The Best CPUs For Your Money: December 2011

 

 

The new Sandy Bridge-E based Intel Core i7-3930K and Core i7-3960X in their retails boxes. Note how the boxes are thinner than previous series, this is due to the fact that they don't come with a stock CPU cooler.

New CPUs launches:

From Intel:

Intel launched their Sandy Bridge-E CPUs, with the new X79 chipset platform and the LGA 2011 socket, meaning that they are not compatible with Intel’s LGA1155 or LGA1366 platform.
What do those new CPUs and new chipset bring to the table? A Quad-channel memory controller, 40 PCI-Express 3.0-capable lanes as well as improved performance of course!

The Sandy Bridge-E line-up:

1. The top of the line Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition, a 3.3GHz-3.9Ghz Turbo six-core with Hyper-Threading beast with 15MB of L3 cache and an unlocked multiplier, with a MSRP of $990, but currently selling for $1050.
2. The Core i7-3930K, a 3.2GHz-3.8GHz Turbo six-core with 12MB of L3 cache CPU being the non “Extreme-Edition” more affordable six-core with Hyper-Threading offering, with a MSRP price of $550, but selling for $600-650 due to limited availability and lack of competition.
3. The Core i7-3820, a 3.6-3.9GHz Turbo Quad-Core with Hyper-Threading CPU and 10MB of L3 cache, which will be available early next year at a yet undisclosed MSRP. Intel confirmed that it will have a 45x multiplier ceiling, six bins above its highest Turbo setting, so you should be able to overclock it by a maximum of 600MHz.

Needless to say, they are the best performing CPUs available on the desktop market and both the Core i7-3930K and the Core i7-3960X are recommended in this guide.
However, if your main usage with your PC is gaming, unless you already have high-end video cards, you’re better off with a Core i5-2500 or the Core i7-2600.
How come? Simply put, while the Core i7-3960X does offer superior performance to the Core i5-2500 or i7-2600 in games, it either finishes about on par with the i5-2500/i7-2600 or ahead by 10-15%, hardly enough to justify spending $350/450 or $750/850 more on the CPU alone. The Core i5-2500 or i7-2600 will cost you a good $350/$450 less than the “affordable” Core i7-3630K, leaving you money to buy better video cards, more RAM, a SSD, etc.
Not convinced? See for yourself, at the Gaming performance page of the Core i7-3960X review by AnandTech.
For HTPCs, you’re also better off with a Sandy-Bridge CPUs, due to their power consumption being much lower than Sandy-Bridge E CPUs. Also, SB-E CPUs don’t have an integrated graphic processor (IGP), requiring you to use a dedicated video card.
For Workstations however, those new Core i7-3960X and Core i7-3930K offer phenomenal performance and are highly recommended if you can afford them. You’ll see them recommended in our Mainstream Workstations when they get updated later this month.
For a full review of the Core i7-3960X, I invite you to read AnandTech’s review of the Core i7-3960X.
In other words, I recommend these CPUs only if:

1. You run audio/photo/video or heavy multi-threaded programs that scale well on 6-cores
2. You’re building an high-end Gaming PCs and already have high-end video cards.
3. You’re an enthusiast who’s want only the best that money can buy.

If all you want are performance charts to judge results by yourself, here’s:

1. The Core i7-3960X V.S. the Core i5-2500
2. The Core i7-3960X V.S. the Core i7-2600
3. The Core i7-3960X V.S. the FX-8150

Price cuts:

1. The Intel Pentium G620 saw its price go down from $73 in November, to $57 in December, a $16 price drop.
2. The Intel Core i3-2120 saw its price go down from $140 in November, to $128 in December, a $12 price drop.

From AMD:

Launched last month: AMD Bulldozer:
AMD launched the AMX FX line-up of CPUs, also commonly known as “Bulldozer”, back in October. Unfortunately, its performance is rather lackluster, with the fastest part, the 8-core 3.6GHz FX-8150 struggling to compete with Intel’s Core i5-2500 in most cases, let alone to the new Core i7-3xxx Sandy-Bridge E CPUs.
Performance is particularly bad in video games, where the FX-8150 has trouble outperforming the previous generation Phenom II processors, when it doesn’t fall behind them performance wise. Needless to say, the Core i5 and i7 processors are miles ahead when it comes to gaming performance.
With heavily threaded workloads, the FX-8150 is able to keep up with the Core i5-2500, or the Core i7-2600 and even outperform the Core i7-2600 in some cases. However, the FX line-up is quite simply horrible when it comes to single-threaded performance, falling behind Phenom II processors.
Power consumption wise, the FX-8150 does well at idle, with figures close to the Core i5 and i7. The problem is, at load, it consumes nearly 100W more than the Core i5-2500!
Pricing wise, as of November 29th, on Newegg, we have the 3.6GHz 8-core FX-8150 at $269, the 3.1GHz 8-core FX-8120 at $209, the 3.3GHz 6-core FX-6100 at $159 and the 3.6GHz 4-core FX-4100 for $119. Considering that the $269 FX-8150 falls behind the ~$200 Core i5-2500 in the majority of scenarios, I cannot recommend the FX-8150, FX-8120 nor the FX-6100, as they priced above or slightly under the more powerful Core i5-2400/2500. The FX-4100 is priced too close to the Core i3-2120, which easily outperforms the FX-4100.
As for the FX-4100, Techspot overclocked it to 4.2GHz to simulate the future FX-4170 and even then, its performance just fails to impress, as it couldn’t keep with the Phenom II processors in many cases.
In the end, AMD’s FX processors, at their current prices, simply aren’t competitive, whether you compare them to Intel’s Core i3/i5/i7 line-up or even AMD’s old Phenom II line-up in some cases. For a full detailed review, I recommend AnandTech’s review of AMD’s FX-8150.
If all you want are performance charts to judge results by yourself, here’s:

1. The FX-8150 V.S. the Core i5-2500
2. The FX-8150 V.S. the Core i7-2600
3. The FX-8150 V.S. the Core i7-3960X

The Best CPU For Your Money?

By that, I mean the CPUs that offer the best performance at a given price.
Why would you want that?
Because You Want:

1. The best bang for the buck
2. The best CPU for your money
3. The highest performance possible!

However, I do realize that not everyone has the time to read detailed CPU reviews nor does everyone can make sense of complex CPU specifications.
This is why I write this guide for you: To help you save your time, sanity and money by doing the research for you and letting you know what are the best CPUs for your money.

Keep in mind:

I’ll use this opportunity to remind you that this article is only a guideline for the prices I’ve seen on December 1st. You’re letting yourself down if you’re not looking for deals when you decide to purchase.

• Prices and availability change everyday. I can’t keep up with accurate pricing everyday, but I can suggest to you great CPUs that you won’t regret buying at the price ranges that I list. If you find what you think is a good deal on a CPU, make sure to compare the CPU against other before making your decision. AnandTech offers this great tool to compare various CPUs in various tests.
• This list is based on the best U.S. prices from NewEgg and/or Amazon on new CPUs. No used, open box or refurbished CPUs are included. While you may be able to score a nice discount, those CPUs come with trade offs, such as limited return policy, limited warranty, etc.

Best CPU for ~$40:

$42- Intel Celeron G530 Dual-Core 2.4GHz

-$4, down from $46 in November 2011 to $42 in December 2011.
Don’t get fooled by the frequencies or the Celeron brand:
The Intel Celeron G530 is based on Intel’s Sandy Bridge architecture and despite running at 2.4GHz, it has no problem outperforming the Athlon II X2 260 3.2GHz in about every application.
Lower power consumption:
On top of outperforming the Athlon II X2 260, the Celeron G530 is also more power efficient, consuming about 22W less at load than the similar Athlon II X2 250, according to XbitLabs.
Lower cost:
Finally, the Intel Celeron G530 only costs $42, versus $65 for the AMD Athlon II X2 260, a $23 advantage for the more powerful and more energy efficient Celeron G530.
Ideal for:
Budget builds, if all you want to do is browse the Internet, watch some videos, listen to some music, do some Office work and the like.

Best CPU for ~$60:

$57 – Intel Pentium G620 Dual Core 2.6 GHz

-$16, down from $73 in November 2011 to $57 in December 2011.
Higher performance than the competition:
In the same price range, we have the Athlon II X2 260 that’s available for $65.
However, the Pentium G620 outperforms it easily in gaming and is usually faster in all applications.
Lower power consumption:
According to AnandTech, the Pentium G620 consumes about 40W less power at load than the Athlon II X2 260.
Lower cost:
Finally, the Intel Pentium G620 only costs $57, versus $65 for the AMD Athlon II X2 260, a $8 advantage for the more powerful and more energy efficient Pentium G620.
Ideal for:
Budget Gaming PCs with a really tight budget.

Best CPU for ~$80:

$83 – Intel Pentium G850 Dual-Core 2.9GHz

-$3, down from $86 in November 2011 to $83 in December 2011.
VS the Competition:
AMD’s similarly priced CPU is the Athlon II X3 455 ($80, Triple-Core 3.3GHz, No L3 cache)
I picked the Intel Pentium G850 over the AMD Athlon II X3 455 because:

1. The Pentium G850 easily outperforms it in gaming and pretty much any applications.
2. The Pentium G850 is way more efficient,consuming 51.8W less at load, according to AnandTech.

Ideal for:
A budget Gaming PC, when you can’t afford the much faster Core i3-2120.
However, if you have $45 more to invest and can afford that Core i3-2120, then by all means, go for it. AnandTech’s bench tool clearly shows how much more powerful the 200MHz slower Core i3-2100 is versus the Pentium G850, so add a tad more of a lead to the Core i3-2100 performance and you’ll get an idea of the performance of the 200MHz faster Core i3-2120, which is only $5 more or so than the Core i3-2100.
Alternatives to consider:
1- The $75 – AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition Triple-Core 2.8GHz – OEM: Based on the Phenom II core, featuring 6MB of L3 cache and running at 2.8GHz, this processor offers tremendous potential for $75.
How so?

1. This is a Black Edition CPU, meaning that it’s multiplier is unlocked, for easier overclocking. If you enjoy overclocking and/or the extra performance that it brings to you, you should definitely consider this CPU.
2. Many (myself included) report being able to unlock this CPU to a full-fledged quad-core Phenom II CPU.

At its stock settings (2.8GHz Triple-Core), the AMD Phenom II X3 720 is slower than the Intel Pentium G850.
Potential to be unlocked to a quad-core CPU:
However its potential lies in the fact that it can be more often than not unlocked to a quad-core processor and in its unlocked multiplier, which allows you to overclock it to your hearts content. Once unlocked, it offers gaming performance about on par to the Pentium G850, while easily outperforming it in the majority of other tasks.
Overclock it to 3.7GHz and you’ll get this kind of performance vs the Pentium G850. Of course, you can overclock it further more if you want and can.
Do note that it’s an OEM CPU, meaning that it does not include a CPU Cooler. Not exactly an issue, considering that you’ll want an after-market CPU Cooler to overclock it anyway. Of course, make sure to use a motherboard with solid voltage delivery, great case ventilation and a solid power supply to ensure that nothings gets in the way of your overclocking desires. If you have no intention of unlocking this CPU and overclocking it, then you shouldn’t be looking at it.
Also note that the Phenom II X3 720 tends to be in short supply, often going out of stock pretty quickly and sometimes being out of stock for weeks, if not months.
2 – The $90 – AMD Phenom II X2 555 3.2GHz Dual-Core 80W 6MB L3 Black Edition AM3 is a similar alternative to the Phenom II X3 720, with the potential of being unlocked to a quad-core CPU and being easy to overclock with its unlocked multiplier.
3 – The $90 – AMD Phenom II X4 925 2.8GHz 6MB L3 Cache Quad-Core – OEM is a $90 2.8GHz Quad-Core with 6MB of L3 cache. So while you don’t get the unlocked multiplier of the Phenom II X2 555, you are assured to have 4 cores with 6MB of L3 cache to begin with. Besides, you can still overclock this processor by raising its base frequency.
Do note that it’s an OEM CPU, meaning that it does not include a CPU Cooler. Not exactly an issue, considering that you’ll want an after-market CPU Cooler to overclock it anyway.

Best CPU for ~$125:

$128 – Intel Core i3-2120 3.3GHz Dual-Core 65W LGA1155

The Core i3-2120 replaces the previously recommended Core i3-2100. Their specifications are identical, except for the fact that the Core i3-2120 runs 200MHz faster, at 3.3GHz compared to the 3.1GHz for the Core i3-2100. The Core i3-2120 is only $5 more than the Core i3-2100.

Don’t let the dual-core part fool you.
Thanks to Hyper-Threading, its high 3.3GHz frequency and the high IPC performance of the SandyBridge architecture, the $128 Core i3-2120 performance is, on average, 13.7% higher than the $120 AMD Phenom II X4 955, when it comes to gaming, according to this Tom’s Hardware article.
Even better, the Core i3-2120 outperforms the Phenom II X4 955 by 25.4% when it comes to minimum frames per second, according to the same Tom’s Hardware article.
In short, it’s the best CPU for $125-150 when it comes to gaming.
One big con: Cannot be overclocked
However, it’s not a perfect CPU. One big con is that you cannot overclock it, since overclocking via the base clock is not really an option with SandyBridge CPUs (You can only raise the base clock by a few MHz before getting stability issues) and also because you cannot overclock via Turbo bins, because it also does not come with Turbo, unlike the Core i5 and i7 CPUs. Overclocking by raising the multiplier is also not an option, since that option is limited to the “K” variant of Core i5 and i7 CPUs, the i5 2500-K and i7 2600K to be exact.
Then again, if you desire either or both of these features, you can simply upgrade to one of the Core i5 or i7 CPUs recommended below.
Overclocking alternative:
While at its default frequency, the $120 – AMD Phenom II X4 955 Quad-Core 3.2GHz Black Edition 125W AM3 is slower than the Core i3-2100, its potential lies in the fact that it’s an excellent choice for overclocking.
Thanks to its unlocked multiplier, overclocking it is relatively easy and once its overclocked to say 3.8-4.0GHz, it will have no problem being on par or outperforming the Core i3-2100 when it comes to gaming and easily outperform it when it comes to picture or video editing..
However, do keep in mind that its a 125W TDP CPU at its default frequency, so to maximize its overclocking potential, you’ll need a serious CPU Cooler, like the Corsair A70 CPU Cooler or one of the better options recommended in the The Best CPU Coolers For Your Money article.
Potential unlock to a six-core CPU alternative:
The $125 – AMD Phenom II X4 960T Black Edition 3.0Ghz Quad-Core is based on the “Zosma” core, the 4-core version of the 6-core “Thuban” core, featuring 6MB of L3 cache and with 4 cores running at 3.0GHz, this processor offers tremendous potential for $125.
How so?

1. This is a Black Edition CPU, meaning that it’s multiplier is unlocked, for easier overclocking. If you enjoy overclocking and/or the extra performance that it brings to you, you should definitely consider this CPU.
2. Many report being able to unlock this CPU to a full-fledged six-core Phenom II CPU.

At its stock settings (3.0GHz Quad-Core), the AMD Phenom II X4 960T is no match for the Core i3-2120. However its potential lies in the fact that it can be more often than not unlocked to a six-core processor and in its unlocked multiplier, which allows you to overclock it to your hearts content.
Once unlocked, it’s still no match for the Core i3-2100 (and even less so for the Core i3-2120) when it comes to gaming performance, but it takes the lead for audio/photo/video editing and other heavily multithreaded workloads.
Overclock it to 3.3GHz and you’ll get this kind of performance vs the Core i3-2100. Of course, you can overclock it further more if you want and can, to get even better performance.

Best CPU for ~$210:

$209 – Intel Core i5-2500 Quad-Core 3.3-3.7GHz (Turbo) 95W LGA1155

A recap on SandyBridge:

Intel current generation of CPUs, known under the codename SandyBridge (SB from here on) is here. Replacing Intel’s LGA1156 Clarkdale (Known as Core i3/i5/i7 3xx, 5xx and 8xx) CPUs, the LGA1155 based SB CPUs (Known as Core i3/i5/i7 i2xxx) bring in a 10%-50% performance improvement and lower power consumption, compared to the previous-generation of LGA1156 Clarkdale CPUs.
Overclocking: With the previous generations of Intel CPUs, to overclock, all you had to do was to raise the BCLK (baseclock) or FSB frequency, until you reach the limit of your CPU and/or motherboard and/or cooling solution.
With SandyBridge, this is no longer the case: the 6-series chipsets integrate the clock generator. What once was a component on the motherboard, the PLL is now on the 6-series chipset die. The integrated PLL feeds a source clock to many other controllers (e.g. SATA) to the CPU itself. The problem will that is if you if you raise the BCLK frequency, you will also raise the frequency of many other controllers and that will cause your PC to crash. So forget overclocking via the BCLK.
To overclock, you’ll want to raise the CPU multiplier. How much you can raise it depends on your CPU:

• If you have a CPU that offers no Turbo mode (e.g. Core i3-2100), then you can’t raise the multiplier at all and thus can’t overclock. In short: Your CPU is completely locked.
• If you have a CPU with Turbo modes (e.g. Core i5-2500), you can overclock, but just a bit, using a motherboard equipped with a P67 or Z68 chipset. In short, you are limited to an overclock of 4 processor bins above and beyond the highest turbo frequency. See the picture below for details.

In the picture above, we’re looking at a Core i5-2500, which runs at 3.3GHz by default. When a single core is active, the chip can turbo up to 3.7GHz. If you want, you can change that turbo state to go as high as 4.1GHz. Overclocking these chips relies entirely on turbo however. In the case above, the fastest your chip will run is 4.1GHz but with only one core active. If you have four cores active the fastest your chip can run is 3.8GHz. Makes sense?

• Finally, there’s the K-series of CPUs, with the Core i5-2500K and Core i7-2600K currently available. These chips are fully unlocked and will let you overclock them as far as the CPU and/or your cooling can sustain.

The Core i5-2500 vs the competition:

Now that I’ve quickly explained SandyBridge (See AnandTech full review of SandyBridge for more details) to you, let’s compare the Core i5-2500 to the competition and let me explain why I picked it as my recommendation.
Compared to the competition: AMD’s most powerful offering now is the FX-8150. I went with the Core i5-2500 for the following reasons:

1. The Core i5-2500 wins the majority of test and is particularly outstanding in video game tests, according to AnandTech.
2. The Core i5-2500 costs $60 less than the FX-8150.
3. The Core i5-2500 uses close to 100W less at load, according to AnandTech.

V.S. the previous generation: Curious to see how Sandybridge performs compared the previous generations of CPUs from Intel and AMD? Check out those charts from AnandTech:

• Core i5-760 V.S. Core i5-2500
• Core i7-870 V.S. Core i7-2600
• Phenom II X4 980BE V.S. Core i5-2500
• Phenom II X4 980BE V.S. Core i7-2600
• Phenom II X6 1100T BE V.S. Core i5-2500
• Phenom II X6 1100T BE V.S. Core i7-2600

Overclocking alternative:
If you want to overclock the Core i5 2500, the $220 – Intel Core i5-2500K Quad-Core 3.3-3.7GHz (Turbo) 95W LGA1155 Unlocked Multiplier K variant is the way to go, with its unlocked multiplier.
Needless to say, you’ll need a serious CPU Cooler, like the Corsair A70 CPU Cooler or one of the better options recommended in the The Best CPU Coolers For Your Money article to get the most out of it.
HTPC/Low-Power Alternative:
If you want a relatively powerful CPU for your HTPC (say for video encoding), the $193 – Intel Core i5-2400S 2.5-3.3GHz (Turbo) 65W LGA1155 is an excellent choice, with its 65W TDP.
It’s also a good choice if you don’t want a noisy PC, thanks to its low heat dissipation. I also recommended taking a look at The Best CPU Coolers For Your Money article for some low-noise CPU Coolers recommendations.

Best CPU for ~$300:

$293 – Intel Core i7-2600 Quad-Core 3.4-3.8GHz (Turbo) 95W LGA1155

While at first, the i7-2600 only appears as a slightly faster upgrade to the i5-2500, there’s more to it. It comes with Hyper-Threading, enabling it to perform significantly faster in heavily threaded workloads, such as video conversions and 3D rendering.
If all you do is gaming though, you’re better off saving your money by going with an i5-2500 or i5-2500K and putting the money that you saved on say, a better video card.
Compared to the competition:
AMD’s most powerful offering now is the FX-8150. I went with the Core i7-2600 for the following reasons:

1. The Core i7-2600 wins the majority of test and is particularly outstanding in video game tests, according to AnandTech.
2. The Core i7-2600 uses close to 75W less at load, according to AnandTech.

Overclocking Alternative:
If you want to overclock the Core i7 2600, the $315 – Intel Core i7-2600K Quad-Core 3.4-3.8GHz (Turbo) 95W LGA1155 Unlocked Multiplier K variant is the way to go, with its unlocked multiplier.
Needless to say, you’ll need a serious CPU Cooler, like the Corsair A70 CPU Cooler or one of the better options recommended in the The Best CPU Coolers For Your Money article to get the most out of it.
Core i7-2700K: To avoid
Intel recently launched the Core i7-2700K, which is basically a Core i7-2600K with a 100MHz speed bump and oh, a $55 price bump too…I do not recommend it, considering that you could simply bump the multiplier up on the Core i7-2600K and save yourself a cool $55.
Cherry-picked CPU with better overclocking potential? Hard to say.
Some say that it overclock better than the Core i7-2600K, being a “cherry-picked” CPU from Intel and being capable of reaching 5GHz more easily and with less voltage. However, those claims are hard to verify and considering that the Core i7-2700K is based on the same stepping as the Core i7-2600K, I’m at best skeptic about those claims. Even if did overclock better than the Core i7-2600K, is an extra 100-200MHz, when you’re running it at 4.6-5.0GHz, really worth an extra $55 over the Core i7-2600K? I’m inclined to say no.

Best CPU for $650:

$650 – Intel Core i7-3930K Sandy Bridge-E Six-Core 3.2GHz-3.8GHz Turbo LGA 2011 Unlocked Multiplier

The 2nd fastest CPU on the market, selling for $400 less than THE fastest CPU on the market, the $1050 Intel Core i7-3960X, which is only clocked 100Mhz higher and features an additional 3MB of L3 cache.
This CPU is the best bang for your buck if you want a CPU based on the Sandy-Bridge E architecture, with 6-cores, quad-channel memory and an unlocked multiplier for overclocking.
Ideal for a Workstation that needs all the CPU processing power that it can get. Overkill for all but the most high-end gaming PCs that are already equipped with high-end video cards.
I recommend this CPU only if:

1. You run audio/photo/video or heavy multi-threaded programs that can take advantage of 6 cores.
2. You’re building/running a high-end Gaming PCs and already have high-end video cards.
3. You’re an enthusiast who’s want only the best that money can buy.

Does not include a CPU Cooler.

Best CPU for $1050:

$1050 – Intel Core i7-3960X EE Sandy Bridge-E Six-Core 3.3GHz-3.9GHz Turbo LGA2011

Simply put, this is THE fastest desktop CPU available on the market.
If money is not a problem, then the newly launched Intel Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition is the fastest desktop CPU currently available on the market, with 6 cores running at 3.3GHz and the Turbo that allows a single core to reach 3.9GHz.
Of course, like the Core i7-3930K above, this CPU features Hyper-Threading, allowing it to handle up to 12 handles.
Unless you’re an enthusiast who’s want only the best that money can buy, I recommend avoiding this CPU, getting the Core i7-3930K instead and saving $400.
Core i7-3960X vs Core i7-3930K:
The only advantages that the Core i7-3960X offers over the Core i7-3930K is a 100MHz higher frequency, which is meaningless when both CPUs offer unlocked multiplier that easily allows you to overclock the Core i7-3930K to match the frequency of the Core i7-3960X and the additional 3MB of L3 cache, which clearly isn’t worth an additional $400 in my opinion.
Of course, that’s only my opinion. If you want THE fastest desktop CPU, this is it.
Does not include a CPU Cooler.

Conclusion

What’s next?

From AMD:

Three upcoming processors:
AMD is expected to launch three more FX processors to complete it’s line-up:
1. The FX-8100, a 95W 8 cores CPU running at 2.8GHz/3.7GHz Turbo.
2. The FX-4170, a 125W 4 cores CPU running at 4.2GHz/4.3GHz Turbo. This will be the CPU within the FX line-up with the highest frequency so far. However, considering that the similar FX-4100 got overclocked to 4.2GHz by Techspot overclocked it to 4.2GHz and even then, its performance just failed to impress, I wouldn’t expect too much from the FX-4170.
3. The FX-B4150, a 95W 4 cores CPU running at 3.8GHz/4.0GHz Turbo.
Prices for those future CPUs is unknown at the moment.
A much needed price cut:
Speaking of prices, I strongly hope that AMD will drop its prices for all its FX CPUs.
Performance, especially gaming performance, doesn’t match to the prices that AMD is currently asking for its processors. AMD is known for offering the best value/best bang for the buck when it comes to CPU. Right now, it fails to do that and it failed at outperforming Intel’s Core i7-2600K. In other words, it’s hard to find any good reason to buy an AMD FX-xxxx processor right now.
Trinity in 2012:
In 2012, we can expect AMD’s Llano successor, Trinity, which according to rumors, will featured “Piledriver” (AMD’s next generation CPU) CPU Cores and a Radeon HD 7xxx GPU. Hopefully Trinity will be more competitive than Llano, which I rarely recommend, considering that you can usually get a better CPU and/or video for a similar price to Llano.
Piledriver in 2012:
We can also expect AMD’s Piledriver, the successor to Bulldozer, in 2012. Rumors predict a 15% performance improvement at the same frequency as Bulldozer, which would be too little to make much of a dent into Intel’s current lead in performance to make much of a difference in my opinion.
If only AMD launched a 32nm “Phenom III”:
Sometimes, I wonder why AMD just didn’t do a 32nm die-shrink of their Phenom II architecture, tweak it to boost IPC performance, raise up the frequency and call it Phenom III. I doubt that it could have been worse than Bulldozer…

From Intel:

3rd member of the Sandy Bridge E CPUs coming early next year:
Intel is expected to launch the Core i7-3820 CPU, a 3.6-3.9GHz Turbo 130W Quad-Core with Hyper-Threading Sandy-Bridge E CPU, sometime early next year. Its high stock frequency on its four cores might make it interesting, depending on what price it will be selling for.
Sandy Bridge successor, Ivy Bridge, planned for April 2012:
Intel will also be launching a new architecture in 2012, codename IvyBridge, which will be compatible with some LGA1155 motherboards, depending on the motherboard manufacturer willingness to support IvyBridge and issue a BIOS update for the motherboard.
Motherboards that offer support for PCI-Express 3.0 should be compatible, but we won’t be 100% sure until Intel confirms this. The latest rumors point to an April 2012 launch.
So far, from what I’ve been seeing, we shouldn’t expect much of a performance boost, but more a reduction in power usage. In other words, Ivy Bridge seems to designed to improve the performance of CPUs in the notebook arena, where limited cooling limits how much heat the CPUs can emit, limiting frequencies and performance.