Which CPU is better between these two?

[PeteG_22]

Hi everyone, I'm a newbie.

I'm going to build my own computer, and I want to have the CPU for at least 5-6 years.
Which is better for the long run, a Phenom II X6 1100T or a Core i5 2500K?
I want to O.C. the CPU at 4.0 GHz
I know the Core i5 2500K has better performance per MHz, and it has the new instructions AVX. But I heard that since it only has 4 cores, the Phenom II X6 would be a better option in the long run, because games are becoming more multi-threaded, and when a game demands 4 cores 100% utilization, then the additional 2 cores would be useful to manage the O.S. and off-load some work of the other 4 cores (I'm talking about games heavy multi-threaded like Bad Company 2, or Microsoft Flight Simulator X). I also like video editing, and the extra 2 cores would be useful in that.
I don't want to change the CPU in a short time, I only want to change the Videocard, when it doesn't perform well any more.

So, what do you think please give some advice.

Here's the configuration that I plan to buy.

CPU: Core i5 2500K or Phenom II X6 1100T
Motherboard: ASUS, GIGABYTE, MSi, $150
Aftermarket cooler for the CPU: CoolerMaster
Thermal compound: Artic Silver 5
RAM: 2 x 4GB DDR3 Kingston HyperX, Corsair XMS, Mushkin Enhanced
HDD: 2TB SATA-2 7200 rpm Seagate or WD.
Videocard: GTX 560 Ti or GTX 570
PSU: 80 Plus 650W-700W OCZ
2 x DVDRW
Monitor: LED 23" Samsung Synchmaster

 

[mdd1963]

Most x6's aren't making it to 4 GHz, and the ones that do, are still outperformed by i5-2500k...prior to overclocking.

In my opinion, the 2500k is likely to be viable longer.

 

[kajabla]

You should still go 2500K. The 6950 is a better deal in your GPU price range; the 560 ti is a little overpriced and the 570 is a little past the point of ridiculous prices.
For the PSU: are you planning SLI/Xfire in the future? If so, go with a good 750, but if not, get a 500W.
24" monitor, lol. Cooler.

 

[jaguarskx]

There are several articles and videos of a Phenom II X6 getting overclocked to 4.0GHz last year. Unfortunately, of the ones I've checked out none had any benchmarks. You can try Googling...

The only comment that I could remember about performance was the Phenom II X6 @ 4.0GHz was faster than a Core i7 975 in x264 encoding testings, but no numbers were given.

The i5-2500k will give you better performance now, but will it be beaten Phenom II X6 in the future? That's unknown. But what scenario do you prefer?

1. Better performance now, with possible lower performance in the future due to only 4 cores.

2. Lower performance now, with maybe better performance in the future if games (and that's a strong if) start to use more than 4 cores.

Also consider that clock for clock the i5-2500k is more powerful than the Phenom II X6 so even if games can use more than 4 cores, the performance gap may not be that large.

One other thing to consider is getting a i7-2600k because it is possible that in the future games will make use of Hyper Threading.