Gaming CPU Help

Solution
personally I'd just get an i5 4670k since the i7 offers little in gaming, but if its in your budget go for it. amd is more for budget builds so you can put more $$$ to the gpu, I spent around $550 on my pc, fx 6300 and 7870 (tahiti version) going with an i5 I would have been stuck with something like a 7770 or 650.

9xxx cpus from amd are worthless. run too hot, too much power, and they are just OC'd 8350's for a lot more money.
It depends on your budget. Up to around $800, buying a cheaper AMD CPU and mobo typically allows more money to go toward the graphics card, which makes the most difference in games. Beyond that point, however, once you're already able to choose a solid card (e.g. $250 or more), it begins to make more sense to go for an Intel i5.
 
The answer depends on what games you play and whether or not they are well optimized for multiple cores.

Newer games that are well optimized for 6+ cores will perform the same, sometimes better, on AMD systems.

Older games that use 2-4 cores will perform better in Intel CPUs.
 
I believe that CPU is a poor choice. While it may perform comparably to an Intel i5 or even i7 in some games or other tasks, it will use MUCH more power (and produce much more heat) doing so. Motherboards to support that 220W (before any overclocking) chip are few, and all are high-priced. For the money, I believe an Intel build will offer similar (better in more things than not) performance, with a much lower cost of ownership (power, and stress on other parts).
 

chairsgotoschool

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Oct 6, 2012
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personally I'd just get an i5 4670k since the i7 offers little in gaming, but if its in your budget go for it. amd is more for budget builds so you can put more $$$ to the gpu, I spent around $550 on my pc, fx 6300 and 7870 (tahiti version) going with an i5 I would have been stuck with something like a 7770 or 650.

9xxx cpus from amd are worthless. run too hot, too much power, and they are just OC'd 8350's for a lot more money.
 
Solution
If you're looking to spend a little less a Xeon 1230v3 should work just as well as an i7 4770 (around 200MHz slower, but the price of an i5). You also don't need a Z87 motherboard like you would need to comfortably OC an i5 or i7 k series, and can get a cheaper one like a B or H series instead.