Intel Built in graphics i5/i7

[WalkerofDays]

Hello,
Im tryin to put a computer togather mainly for gaming, i've heard that Sandybridge is the way to go but the built in graphics seem pointless if im planning on putting a top end card in there anyways correct? Just wondering should i go for like a intel 950/980 or something rather than the 2500k/2700k? (assuming i put in a nice graphics card)

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

For gaming you will be hard pressed to get anything that can compete against the Intel® Core™ i5-2500K in both performance and price vs. performance. While you may not use the graphics they are nice to have if you need to do any troubleshooting or backup graphics.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[jaguarskx]

The i5-2500k remains the current best option for a gaming rig. It is 200MHz slower than the i7-2700k, but it is also around $120 cheaper.

As for the graphics core, it is rather useless if you are going to be installing a video card. The good thing about it is if your video card fails down the road, you can rely on the Intel HD 3000 to simply use the PC until you install a replacement video card. That is as long as you have a Z68 chipset motherboard which allows you to overclock the CPU and use the integrated graphics core. The P67 chipset only allows you to overclock, there is no support for the integrated graphics.

 

[WalkerofDays]

Awesome ty very very much!

 

[jiyung]

As for the graphics core, it is rather useless if you are going to be installing a video card. The good thing about it is if your video card fails down the road, you can rely on the Intel HD 3000 to simply use the PC until you install a replacement video card.

This and don't get the 2700K. The 2600K is about 50$ cheaper for a .1 GHz difference.