Tom's Hardware has released their monthly "Best Gaming CPU for the Money" article. The article has proven to be very helpful in my last 3 builds and can be informative for those who may be on the fence on what to buy for their next upgrade, or if they simply wonder if it will make a substantial difference. The article can be found here
Perhaps the best thing about this article is at the end it provides a basic gaming "CPU Hierarchy Chart" and can be found here. I have provided the chart below. Basically, you should only upgrade your CPU to a new one only if the new one is 3 tiers above the old one. Otherwise, there isn't going to be a meaningful difference. For more information on how this chart is constructed, please refer to the article (it is a bit different than a hierarchy on CPUs that are non-gaming related!)
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106.html
Perhaps the best thing about this article is at the end it provides a basic gaming "CPU Hierarchy Chart" and can be found here. I have provided the chart below. Basically, you should only upgrade your CPU to a new one only if the new one is 3 tiers above the old one. Otherwise, there isn't going to be a meaningful difference. For more information on how this chart is constructed, please refer to the article (it is a bit different than a hierarchy on CPUs that are non-gaming related!)
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106.html