The numbers are in from Newegg—here’s a list of the 20 top CPUs for businesses that built PCs and workstations in 2016. Like I did in 2015, this list will compare CPUs by ranking them by total units sold, as well as revenues. This gives a fair idea where NeweggBusiness customers saw best value for CPUs this year.
To clarify again, these CPU sales rankings are for NeweggBusiness, so these represent computer parts that we hot for organizational system building. Ostensibly, we’re not talking about PC gaming builds, unless, who knows, engineers and digital artists are using them to play Overwatch on lunch break.
Alright—let’s get into the top processors!
Top CPUs of 2016 – Newegg best-sellers to organizations (ranked by units sold)
| Rank | CPU | Cores | Threads | Base Clock (GHz) |
| 1 | Intel Core i7 6700K | 4 | 8 | 4.0 |
| 2 | AMD FX-6300 | 6 | 6 | 3.5 |
| 3 | Intel Core i5 6500 | 4 | 4 | 3.2 |
| 4 | Intel Core i7 4790K | 4 | 8 | 4.0 |
| 5 | AMD FX-8350 | 8 | 8 | 4.0 |
| 6 | Intel Core i5 4460 | 4 | 4 | 3.2 |
| 7 | Intel Core i7 6700 | 4 | 8 | 3.4 |
| 8 | Intel Core i5 6400 | 4 | 4 | 2.7 |
| 9 | Intel Core i7 5820K | 6 | 12 | 3.3 |
| 10 | Intel Core i5 6600K | 4 | 4 | 3.5 |
| 11 | Intel Core i5 6600 | 4 | 4 | 3.3 |
| 12 | Intel Core i7 4790 | 4 | 4 | 3.6 |
| 13 | Intel Core i7 5960X | 8 | 16 | 3.0 |
| 14 | Intel Core i7 5930K | 6 | 12 | 3.5 |
| 15 | Intel Xeon E5 2620V4 | 8 | 16 | 2.1 |
| 16 | Intel Xeon E5 2620V3 | 6 | 12 | 2.4 |
| 17 | Intel Core i7 6800K | 6 | 12 | 3.4 |
| 18 | Intel Xeon E5 2687 | 6 | 12 | 3.0 |
| 19 | Intel Xeon E5 2660V3 | 10 | 20 | 2.6 |
| 20 | Intel Xeon E5 2680V3 | 12 | 24 | 2.5 |
Top CPUs of 2016 – Newegg best sellers to organizations (ranked by total revenues)
| Rank | CPU |
| 1 | Intel Core i7 6700K |
| 2 | Intel Core i7 4790K |
| 3 | Intel Core i7 5960X |
| 4 | Intel Core i7 5820K |
| 5 | Intel Core i7 6700 |
| 6 | Intel Core i5 6500 |
| 7 | Intel Core i7 5930K |
| 8 | Intel Core i5 4460 |
| 9 | Intel Xeon E5 2687V4 |
| 10 | AMD FX-8350 |
| 11 | Intel Core i5 6600K |
| 12 | AMD FX-6300 |
| 13 | Intel Core i7 4790 |
| 14 | Intel Core i5 6400 |
| 15 | Intel Xeon E5 2620V4 |
| 16 | Intel Xeon E5 2620V3 |
| 17 | Intel Xeon E5 2660V3 |
| 18 | Intel Core i5 6600 |
| 19 | Intel Xeon E5 2680V3 |
| 20 | Intel Core i7 6800K |
Best CPUs of 2016: Takeaways & Analysis
Look at you, AMD! Personally, I did not expect to see AMD FX-6300 in the two spot, let alone two AMD FX-series CPUs in the top five. That’s a lesson to never underestimate the value of a value processor, especially for business customers. “Those AMDs use an old motherboard and chipset, but prices keep dropping,” explains Newegg merchandizer Michael Tran. “Funny, but I think they’ll stick around even in 2017.”
Intel outsold AMD seven to one. Dominance in the number one spot held by the unlocked Skylake Intel Core i7 6700K drove a good chunk of the category. “The price point for the 6700k hits the right spot,” Tran says. “Customers found lots of bang for the buck there.” The Broadwell-E 6800K made the top 20, but its X99 motherboards cost significantly more. Of course, when it comes to server machines and high end workstations, Intel Xeon has the market locked down—at least for now.
Find resources and more information about Intel and AMD processors on HardBoiled’s CPU Buying Guide
- The proper way to compare AMD cores vs Intel cores and threads
- The most trusted CPU benchmarking site according to our calculations.
Head to NeweggBusiness.com to learn, search, find, and compare CPUs for desktop, workstation and server business systems.
