Gaming Performance by Processor Family

I just read Mike Magee's column from the September 2010 issue of Computer Power User (CPU) about how difficult it is for typical computer shoppers to differentiate between the different processors and processor families available today.

It got me thinking and I put together a couple of little graphs comparing the performance of current processor families in a Left 4 Dead 2 benchmark run and published by Tom's Hardware. The benchmark is conducted at 1680 x 1050 screen resolution and medium settings.

I'm not sure how great this test is but I have found it useful in determining that the Core i5-750 and some of the Phenom II X4 processors are pretty good bargins for gamers based on current prices at Newegg.

If you find the picture hard to read, click on it to open it up and click on it again to open it full size. You can make out most of the processor family names that are container in the boxes on the graph.

The higher on the graph a particular box goes, the higher the framerate of that family of processors in this game test.