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Need help picking a cpu

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October 14, 2014 10:17:07 AM

Hi,

Im looking to buy a new cpu to go into my gaming build. I have the money to go out and get a very good i5 and a new motherboard to work with that. However, I was just thinking, could I get a decent amd cpu and save money on buying a new motherboard.

Any help is appriciated.

P.S My mobo is a M5A 78L-M USB3

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October 14, 2014 10:18:44 AM

Go i5 over AMD.
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October 14, 2014 10:26:44 AM

You could get an 8350, but I suggest an i5 for gaming.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($137.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $367.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-14 13:25 EDT-0400

This is a good setup for gaming, if you plan to overclock. If not, you can save some money and buy a cheaper i5 like the 4440.
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October 14, 2014 10:43:13 AM

frag06 said:
You could get an 8350, but I suggest an i5 for gaming.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Z97-A ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($137.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $367.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-10-14 13:25 EDT-0400

This is a good setup for gaming, if you plan to overclock. If not, you can save some money and buy a cheaper i5 like the 4440.

I know its a bit of a noob question, but what is overclocking?
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October 14, 2014 10:52:08 AM

Overclocking means raising the CPU clock speed, so that it is faster than stock (i.e. if stock is 4.0GHz, raising the clock to 4.1GHz is an overclock).

If you don't plan on doing it (you would need to read a lot of guides and tips to do it safely), then something like a 4440 or 4460 will be fine for you.
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October 14, 2014 11:09:35 AM

he's already specified a mobo, and therefore a socket.
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October 14, 2014 12:39:21 PM

This might help you with overclocking:

All CPUs in the same series were made at the exact same time. Due to imperfections, some CPUs are guaranteed to work at some speeds, while others are guaranteed to work at different speeds. That's why they are labeled as different speeds. They can only "guarantee" that the speed they specify will work for certain, but there is a chance it will work at an even faster speed, which is what overclocking is.
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October 14, 2014 1:08:43 PM

@Bolton: I would quote you but I keep getting 404 errors.

Anyways, take bits into consideration. A bit is really just an electric current. A 64-bit processor has many arithmetic units inside that perform calculations on bits, such as addition, subtraction, etc. Each arithmatic unit would be able to perform a calculation on an up-to 64-bit value (sequence of bits) within one cycle (electrical current). The amount of cycles is the clock rate. Of course, that is a huge concept on a very basic and shrunken level, but hopefully that helps. In other terms, speed.
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October 14, 2014 2:05:48 PM

Is there much reason to go Z97 over a much cheaper H81 board if you don't care about overclocking though? I guess you sacrifice front USB 3.0 ports and you get PCIE 2.0 instead of 3.0, but is there any real difference in PCIE 2.0 vs 3.0 with current cards?
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