[Solved] Intel or AMD for gaming?

This is probably not good to say, but I'm not definite on my exact budget yet. When you say "and not sacrifice gpu..." I'm not sure of exactly what you're saying.

given a resolution you'd want a good gpu to be able to play on that resolution, you'd want the best gpu you can buy that will be efficient for that resolution then you want a cpu that will be good enough to drive that gpu during games. you have to balance gpu and cpu power in a system.

generally you spend 2x as much on gpu as you do on cpu. But you don't need to spend over $400 on a gpu if you are gaming on a low resolution.

Actually most CPUs can be overclocked, but this is easier with an unlocked multiplier. These are special edition CPUs, so not all AMD processors feature this option.

How to tell the difference? With older AMD models such as Phenom I and II, the black edition refers to an unlocked multi. With newer models, the FX line of CPUs currently all feature unlocked CPUs. With the A75 platform APUs, AMD has stolen the "K" designation from Intel. Such as the latest to debut, the AMD A8 3870K.

So for Intel, the unlocked multiplier is seen in either the "K" series processors, or the Extreme Edition 8 core CPUs. Typically, the Intel CPUs see higher overclocking potential and also higher performance per clock than AMD. So Intel is a high end supplier and AMD is a budget provider, both in terms of price and performance.

What's important to know is what your needs are and budgetary concerns, but a fine system can be built using either CPU maker. The only way that I can see that AMD simply can not provide the same experience is in the case of running an extremely taxing game like Battlefield 3 at the highest settings and at high resolutions beyond what most PC users need.

you need a motherboard that has some oc options and you will just make it run at max turbo always and also slightly increase the base clock to get a little extra.

you'd get maybe 100mhz over the max turbo if you are lucky.