Which cpu for gaming and graphics?

[g335]

I am going to build a SB computer in April or May.

I will use it for gaming. Later I will use it for 2-D and 3-D animation making.

Gaming for now.

Which would be good, i52500k or the i7 series?

 

[omnisome]

i5-2500K gives you more "bang for buck" but if you think you're going to require 'HyperThreading' then it may be useful to go $100 further and grab an i7-2600K

 

[jaguarskx]

Games do not take advantage of Hyperthreading.

I would look into the 2D & 3D programs you want to use to find out if they take advantage of Hyperthreading. If they do, then the i7 is probably the way to go.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

Most of the high end video editing software is multi-threaded. So if you are running Adobe CS5 it does take advantage of all thread available to it. So going with a 2nd generation Intel® Core™ I7 2600k will give you your best performance in that software. The Intel Core™ I5 2500k will give you very good performance but not on par with the 2600k. So the best advice I can give you is to check with the software maker to see if they are multi-threaded and if so how many threads can they take advantage of?

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Just an FYI too...my 2600K is at 4.5 with Hyperthreading enabled. So you can get some killer overclocks will all 8 threads.

 

[g335]

Most of the high end video editing software is multi-threaded. So if you are running Adobe CS5 it does take advantage of all thread available to it. So going with a 2nd generation Intel® Core™ I7 2600k will give you your best performance in that software. The Intel Core™ I5 2500k will give you very good performance but not on par with the 2600k. So the best advice I can give you is to check with the software maker to see if they are multi-threaded and if so how many threads can they take advantage of?

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

I read that the i7 can lower the performance in some games. If this is true than should I go for the i52500k or will the i7 2600k be ok?

 

[Deleted member 217926]

2500K is perfect for gaming. Get the 2600K if you use software that can take advantage of multiple threads.

 

[g335]

Best answer selected by g335.