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A new computer means faster performance, right? Maybe not. The latest benchmark scores reveal that average CPU performance among users is starting to stagnate.
The data comes from PassMark Software, which has offered PC benchmark testing tools since 1998. On Tuesday, the company published a graph tracking the average CPU performance scores submitted over a 20-year period from Windows machines.
As expected, the graph shows that aggregate CPU performance over the past two decades has been on an upward trend for both desktops and laptops. However, that changed when comparing benchmark scores from 2024 to 2025.
"So this is unexpected. Average CPU performance in 2025 is going down. Maybe [the] first time in history?" PassMark tweeted .
PassMark speculates that more people are buying "cheaper hardware," perhaps seeing no need to acquire more powerful and pricier hardware. A closer look at the data reveals that most of the performance benchmarks come from PCs running chips with no more than 8 cores. "Percentage of people with more than 8 cores is the same today as it was in 2020," PassMark says .
On the desktop front, the company also notes that AMD's 96-core Threadripper PRO 7995WX from 2023 remains the most powerful chip, according to its benchmarks.
Indeed, our reviews from 2024 show that chip makers, including AMD and Intel, seem to be prioritizing power efficiency and AI applications over raw CPU performance with the addition of low-power CPU cores. In addition, Intel's latest desktop chips have dumped hyper-threading. That said, the latest PC chips still offer year-over-year gains in processing power.
We'll have to wait and see if the numbers are a blip or a lasting trend. We're just one month into 2025, so it's possible that performance numbers will shift upward as more consumers and businesses upgrade to newer computers.
In the meantime, PassMark also suggests that bloatware and users sticking with Windows 10 over Windows 11 could be other contributing factors to performance stagnation. The latter could change later this year as Microsoft ends formal support for Windows 10 on Oct. 14.
