I guess this is on reviewers in a sense that it isn't explained well, usually. So naturally, the majority of people have no idea why 720p tests exist at all and of course they retort with "no one plays at 720p anymore, duh". Reviews should state that it's to test lifespan longevity, and not actual present-day gaming performance. To be honest, even I didn't know until not too long ago, even though it's logical as heck.
Yeah I don't think it's made explicit often enough. FWIW, what I like to do is look at the CPU bottlenecked scores out of what you might call academic or long-term interest, and then shift over to the 4k scores as a sanity check. At least up until the launch of the 4090, 4k benchmarks were reliably GPU limited, and thus they were a good proxy for, "ok, if I pair one of these mid-range CPUs with a sensible GPU, this is what I'm most likely to see most of the time, i.e. no effective difference."
I think it's still generally true that CPU upgrades are overrated for gamers, though that was easier to argue back when everyone was targeting 60 Hz. Certainly most gamers don't need a CPU upgrade with every new generation, nor even every two or three or four. "Good enough" is the only target that matters; it can be difficult to keep that in mind if you immerse yourself in tech-enthusiast news/discussion.
Bottom line is buy the fastest CPU you can for your preferred price point and ride it until its performance becomes noticeably disappointing.
Νο, trust me, that's not the issue. It's fanboys (usually of one specific company, won't name which), that know why 720p tests exist, but they come up with all kinds of excuses when that specific company they support is losing in them. Guru3d (i'm not sure but i think that was the one) was forced to REMOVE (im not even kidding you) 720p results from one of their reviews cause supporters of that same company went freaking nuts in the comments section cause their favorite company's CPU was losing badly. Holy freaking cow
Come on now. This isn't a partisan issue, and no sociopathic mega-corporation deserves a free pass. While we're on the subject of CPU value, you could just as easily say that without competition from that "one specific company," the other big company would still be pumping out 4-core i7s with a 5% generational uplift every year or two.
The objections to low-resolution CPU testing go back way farther than you suggest, and they have nothing to do with pro-AMD or pro-Intel factions. Bringing fanboy wars into any discussion is extreme cringe, bro. Can't imagine hitching my wagon to some faceless globocorp. Good god.
