FX
CPUs next to a handful of Core i7s and those older Core i5s represents an upgrade to their status.
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Intel
AMD
Core i7-3770, -3770K, -3820, -3930K, -3960X, -3970X, -4770, -4771, -4790, -4770K, -4790K, -4820K, -4930K, 4960X, -5775C, -5820K, 5930K, -5960X, -6700K, -6700
Core i5-6600K, ,-6600, -6500, -5675C, -4690K, 4670K, -4590, -4670, -4570, -4460, -4440, -4430, -3570K, -3570, 3550

Core i7-2600, -2600K, -2700K, -965, -975 Extreme, -980X Extreme, -990X Extreme
Core i5-3470, -3450P, -3450, -3350P, -3330, 2550K, -2500K, -2500, -2450P, -2400, -2380P, -2320, -2310, -2300
FX-9590, 9370, 8370, 8350, 8320, 8300, 8150
Core i7-980, -970, -960
Core i7-870, -875K
Core i3-4370, -4360, -4350, -4340, -4170, -4160, -4150, -4130, -3250, -3245, -3240, -3225, -3220, -3210, -2100, 2105, -2120, -2125, -2130
FX-6350, 4350
Phenom II X6 1100T BE, 1090T BE
Phenom II X4 Black Edition 980, 975
Core
Core
Core
Core

i7-860, -920, -930, -940, -950

i5-3220T, -750, -760, -2405S, -2400S
2 Extreme QX9775, QX9770, QX9650
2 Quad Q9650

FX-8120, 8320e, 8370e, 6200, 6300, 4170, 4300

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Phenom II X6 1075T
Phenom II X4 Black Edition 970, 965, 955
A10-6800K, 6790K, 6700, 5800K, -5700, -7700K, -7800, -7850K, 7870K
A8-3850, -3870K, -5600K, 6600K, -7600, -7650K
Athlon X4 651K, 645, 641, 640, 740, 750K, 860K
Core
Core
Core
Core

2 Extreme QX6850, QX6800

2 Quad Q9550, Q9450, Q9400
i5-650, -655K, -660, -661, -670, -680
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, 6500
A6-3650, -3670K, -7400K
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 G3470, G3460, G3450, G3440, G3430, G3420, G3260, G3258, G3250, G3220, G3420, G3430, G2130, G2120,
G2020, G2010, 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

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Pentium G620
Celeron G1630, 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, 370K
A6-5500K
A4-7300, 6400K, 6300, 5400K, 5300, 4400, 4000, 3400, 3300
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

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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

Currently, our hierarchy consists of 13 total tiers. The bottom half of the chart is largely outdated; you'll
notice those CPUs dragging down performance in the latest games, regardless of the graphics card
installed in your PC. If you own a CPU in that range, an upgrade could really take your gaming experience
to another level.
Really, it's the top five tiers or so that remain viable. And in that top half of the chart, an upgrade is
typically worthwhile if it's a least a couple of tiers higher. Otherwise, there's just not enough improvement
to warrant the expense of a fresh CPU, motherboard and memory (not to mention the graphics card and
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to warrant the expense of a fresh CPU, motherboard and memory (not to mention the graphics card and
storage solution

you'd be considering as well).

MORE: Best CPUs

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MORE: Best Motherboards
MORE: How To Build A PC
MORE: All CPU Content
Chris Angelini is Editor Emeritus at Tom's Hardware. Follow him on Twitter and Google+.
Follow us on Facebook, Google+, RSS, Twitter and YouTube.

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Display all 34 comments.

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6 Tzn , November 3, 2015 12:09 PM

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Basically if you are at least on Sandy Bridge you are saved a few years. Yay i have i5-3570s.

6 Eggz , November 3, 2015 12:09 PM

And another CPUs hierarchy chart! Thanks for the update

6 thunderbird32 , November 3, 2015 12:48 PM

My poor old Yorkfield Core 2 is getting really long in the tooth.

6 CaedenV , November 3, 2015 1:37 PM

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Yay! 4 years later and my CPU is still in the 2nd tier (i7 2600 non-K)! I just need to throw a newer GPU in my
system and I think I'll be good for another few years until 4K gaming really becomes a thing.

6 ODuron , November 3, 2015 2:59 PM

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"At this point, anyone with a Sandy Bridge-based Core i7 would realize a gain from stepping up to Skylake or
Haswell-E, for example." OK, my CPU is a 3930K after a few years it's sitting at the tops of the charts. I was
thinking there should be a chart that compares CPU's and features. One chart could compare the i7 series say
from the i7 2600 to the new i7 6700K. I'm looking to upgrade to the Z170 chipset, but is it worth it?

6 XxD34THxX , November 3, 2015 4:27 PM

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I still have a E5300... RIP

6 Pareja , November 3, 2015 4:37 PM

I'm from Brasil, sorry for my bad english. I think you can make a better list, divide it in more tiers. For example:
I know that FX 6300 it's more powerfull than mine Athlon II x4 640, (twice) in all that i have read.
In your's GPU hierarchy Chart the same hapens, mine HD 7750 it's twice faster than GTS 250 and the two
cards are in the same tier in the chart.
Thanks in advance.

6 vern72 , November 3, 2015 5:35 PM

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Yay! One of my CPUs is still viable (barely). The other CPU is nearly dropping off the bottom.

6 cdabc123 , November 3, 2015 8:56 PM

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c'mon you got to throw some xeons on that list. they are becoming more popular chips and preform extremely
well. my old x5677 setup can still preform within the 2nd tier.

6 cdabc123 , November 3, 2015 8:56 PM

-5

Hide

c'mon you got to throw some xeons on that list. they are becoming more popular chips and preform extremely
well. my old x5677 setup can still preform within the 2nd tier.

6 Hellowalkman , November 4, 2015 7:10 AM

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next update when Zen releases

6 blazorthon , November 4, 2015 9:17 AM

Quote:

c'mon you got to throw some xeons on that list. they are becoming more popular chips and preform
extremely well. my old x5677 setup can still preform within the 2nd tier.

They perform the same as an i5 or i7 (depending on the Xeon having HTT or not) of the same architecture
and frequency. Sure, they could be added, but it would be a little redundant.

6 jeyman , November 4, 2015 11:25 AM

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Good to see my antique i7-3770k and my wife's i5-2500k (although not on the list, but close enough) still are
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contenders. The world moves on, but with those two overclocked to 4.5Ghz, I don't really have much call to
upgrade until they die. Some of the best CPU money I have ever spent given the longevity. My pair of 7970's
are getting a little old too but still hold their own just fine. Until 4k gaming becomes a norm, and this whole GSync/FreeSync thing gets cleared up, I see no serious need for a change. This has been an oddly quiet and
somewhat refreshing period of time in PC building. The only major changes in the mainstream have been in the
adoption, growth, and price per GB of SSDs.

6 Robert Cook , November 4, 2015 7:18 PM

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I feel the Phenom II X6 1100T should be second tier not third. If you get a good board and spend thirty
minutes overclocking, it will get rather close to a 3770. Also, all the X4 BEs should be in the same category,
as they all overclock very well, and inevitably reach about the same speeds.

6 aoe21 , November 5, 2015 2:49 PM

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So according to your charts the i5 3550 and 3570 are faster gaming cpus than the i7 2600K and 2700K and
belong to a higher tier??

6 W32BenN , November 6, 2015 3:40 AM

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There might be a minor typo in the fourth tier:

Core i5-3220T
Is this the i3-3220T? If so, pretty good showing for a low TDP chip.

6 CyranD , November 6, 2015 1:13 PM

It took 7 years but my i7 965 finally been knock down to the second tier.
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6 Valantar , November 8, 2015 9:05 AM

Hide

Quote:
Good to see my antique i7-3770k and my wife's i5-2500k (although not on the list, but close enough)
still are contenders. The world moves on, but with those two overclocked to 4.5Ghz, I don't really have
much call to upgrade until they die. Some of the best CPU money I have ever spent given the longevity.
My pair of 7970's are getting a little old too but still hold their own just fine. Until 4k gaming becomes a
norm, and this whole G-Sync/FreeSync thing gets cleared up, I see no serious need for a change. This
has been an oddly quiet and somewhat refreshing period of time in PC building. The only major changes
in the mainstream have been in the adoption, growth, and price per GB of SSDs.

If those are antiques, what is my Q9450? I have to say, it keeps up with the Fury X I bought thus summer
more than well enough (at 2560*1440). A bit bottlenecked, sure, but it'll do until I see how Xen does next
year.

6 XxD34THxX , November 8, 2015 9:07 AM

Hide

Hide

You think the i7-3770k and i5-2500k is antique? Look at my E5300... I don't even see it on the list.

6 Robert Cook , November 8, 2015 5:38 PM

I got a 1802 RCA processor, I think it is probably tier two if I overclock....
after all sub 1MHz is super fast... for 1978....

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