Intel is currently dominating the high end of the price-to-performance rankings on PassMark in a way that would have seemed unlikely just a few years ago. According to the latest leaderboard, Intel holds seven of the top ten spots when CPU performance is compared directly against price.
AMD holds the top spots—but with caveats
AMD technically occupies the first two positions in the rankings. However, those results require a bit of context.
One of the leading entries comes from a AMD Ryzen 5 model that is benefiting from heavy clearance discounts. The other top position belongs to a AMD EPYC chip whose listed price likely reflects used or refurbished market listings rather than new retail pricing.
Because of that, the Ryzen 5’s strong position is largely driven by its unusually low price, not because it competes directly with newer mid-range or high-end desktop CPUs in raw performance.
Intel dominates across multiple price levels
In contrast, Intel’s presence across the top ten is much more consistent. The rankings include a mix of newer Intel Core Ultra processors and older Intel Core chips.
These processors appear close together in the price-performance charts without relying on clearance-level discounts. That results in a leaderboard where Intel performs well across several price tiers, rather than relying on a few exceptional bargains.
AMD’s higher-core chips lose value when price is considered
Further down the chart, AMD’s high-core-count desktop processors fall behind when price efficiency is factored in. Although many of these CPUs deliver excellent raw benchmark scores, their higher retail prices reduce their overall value ranking.
Outside of the discounted entries near the top, much of AMD’s mainstream desktop lineup currently trails Intel when measured by performance per dollar.
Interpreting PassMark’s leaderboard
It’s also important to understand how the PassMark chart works. The ranking blends together:
- Current retail CPUs
- Discounted clearance products
- Non-standard listings, including used or refurbished parts
Because of this, not every high ranking necessarily reflects the typical price buyers will encounter when purchasing new hardware.
Even with those caveats, the overall pattern is still clear: Intel occupies most of the highest value positions using modern CPUs that are widely available at standard retail prices.
Value advantage currently favors Intel
AMD’s strongest results in the value rankings tend to come from older processors or temporary discounts, which limits how representative they are for new system builds.
For buyers primarily focused on maximum performance for their money, the current PassMark data suggests that Intel offers more consistent value across its desktop CPU lineup.
AMD still competes strongly at the very high end and during special sales, but overall, the balance of everyday price-to-performance value currently appears to favor Team Blue.
