Differentiating all the Processors.

[TristanForthe]

So there are TONS of different processors to choose from when building your computer.

I was wondering if there is any easy way to differentiate all the different processors, there's AMD based, Intel based, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 core processors and probably more that I don't even know of.

I know the basic ones, or at least what I would think would be the most known processors, which would be Intel's i3's, i5's, and i7's, then there are extreme versions, dual core extreme's, etc etc. Those are pretty easy to differentiate between which one would be better, but then we have stuff like Intel Pentium, Intel Xeon, Intel Celeron, and probably more Intel's that I don't even know about.

Is there something like a complete list of Intel processors somewhere or something of the sort? I just don't know where to start learning about all the different processors, and which ones are better, and why they're better etc etc.

Same with AMD-based processors, there are a lot of different AMD processors I've heard of but I have no idea of all the different categories and which ones are better, same as before, is there a list of AMD processors that I could go through, I just don't know where to start.

Same with Graphic's Cards, but that is for a different forum category.

PS, I'm quite new to this site, so if maybe this question has already been answered or something similar, or maybe there's something just like what I am looking for on this website i just don't know about, if you could point me in that direction that would be great. Thanks for any help.

 

[4745454b]

How much time do you want to dedicate to this? You could sit down with Tom's, Anandtech, etc and start reading a lot of reviews and study whats inside of CPUs and how it can change their speed, etc. This will take a long time. If this is for gaming then you could read the best gaming CPUs for the money articles that Tom's put out. While geared towards gaming most other tasks go along similar lines and its not a bad place to start. This takes just a bit time. Finally, you could just post on here saying what tasks you need it to do and your budget. Takes no time at all.

 

[TristanForthe]

How much time do you want to dedicate to this? You could sit down with Tom's, Anandtech, etc and start reading a lot of reviews and study whats inside of CPUs and how it can change their speed, etc. This will take a long time. If this is for gaming then you could read the best gaming CPUs for the money articles that Tom's put out. While geared towards gaming most other tasks go along similar lines and its not a bad place to start. This takes just a bit time. Finally, you could just post on here saying what tasks you need it to do and your budget. Takes no time at all.

I'd be willing to put in any time needed, I'm very much into learning about all the different types of processors and stuff like that, I'd just like to know where I can start, and where I can finish.

 

[IAMEXTREME]

Well the simplest possible answer of such a detailed topic you have pointed out is,

My friend, Intel or AMD series, we don't care. As long as the processor performs well in all areas of testing/load/conditions, regardless the series, we recommend that to the people who seek the guidance.
Most important factor of selecting a cpu is, your budget and requirement. Mostly people like to game, some are to build a workstation etc.
So in the end it all comes to you. What do you want from a processor. This differentiates a processor from another processor.

 

[4745454b]

If you want to know about how CPUs work the first place I'd suggest is the CPU wiki. Reply or make a new post about anything you don't understand or want confirmation on. Then just start reading CPU articles.

For the most part each company makes it semi simple. Dual cores, celerons, etc are low end. i3 < i5 < i7. Higher numbers generally mean better performance. 4170 < 6300 < 8150, etc. The hard part is comparing the AMD to Intel CPUs. For that you have to look at benchmarks. Which is why sites like Tom's and Anandtech exist.

 

[TristanForthe]

Well the simplest possible answer of such a detailed topic you have pointed out is,

My friend, Intel or AMD series, we don't care. As long as the processor performs well in all areas of testing/load/conditions, regardless the series, we recommend that to the people who seek the guidance.
Most important factor of selecting a cpu is, your budget and requirement. Mostly people like to game, some are to build a workstation etc.
So in the end it all comes to you. What do you want from a processor. This differentiates a processor from another processor.

Well, I am a gamer. But that's not completely what I'm looking to find out. I also would like to be able to see a processor and know, oh that processor runs ___ this well, and this series of processors is better than it, and this series is a little worse but a lot cheaper, etc etc. I think that could be achieved pretty easily by just having a list of the different, for lack of a better word, series of processors. For example, Intel Xeon's, Intel Celeron's, Intel i3's, Intel i5's, etc and same with AMD.

Preferably in order from best to worst or vice versa, if such a list even exists, which I would think one does.

 

[TristanForthe]

If you want to know about how CPUs work the first place I'd suggest is the CPU wiki. Reply or make a new post about anything you don't understand or want confirmation on. Then just start reading CPU articles.

For the most part each company makes it semi simple. Dual cores, celerons, etc are low end. i3 < i5 < i7. Higher numbers generally mean better performance. 4170 < 6300 < 8150, etc. The hard part is comparing the AMD to Intel CPUs. For that you have to look at benchmarks. Which is why sites like Tom's and Anandtech exist.

Alright, that is partially what I'm looking for. What you said, 4170, 6300, 8150, are those AMD based series of processors, kind of like Intel has i3's i5's and i7's?

That's pretty much what I'm looking to find out, the different categories each processor is kept in, and which one is the worst up to which one is the best, knowing the different categories should make it easy to differentiate how good a processor is in comparison to another.

 

[4745454b]

Yes, those are AMD CPUs.

I wouldn't worry about Xeons and what not to much. The only real way to know what you are asking however is to ask "Is X faster then Y", or just start reading benchmarks.

Edit: Just remembered the Anand CPU bench tool. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/2

 

[blade of grass]

If you want to find a complete lineup of Intel processors, Intel's Ark contains all their information.
You can also look at CPU Benchmark for processor scores to compare.