CPU Performance
The above results suggest that the Core i7-3770K is capable of pushing the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition close to its limits at just 3.0GHz. The jump from 3.0GHz to 4.5GHz resulted in a performance increase of 2fps, or a 5% improvement.
The AMD FX-8350 offers nowhere near the Core i7's performance. When pushed to 4.5GHz, the FX-8350 rendered just 53fps when armed with the HD 7970 GHz Edition, which is comparable to the Core i7-3770K at 2.5GHz.
Absolution appears to be very CPU-dependent and Intel's high core efficiency really pays off here. The Core i7-3770K and i7-3960X both averaged 61fps, while the Core i5-3470 was only slightly slower at 58fps.
Even the old LGA1366 Core i7-920, which is clocked at just 2.66GHz, turned in a relatively impressive 53fps. By comparison, the new AMD FX-8350 managed just 50fps, which wasn't much more than the i3-3220.
Further down the graph, the Phenom II X4 980 averaged just 44fps, followed by the X6 1100T and FX-6300 with 43fps. Dual-core processors with just two threads couldn't deliver playable performance with the Phenom II X2 570 rendering just 26fps and the Athlon II X2 265 only 21fps.