i5 vs i7

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datkitteh

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May 12, 2013
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need a cpu for my gaming rig.
the pc is intended for intense gaming but wouldn't limited to that.
i am willing to overclock but im not that familiar with the process.
so my question is will an i5 be enough for some time or the i7 would be a better choice?which of the specific models do you propose and do you have any suggetion on the heatsink?
keep in mind that im not looking for the best possible performance but i will be expecting high quality gaming from my rig.
 
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euphoria4949
What's your budget???

The i5 3570k is the number 1 gamers choice of CPU at the moment. It is easily OC'ed to 4.3-4.6Ghz, costs nearly £100 less than an i7 and it will be good for a fair few years.
An i7 isn't going to benefit you with gaming. Take the i7 3770k, it's the i5 3570k with Hyperthreading and a 100Mhz higher base clock, but the price is £100 more and offers virtually no extra performance with games.
If money isn't a concern then why not get an i7 as you might benefit from the HT at a later date. But if you, like most of us are on a budget and want to keep the price down and not over spend on things you don't need, get the i5 3570k.

As for a cooler, well a good starter is the Hyper 212 Evo (Not the Plus version), it's very...
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ryanrich83

ryanrich83

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Jul 31, 2012
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The i5 3570K is the best CPU for a gaming rig.

If you will be doing more intensive activities like video encoding, video editing, or any other workstation related duties, an i7 would be appropriate. The i7 3770K would be the best option for that route.

There is no real difference between gaming on an i5 vs i7. Plus the i5s are cheaper. :)

Cooler Master Hyper 212 is an excellent heatsink. Very good performance for the price.

Edit: The "K" series Intel CPUs are overclockable, so if you are considering overclocking, go with one of those.
 
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euphoria4949

euphoria4949

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What's your budget???

The i5 3570k is the number 1 gamers choice of CPU at the moment. It is easily OC'ed to 4.3-4.6Ghz, costs nearly £100 less than an i7 and it will be good for a fair few years.
An i7 isn't going to benefit you with gaming. Take the i7 3770k, it's the i5 3570k with Hyperthreading and a 100Mhz higher base clock, but the price is £100 more and offers virtually no extra performance with games.
If money isn't a concern then why not get an i7 as you might benefit from the HT at a later date. But if you, like most of us are on a budget and want to keep the price down and not over spend on things you don't need, get the i5 3570k.

As for a cooler, well a good starter is the Hyper 212 Evo (Not the Plus version), it's very cheap but offers a great amount of cooling. If you don't mind spending a bit more and your case get accommodate it look at the Noctua NH-D14. Or if you want to OC and your budget can stretch as way, go for a custom water loop. But I would recommend avoiding the closed loop water coolers like the Corsair H70 H80 e.t.c. As they are twice the price of a decent air cooler but don't offer any better cooling.

Hope this helps =)
 
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euphoria4949

euphoria4949

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I personally own the 3570k and use it for gaming. It's amazing, you can tell why everyone recommends it for gaming. The only reason I upgraded to the i7 3770k recently is because I was working with HD videos a lot so the HT was a benefit to me, otherwise I would have stuck with my i5 3570k.
 
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mr1hm

mr1hm

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I'm also a gamer that demands high quality. Although I think the i5 is an excellent choice for high quality gaming, you stated that you wouldn't limit your PC to games exclusively like myself. I do a bunch of audio work on my PC along with gaming at times and ended up selling my i5 3570k and picked up an i7 3770k.


What other programs or anything really, are you planning to do with it?


P.S.: The i7 3770k has a stronger integrated memory controller compared to the i5 3570k.

EDIT: Even though it might be a placebo effect or the fact maybe I just ended up getting one of the "worse," i5 3570k @ the time but, for some reason it seems the i7 3770k seems to be much easier in attaining stability of the system.

i5 3570k required 1.24-1.26v @ 4.4
Current i7 3770k @ 4.5 requires 1.155v
 
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datkitteh

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well nothing for sure. but lets say i take video or audio editing as a hobby or have to use some other heavy application i'd like it to be capable. but since my budget is limited im gonna go with the i5 and if anything new comes up i'll consider replacing it.
 
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mr1hm

mr1hm

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