What to look for in new CPU

[Yankees1327]

Hi, I need to upgrade my current CPU. It is an Intel i5-2400 and it almost always runs fine, but I can't host a server, run minecraft, and run oovoo video chat at the same time. When I do, the cpu usage in the performance tab of task manager frequently spikes to 100% and I experience lag. I have 8 gb of ram, and only half of that is used up so I know that its the CPU. What spec should I look for in a new CPU that would allow more processes to be run at the same time? Would it be number of cores, clock speed, hyperthreading ability, L3 cache, or something else? Thanks

 

[amuffin]

How are you not able to do any of those? The 2400 is a solid cpu.

 

[Yankees1327]

How are you not able to do any of those? The 2400 is a solid cpu.

I am able to do them individually, and two of them but not the other one, but I can't run all 3 at once. I also have some background programs including Norton 360.

 

[esrever]

well more cores will probably help but I don't think you are suppose to do all that on 1 computer either way. If you have the budget then the i7 extremes will probably do it.

Or maybe An amd cpu will more cores, Im not sure how much it takes to do all that but most people don't have video chat on when they play minecraft I would think.

 

[Yankees1327]

So basically I would be looking at either a Xeon Westmere or an i7 extreme? I'm pretty sure neither would work with my mobo. And amd definitely won't.

 

[esrever]

well the i7 2700k is the best cpu for your mb, it may or may not give you much improvement.

 

[Yankees1327]

So what you are saying is a larger L3 cache or higher clock isn't going to do much for me in terms of how much I can run at once?

 

[esrever]

well its mostly gonna depend on how many cores you have and generally hyperthreading doesn't help much except in some specific applications that can use it.

 

[Yankees1327]

I think that the problem may just be Minecraft. It is a complete CPU hog. It easily takes up 70-80% of my CPU when running. Is there any way to remedy that?

 

[esrever]

I don't know but you should check the minecraft forums, maybe they will be able to help.

 

[amuffin]

Doesn't minecraft take up a bunch of ram to run?

 

[Yankees1327]

It does but I have 8gb so that is not my problem.