For gaming: Phenom II X4 965 or i5 2500k?

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AgentSquishy

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We all know how amazing Sandy Bridge is, but in gaming, does it provide such a boost over the 965 that justifies buying one? I'm upgrading from an Athlon 64 X2, so I'm going to be astonished either way. The main games I want to play on my computer would be MMOs, RTS, and RPG.
 
The i5 2500k is surely a superior processor.. However, gaming performance largely depends on the video card.. Thus, if you are in the look out to purchase a new video card and going for the 965 can fetch you a better video card then that will be the route i'll recommend..
 

oby20

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i5 2500 is better in overall performance, its proven in benchmarks that i5 2500 is competing with some of the i7 processors like 860, 870, and 920,
its a much faster i5, than the i5 of lga 1156 series.
the only advantage of phenom 2 x4 965 is its a much cheaper quadcore than i5 2500.
 

hrd2kll

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agreed 2500k newer, better, faster with greater overclockability and for 179 from microcenter, quite the bargain. however once you add a cheap p67 motherboard for $130 you're up to $309 and $200 over their 560be + mobo special and about $150 more than a 965 with mobo. maybe that is not significant or maybe it is depending on your situation but for most folks the 965 or 560 is plenty fast for gaming and the extra cash can be put towards a better video card and provide a more significant improvement in gaming performance than just buying the better cpu.
 

hrd2kll

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Well i did read somewhere that the HD 3000 graphics built into the 2500k can get nearly 19fps at 1024x768 in a game like farcry 2, but for the same money i could get a 965 setup with a nice gtx 460 and run it at 60+fps on a 1920x1080 plasma. I think that would be a lot better. Maybe the amd phenoms are more for smart people who play games for fun and the new intel 4 core cpus are more for rich people who troll boards for fun.

edit - (sorry about the tone, these posts were responses to a provocateur who has since deleted his/her comments and not directed at anyone whose comments remain or at the original poster)
 

softyengin

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I have noticed that the Phenom (at least where i live) is half the price of the 2500, yet its not half the speed.. so bang for buck it sounds better.

my heart wants a core-i5 but my brains says phenom!
 
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