Regarding cpu for a new build

[thatlaoguy]

I'm stuck deciding on a cpu for a new strictly gaming build

My options range from an i3 to an i7
I live close to a microcenter and they have a nice sale going on right now.

They basically have:
i3 $99
i5 650 $149
i5 750 $179
i7 860 $229

Hate myself for not picking up that i7 920 for $199 I bought it but I couldn't make the drive out there in time.

would the i3/i5 650 bottleneck a 5850 at all?

With the price difference between the i5 750 and the i7860 being bearable, would it be best just to grab the i7? or is that overkill for strictly gaming?

Or should I just wait for the i7 920s to come back in stock seeing as how the price of the i7 920 is still $199 but sold out at my local store. It would be best for future proofing.

Advice would be lovely before more of these cpus are sold out

 

[enzo matrix]

would the i3/i5 650 bottleneck a 5850 at all?

No. But I would not go with the i3 or an i5 dual core. I would go with the i5 quad (750) especially since more and more games are taking advantage of multiple cores.

With the price difference between the i5 750 and the i7860 being bearable, would it be best just to grab the i7? or is that overkill for strictly gaming?

Is it worth the price difference? Yes especially with the increase in clock speed. Do you need it ie will it give you a noticable performance increase? No. Unless you play Flight Simulator X.

Or should I just wait for the i7 920s to come back in stock seeing as how the price of the i7 920 is still $199 but sold out at my local store. It would be best for future proofing.

The 720? The other CPUs you are looking at are all 1156 so I assume you have an 1156 board. the 720 is for socket 1366. Unless of course you haven't already gotten a motherboard. However, the 860 outperforms the 720 while using less power. On the other hand, It's a little better than the i5 750 and $199 isn't all that bad. Then again you could buy a new motherboard and sell your old one and CPU and ram (1156 is dual channel 1366 is tri channel) if you ever want to upgrade to something on the 1366 platform.