Desktop CPU Ladder
Compare Intel Core and AMD Ryzen CPUs by tier, performance, power and value.
Local & private by design
| # | CPU | Tier | Game | Multi | TDP | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intel Core i9-15900KIntel | S | 100 | 100 | 253W | $649 |
| 2 | AMD Ryzen 9 10950X3DAMD | S | 99 | 98 | 170W | $699 |
| 3 | AMD Ryzen 7 10800X3DAMD | A+ | 98 | 76 | 120W | $449 |
| 4 | AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3DAMD | S | 96 | 96 | 170W | $599 |
| 5 | AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3DAMD | A+ | 95 | 78 | 120W | $429 |
| 6 | Intel Core i7-15700KIntel | A+ | 94 | 88 | 230W | $419 |
| 7 | Intel Core i9-14900KIntel | S | 93 | 92 | 253W | $549 |
| 8 | AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3DAMD | A+ | 92 | 90 | 120W | $419 |
| 9 | AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3DAMD | A | 91 | 70 | 120W | $359 |
| 10 | Intel Core i7-14700KIntel | A | 90 | 84 | 253W | $399 |
| 11 | Intel Core i5-15500KIntel | A | 88 | 74 | 182W | $309 |
| 12 | AMD Ryzen 5 10600XAMD | A | 86 | 62 | 105W | $279 |
| 13 | Intel Core i5-14600KIntel | B+ | 84 | 70 | 181W | $299 |
| 14 | AMD Ryzen 7 7700XAMD | B+ | 82 | 66 | 105W | $289 |
| 15 | Intel Core i5-13600KIntel | B | 80 | 66 | 181W | $249 |
| 16 | AMD Ryzen 5 7600XAMD | B | 78 | 56 | 105W | $219 |
| 17 | Intel Core i5-12400FIntel | C | 68 | 48 | 65W | $129 |
| 18 | AMD Ryzen 5 5500AMD | C | 60 | 42 | 65W | $109 |
Scores are normalized to a 100-point scale across modern desktop CPUs (August 2026 snapshot, including Intel Nova Lake and AMD Zen 6). Use for relative comparison, not absolute FPS — pair with the GPU FPS Estimator for real numbers.
Why a CPU ladder beats a benchmark chart
Benchmark charts rank chips by a single number. That is fine for a shootout, but useless when you are deciding whether to spend $200 or $400 on a CPU for your workload. A 16-core productivity monster can lose to a 6-core gaming chip in your favorite shooter, and a value king at $200 can become a bad deal at $280 when a sale hits.
The Desktop CPU Ladder ranks Intel Core and AMD Ryzen chips across four axes — gaming performance, multi-core throughput, power draw, and value (perf-per-dollar) — so you can pick the chip that fits your build, not the one that won a benchmark. Runs locally, no signup, instant.
How the tool works
Each CPU in the ladder carries a normalized score on four dimensions:
- Gaming score — weights single-thread speed, cache (especially X3D chips), and memory latency. Reflects 1080P average FPS in a basket of AAA and esports titles.
- Multi-core score — full-thread Cinebench-style throughput. Matters for rendering, compiling, video encode and streaming.
- Power (watts) — full-load package power. Lower is better; chips that pull 250W need serious cooling and a beefy PSU (use the PC Wattage Calculator).
- Value — performance-per-dollar at typical street price. Updates are based on common North American retail bands.
Sort by any column. Filter by Intel, AMD, or both. Hover for the underlying spec sheet — cores, threads, base/boost clock, cache, TDP, socket.
Step-by-step usage
- Pick what you care about. Gaming? Sort by Gaming. Rendering? Sort by Multi-core. Budget build? Sort by Value.
- Filter by brand if you have a preference — some builders stick to AMD or Intel for motherboard reuse.
- Compare two or three side by side. The tool highlights where each chip wins.
- Cross-check power draw against your cooling and PSU. A 253W Intel chip needs a different build than a 65W Ryzen.
- Check the GPU tier you plan to pair it with. A top CPU with a mid GPU at 4K is wasted; the Hardware Load Bottleneck Detector tells you if the pairing makes sense.
Common hardware problems this tool solves
- "I upgraded my CPU and my FPS did not move" — you were GPU-bound at your resolution, not CPU-bound. The ladder would have flagged the GPU as the limiter.
- "My CPU hits 100°C under load" — you bought a 250W chip on a 120mm cooler. The power column would have warned you.
- "My game stutters with Chrome open" — you went too few cores for a streaming-plus-gaming workload. The multi-core score reveals the gap.
- "I overspent on a CPU and skimped on the GPU" — common mistake. The Value column rebalances the budget.
For deeper fault guides, browse the CPU fix hub.
Pro tips for DIY builders
- X3D chips dominate gaming. AMD's Ryzen 7 7800X3D (and successors) top most gaming ladders thanks to the extra L3 cache. The gap is real, not marketing.
- More cores do not mean more FPS. Games rarely use more than 6–8 well. For pure gaming, a fast 6-core beats a slow 16-core. For productivity, flip the script.
- Last-gen flagships are value steals. A one-gen-old flagship often drops 30–40% in price and keeps 90%+ of the performance. Great buys for budget builds.
- Match the CPU to the resolution. 1080P favors the CPU; 4K favors the GPU. A mid CPU + top GPU is fine at 4K; a top CPU + mid GPU is wasted at 4K.
- Power matters for the rest of the build. A 65W chip fits any cooler and a modest PSU. A 250W chip forces you into a big cooler, a big PSU and a well-ventilated case.
Buy the chip that fits your workload and the rest of your build, not the one at the top of a single benchmark. The ladder exists to make that decision a 30-second one.