A Intel were unchallenged until 2020 when AMD claimed the lead.

Effective Speed Comparison

Gaming is by far the most demanding CPU activity for most users. CPU Effective Speed is calibrated to estimate differences in EFps between PCs. We publish EFps data, with source video footage, for hundreds of PC configurations using replicable gameplay in the world’s most popular games.

AMD's 5000 series launch event

Relative Gaming Performance (Source: AMD, Oct 2020)

5900X
10900K
3900XT

During AMD's 5000 series launch presentation, 1080p game benchmarks were presented for their new 5900X the 3900XT and Intel's 10th Gen i9-10900K. Footage of the gameplay was omitted, so third party validation is not possible.

AMD's figures: 5900X 7% faster than 10900K

LOLPUBGDOTA2F1BFVTWTKCSGOSOTTRFCNDAOTSAvg.
21%5%6%6%-3%1%19%6%2%5%6.8%

AMD's figures: 10900K around 19% faster than 3900XT

A simple calculation using AMD's results shows that the 10900K outperforms the 3900XT by around 19% in gaming:

LOLPUBGDOTA2F1BFVTWTKCSGOSOTTRFCNDAOTSAvg.
5900X v 10900K†21%5%6%6%-3%1%19%6%2%5%6.8%
5900X v 3900XT†50%33%24%24%5%6%46%28%22%19%25.7%
10900K v 3900XT‡29%28%18%18%8%5%27%22%20%14%18.9%

†Source: AMD - Where Gaming Begins (8 October 2020) ‡Calculated

Intel's 10th Gen resoundingly beat AMD's 3000 series

AMD's figures show that Intel's 10th Gen CPUs are around 19% faster for gaming than AMD's 3000 series. This is a remarkable admission given the overwhelmingly pro-gaming narrative that accompanied the 3000 series marketing campaign. UserBenchmark’s Effective Speed marks Intel's lead at just 14%.

AMD outsold Intel whilst Intel was 15% faster

Between 2017 and 2021 AMD's market capitalization increased from $10 billion to $110 billion. Marketers (youtube, reddit, forums etc.) shared in this success by persuading PC gamers to buy AMD CPUs whilst downplaying Intel's performance lead. Intel's marketing team remain asleep at the wheel.

AMD's 5000 series is competitive with Intel's 10th Gen

AMD's tests, with their own choice of games, marked their 5900X 7% faster than the 10900K. Benchmark footage, game settings and hardware details were not provided.

UserBenchmark's Effective Speed marks the 5900X 1% faster than the 10900K. Effective Speed is calibrated to EFps game data which is generated using retail hardware in our lab with replicable scenes from five of the world's most popular games.

Intel's 11-12th Gen is 3-13% faster than AMD's 5000 series


The Best.
CPUGPUSSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $279Nvidia RTX 4060 $300Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $134Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $184Nvidia RTX 4070 $409Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52
HDDRAMUSB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $40SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $35Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $43SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $51G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16
If you make a purchase via one of these links, our site may earn a commission
Today's hottest deals
About  •  User Guide  •  FAQs  •  Email  •  Privacy  •  Developer  •  YouTube Feedback