Building rigs for my two boys looking for advice

As the title says I am looking to build two separate computers for my two sons (8 and 7) these are to become there at home work stations for school but as luck would have it i am also in the market for a new graphics card i currently have two hd 7950's. One of each will end up in each kids computer. Now I have a lot of experience with AMD but very little with intel and could use some advice on their mobos and sockets because the whole lexicon is foreign to me. Not sure if an i-3 would compliment an hd 7950 or if the i5 is worth the money more. Or if really the cheaper AMD options are the way to go. I am hoping to put 500-600 bucks into each build. Keeping in mind that the graphics card part is already taken care of. Thank you to anyone for their advice.
 
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for Intel CPUs -
Pentium 2 cores - no HT - 2 threads
i3 - 2 cores - HT - 4 threads
i5 - 4 cores - no HT - 4 threads
i7 - 4 cores - HT - 8 threads

There are a few applications that can take advantage of the higher thread count of the i7, but most things don't. From i3 to i5 is the big jump in the line up, as that's where you go from dual core to quad core.

cctmsp13

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May 1, 2013
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Intel has 2 sockets in use for desktop right now

socket LGA1155 is for sandy/ivy bridge - chips for these have a number in the 2000s or 3000s after the i number
examples - i7-2600, i5-2500, i5-3350

socket LGA1150 is for Haswell, these parts have numbers in the 4000s
examples - i3-4130, i5-4670

There's also LGA2011 for the extreme processors, but one of those CPUs would take your entire budget.

If you're more familiar with AMD, there's no reason not to go that route. Start with a FX-6300, figure out the costs for the rest of the machine, and if you have money left, bump it up to a FX-8320 or FX-8350.
 
what is really the difference between haswell and ivy bridge? yeah will certainly not be getting a 2011 socket. Is an i7 worth it over an i5. Really i see them doing there homework and then wanting to game on them as they get older. Now when it comes to motherboards with intel they seem to run a huge disparity in price what are the key things you are really looking to get on an intel board. Thank you for your help
 

cctmsp13

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May 1, 2013
43
0
10,560
for Intel CPUs -
Pentium 2 cores - no HT - 2 threads
i3 - 2 cores - HT - 4 threads
i5 - 4 cores - no HT - 4 threads
i7 - 4 cores - HT - 8 threads

There are a few applications that can take advantage of the higher thread count of the i7, but most things don't. From i3 to i5 is the big jump in the line up, as that's where you go from dual core to quad core.
 
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