Processor Gaming Performance vs Price

To go along with my previous post comparing the Left 4 Dead 2 performance of various processor families, I decided to post these two graphs as well. These take the same Left 4 Dead 2 performance test from Tom's Hardware and graphs it against September 27, 2010 prices of each desktop processor that I could find at Newegg.

The first graph is all desktop processors that I could find on Newegg. The second graph is a magnified version of the less expensive processors. I was looking for a good value under $200 and was curious how things looked around $100. It just seems that the goal in this benchmark is something in the 200 fps range which puts you in the $150 to $200 range.

Just like on the last post - one test doesn't completely illustrate the benefits and pitfalls of a particular processor. But, I am considering parts for a computer that I want to build currently and I have to draw the line somewhere and eventually make a decision. I decided that to try to compare processors and prices on several benchmarks is too much work for one computer building decision. This is especially true when a processor like the Core i5-750 is such an obvious choice if I decide to go the Intel route.

Hopefully, this work is of value to someone else that is considering processors to make a similar decision.