Best CPUs for programming 2026

Compiling big projects, Docker and virtual machines like many cores, while the IDE, tests and small builds like one fast core. Both count equally here.

#	CPU	Type	Task score	cores/threads	Score
1	Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme X2E-96-100	Laptop	100.0	18 / 18	80.33
2	Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme X2E-94-100	Laptop	95.5	18 / 18	77.13
3	Snapdragon X2 Elite X2E-90-100	Laptop	92.3	18 / 18	71.79
4	Core Ultra 9 285HX	Laptop	90.6	24 / 24	72.57
5	Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus	Laptop	90.6	24 / 24	72.57
6	Ryzen 9 9955HX	Laptop	90.5	16 / 32	70.65
7	Ryzen 9 9955HX3D	Laptop	90.5	16 / 32	70.65
8	Apple M5 Max 18-core	Laptop	89.4	18 / 18	66.96
9	Apple M5 Pro 18-core	Laptop	89.4	18 / 18	66.96
10	Ryzen AI Max+ 395	Laptop	89.0	16 / 32	70.63
11	Snapdragon X2 Elite X2E-88-100	Laptop	86.8	18 / 18	67.49
12	Core Ultra 9 275HX	Laptop	86.1	24 / 24	68.09
13	Core i9-13980HX	Laptop	85.2	24 / 32	67.93
14	Apple M5 Pro 15-core	Laptop	83.0	15 / 15	59.84
15	Core i9-14900HX	Laptop	82.0	24 / 32	63.51
16	Apple M4 Max 16-core	Laptop	80.8	16 / 16	59.47
17	Core Ultra 7 265HX	Laptop	80.5	20 / 20	62.29
18	Ryzen 9 7945HX	Laptop	79.9	16 / 32	62.37
19	Ryzen 9 8945HX	Laptop	79.9	16 / 32	62.37
20	Ryzen 9 7945HX3D	Laptop	79.0	16 / 32	61.29
21	Core Ultra 7 255HX	Laptop	78.9	20 / 20	61.11
22	Core i9-13950HX	Laptop	78.3	24 / 32	60.83
23	Core Ultra 7 270HX Plus	Laptop	78.3	20 / 20	59.91
24	Ryzen 9 8940HX	Laptop	78.2	16 / 32	60.93
25	Ryzen AI Max 390	Laptop	77.4	12 / 24	58.30

Compare the top two: Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme X2E-96-100 vs Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme X2E-94-100 →

How we rank

Formula: 50% multi-core, 50% single-core. For virtual machines and big databases, also check the maximum memory.

The score is our own estimate from the specs (cores, threads, clocks, architecture generation), not a benchmark run. 100 = the fastest CPU in our database.