AMD PROCSSOR HISTORY SERIES

That means no server processors and no High-End Desktop (HEDT) processors either-so we won't be looking at either Threadrippers or the late model XE series Intel parts.Įven for someone like myself who lived through this entire period as a system builder, it's a giant pain in the butt assembling a list like this-let alone matching test results. Launch of AMD's Zen architecture, return of the Intel hex-core desktop CPUĪMD's Zen 2 architecture launches, Intel whiffs hard in the performance segmentĪMD's Zen 3 finally crushes Intel's long-held single-threaded performance recordĪlthough both Intel and AMD obviously launch a wide array of processors for different price points and target markets each year, we're limiting ourselves to the fastest desktop or 'enthusiast' processor from each year. Strictly speaking, 2016 was an Intel whiff-Kaby Lake didn't actually launch until January 2017 AMD releases low-power APUs, but no successor to FX-9590 Intel's 5th generation Core dies stillborn. Intel abandons hex-core desktop CPUs-but few miss them, due to large single-threaded gainsĪMD's underwhelming FX-9590 launches-and it's Team Red's last enthusiast CPU for four long years Intel and AMD both introduce hex-core desktop CPUs Intel and AMD both launch the first true quad-core desktop CPUs Intel takes the undisputed performance lead here-and keeps it for a decade straight. Twenty years of enthusiast computing Year While we're at it, there are a couple of irregularities in the data we'll discuss those also and talk about the things that a simple chart won't show you. We thought it would be interesting to dive into archived performance benchmarks of the fastest desktop/enthusiast CPUs for each company to get a good overview of how each has really done over the years-and perhaps to even see if there are patterns to be gleaned or to make some bets about the future.īefore we dive into charts, let's start out with some tables-that way, you can see which CPUs we're using as milestones for each year. There's been no shortage of opinions about the current raw performance of each company's fastest processors, either.

The comment wars between Intel and AMD fans have been hot for the last few release cycles, with a lot of digital ink spilled about which company has-or has not-improved significantly over the years.

Amd procssor history