Deciding between Intel 2500K and 2600K

[Revan_206]

Hello all,

I've been spending the last few weeks researching various components for my upcoming hardware upgrade and I've reached the point google has failed me. I am trying to decide between getting an i5 2500k and i7 2600k. I know that I will see very little difference in the gaming performance between the two, however in my case that isn't the end of the story. I also need to be able to run 3-5 virtual machines for testing.

So will the hyper-threading abilities of the 2600k greatly benefit me when running multiple virtual machines? Or would I be paying $100 more for a feature that isn't going to have a big impact on the performance of virtual machines?

Thanks!

 

[abekl]

The extra threads will definitely help you when running VMs.

 

[ryan211]

Hello all,

I've been spending the last few weeks researching various components for my upcoming hardware upgrade and I've reached the point google has failed me. I am trying to decide between getting an i5 2500k and i7 2600k. I know that I will see very little difference in the gaming performance between the two, however in my case that isn't the end of the story. I also need to be able to run 3-5 virtual machines for testing.

So will the hyper-threading abilities of the 2600k greatly benefit me when running multiple virtual machines? Or would I be paying $100 more for a feature that isn't going to have a big impact on the performance of virtual machines?

Thanks!

The extra $100 is worth it for what you need.

 

[popatim]

Make sure the VM you use is compatible with HyperThreading. Also if using vmware, your motherboards bios will need the option to share HT cores before you can implement that in the software.

 

[Revan_206]

Make sure the VM you use is compatible with HyperThreading. Also if using vmware, your motherboards bios will need the option to share HT cores before you can implement that in the software.

The motherboard I'm looking at is the MSI Z68A-GD55. The manual states it has support for Intel VT-D technology, is that what indicates the ability to share HT cores?

 

[Revan_206]

Hmm and the 2600K doesn't support VT-D only VT-x. Is that going to be a problem for me?

 

[13thmonkey]

you may need to use the non-K variants, they have more toys from that point of view.

 

[Revan_206]

I should also clarify that I will be using Oracle VM VirtualBox for my virtualization needs. I do not need Hyper-V support. (which I believe is the only reason I would need VT-D support)

So my final question is, will I see a benefit with the 2600K over the 2500K in software virtualization solutions, such as VirtualBox?

 

[13thmonkey]

unknown, but suspect strongly yes it would be useful.

 

[amuffin]

2500k, then in april use your saved money for the new i7-3770k

 

[hitechgowthaman]

Try amd and get more cores for virtualaization with 8core

 

[Revan_206]

Best answer selected by Revan_206.