Benchmarks

CPU hell. I have been trying to find benchmarks for CPU performance that I can understand without an advanced degreee in computer engineering.

This helps - http://www.cpubenchmark.net/ - from PassMark Software. And I like this one from Tom's Hardware - http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.html.

What's interesting is the faster the chip, the more power it uses and the greater the heat dissipation.