Help picking a CPU

[Nurot]

Hey, long time reader first time poster. So I'm upgrading my MoBo and CPU, I'm really only going to use this machine for playing modern games on ultra settings while keeping the smooth frame rate, nothing heavy like video editing and all that jazz but I want it to last, not have to upgrade again 6months down the road, at the moment I'm kind of torn between the i7 2600k, 960 and the 3930k, now I'm not really that good with computers so I'm hoping you guys could tell me what the difference is between them all, thanks.

 

[sarinaide]

If you can afford the 3930K sure, suffice to say the performance gains in a gaming realm are not that drastic except when the game is CPU bound. For a setup that will last a long time, give flexibility and not cost you a arm and a leg look at a i5 2500K and Z68 combination.

 

[Nurot]

If you can afford the 3930K sure, suffice to say the performance gains in a gaming realm are not that drastic except when the game is CPU bound. For a setup that will last a long time, give flexibility and not cost you a arm and a leg look at a i5 2500K and Z68 combination.

Cheers, money isn't a problem but I'd rather not spend a fortune. 2500K seems good, a few mates have it and suggested it. I know this isn't the section for this but how does an ROG Maximus IV Extreme-Z fare?

 

[xaira]

^what he said, by performance its

960
2600
3930

but gaming performance will hardly differ between the 3, the 960 is an old platform, so forget about that, the 3960 will cost $300 moire so forget about that, the 2500k will cost 100 less than the 2600k and perform just as well, so that last choice is up to you

 

[sarinaide]

Cheers, money isn't a problem but I'd rather not spend a fortune. 2500K seems good, a few mates have it and suggested it. I know this isn't the section for this but how does an ROG Maximus IV Extreme-Z fare?

Well first off a ROG mobo is going to cost a lot $350/400+ so if you are not willing to spend big on a CPU it seems a waste to get such a extreme motherboard. I would save and get a 2500K + respectable Z68 chipset motherboard, use the saved resources on a better PSU and GPU combo.

Well from the Tomshardware review on best gaming CPU's monthly there is very little performance difference in games from a 2500K to a 990X or SB-E except on CPU bound games.

Avoid the i7 960 as it is aging technology, the 2600K is better for multithreading but exactly similar in gaming more a less and the SB-E are a waste of money. 2500K is the best setup right now, in terms of performance and value.

 

[joedjnpc]

2500k, best bang for buck by miles

 

[Spoony]

take a look at my under signature, that says it all about which you should buy, and i have had the 2600k, FX-8150, 960, 955BE, 1090T and the 3930K with the Rampage 4 extreme is just the dogs dangly bits and worth every penny i spent on it

 

[sarinaide]

That is if you want to spend $2000ish on a new rig.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

Really right now the Intel® Core™ i5-2500K is the best gaming processor on the market. If you were doing some video editing or something else like that I would say the Intel Core i7-2600K or above but in gaming the Intel Core i5-2500K all the way. Right now very few games can take advantage of more than 4 threads. For this reason the extra cores or hyper-threading of the Intel Core i7 processors have minimal value in a gaming system. Since you can save a $100 or more by dropping down to the Intel Core i5-2500K and get the same type of performance as you would for the other processors go with it. Then take that money you saved and use it to get a better video card or an SSD that will give you better overall performance in a game environment.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[Nurot]

Really right now the Intel® Core™ i5-2500K is the best gaming processor on the market. If you were doing some video editing or something else like that I would say the Intel Core i7-2600K or above but in gaming the Intel Core i5-2500K all the way. Right now very few games can take advantage of more than 4 threads. For this reason the extra cores or hyper-threading of the Intel Core i7 processors have minimal value in a gaming system. Since you can save a $100 or more by dropping down to the Intel Core i5-2500K and get the same type of performance as you would for the other processors go with it. Then take that money you saved and use it to get a better video card or an SSD that will give you better overall performance in a game environment.

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

Awesome, much appreciated, cheers!

 

[Nurot]

Best answer selected by Nurot.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey