59-Way CPU Roundup

"The conclusions are not quite pleasant for buyers of top-end processors. The slowest CPU in our list is about 25 times cheaper than the fastest, even if we disregard Xeon 5500 (we've never used its ability to work in dual-CPU configurations which takes a large part of this processor's price). But the performance difference is just a bit more than 2.5 times. In other words, if we consider the slowest CPU as 100%, 25 times more cash will get you another 150% of performance. Funny thing is that the first 100% of that additional performance will cost you $100. The next hundred bucks will only get you 10% of the additional performance. The last 10% will cost you about $500. Nice, huh. Such non-linear price-performance ratio is why only 7% of buyers choose processors for less than $80 (there's not sense in saving that much), and why only 3% of buyers choose processors for more than $200 (price isn't adequate to performance)."