CPU for gaming and rendering?

[rhyle95]

Hello,

Is the i7 2600K worth the extra money over the Xeon if all I am aiming to achieve is a decent pc able to render quickly and a good gaming pc.

I will be installing either 16GB or 24GB of RAM for the rendering aspect and will be buying a mid to high range Nvidia graphics card (GTX570 or 580)

So just wondering if in these circumstances, the i7 is worth the extra $100?

P.s im from Australia so newegg and stuff like that wont help, all im after is someones opinion of whether the i7 is worth the extra money

 

[danraies]

There are several Xeon processors. The only way you can compare the two is if you're comparing the i7-2600K with a Xeon processor that has hyperthreading (which they don't all have).

Xeon processors also come on socket 1155, 1366, and 1156 (and possibly others). You'll want socket 1155 because otherwise you're virtually guaranteeing that the next time you upgrade you'll need to buy another motherboard.

All that being said, I think you should get the 2600K. I would say that if you're using heavily multithreaded applications like audio and video rendering then the i7-2600K is worth the extra money. I would also say that in a machine whose purpose is both gaming and rendering, the next step down financially is the i5-2500K and not a Xeon processor.

 

[jemm]

I´d recommend Xeon, if you were to use it as a server as well.

For gaming and rendering go for the i7 2600K if you are willing to overcloking it.

If you are not going to overclocking, then get the the i7 2600 (withou the ´K´).

 

[phyco126]

Only difference between a XEON with the same specs as the 2600K, is that the Xeon has a higher bin, meaning it is of higher quality. They typically over clock better (if they were unlocked), and have lower heat. For this reason, they are meant for servers, which are pretty demanding on processors and in areas were there could be a lot of heat.

Honestly, they aren't worth the premium over the 2600K unless you have money to throw at something.

For all intents and purposes, get the 2600K.

 

[tokadub]

2600k all day every day

 

[truegenius]

Hello,

Is the i7 2600K worth the extra money over the Xeon if all I am aiming to achieve is a decent pc able to render quickly and a good gaming pc.

I will be installing either 16GB or 24GB of RAM for the rendering aspect and will be buying a mid to high range Nvidia graphics card (GTX570 or 580)

So just wondering if in these circumstances, the i7 is worth the extra $100?

P.s im from Australia so newegg and stuff like that wont help, all im after is someones opinion of whether the i7 is worth the extra money

2600k surely worth the extra $100, go for 2600k
take a look at this
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

 

[rhyle95]

Thanks guys thats heaps of help!

And thankyou truegenius for that link, really helped put into perspective of how much the xeon 1230 struggles compared to the 2600K and I have also just noted the i7 2700K, which is only $30 more than the 2600K.

I guess my next question is, do you believe its worth spending the cash now or waiting till 2012 for the new processors and GPU's (The gpus on the market at the moment have been out for almost a year now so they will be technically getting out dated im guessing) to come out?

Will there be as big improvement from the GTX2XX and 4XX to the GTX5XX next year or not worth the wait?

Thanks in advance guys!!

 

[amuffin]

Thanks guys thats heaps of help!

And thankyou truegenius for that link, really helped put into perspective of how much the xeon 1230 struggles compared to the 2600K and I have also just noted the i7 2700K, which is only $30 more than the 2600K.

I guess my next question is, do you believe its worth spending the cash now or waiting till 2012 for the new processors and GPU's (The gpus on the market at the moment have been out for almost a year now so they will be technically getting out dated im guessing) to come out?

Will there be as big improvement from the GTX2XX and 4XX to the GTX5XX next year or not worth the wait?

Thanks in advance guys!!

2500k for now, then in april upgrade to ivybridge.

 

[truegenius]

1 is a long way to go
for now go for 2600 or 2700 for now
and in future if you need more performance then you can upgrade to ivy.
or wait for ivy, and their may be some price drop for old sb, and then you can choose from them.

But i think i7-2700k will be enough

 

[amuffin]

1 is a long way to go
for now go for 2600 or 2700 for now
and in future if you need more performance then you can upgrade to ivy.
or wait for ivy, and their may be some price drop for old sb, and then you can choose from them.

But i think i7-2700k will be enough

2700k is a waste of money unless you are overclocking to 5+ghz

 

[danraies]

2700k is a waste of money unless you are overclocking to 5+ghz

Agreed. The difference bewteen 2600k and 2700k is .1ghz which...is no difference at all. It's a waste of $40.

 

[truegenius]

2700 is not a waste
the only thing is that 10-40$ more for small increase sounds a bit more expensive
ark.intel.com/compare/52213,52214,61275

 

[rhyle95]

Best answer selected by rhyle95.