I'm building a new pc and I need help.

[Solo Wing Pixy]

Hello ^-^,

I'm trying to figure out what the best cpu I need for my computer. My main concern is gaming, but I'm going to share my computer with my older brother because he needs something for his schoolwork which involves the Maya program Mudbox.

So far, I already have:

This case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225

This ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277

This monitor (it's 1920x 1200 native): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254052

This hard drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148433

I have about $670 on hand, but my sister owes me a little over $800 (and it's still growing). Anyways, I've had my eye on the GTX 680 since I want to play games like Metro 2033, the Crysis series, all the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, etc on my 1200p monitor. I'm a little stumped about where to go from here, as while I'm aware Ivy Bridge has PCIE 3.0 by default, though it seems some Sandy Bridge motherboards apparently have begun to support PCIE 3.0? Also since my brother is going to be doing a lot of work on Mudbox, that means I'll need a cpu with hyper-threading, right? I'm interested in attempting to overclock, but it will be my first time so any suggestions that are beginner friendly would be most helpful. Thank you.

 

[esrever]

you don't need hyperthreading or pci 3.0 and I doubt it will be noticable.

For your needs an i5-2500k is probably still the best cpu for the money and for what you'd want it to do.

The 680 is a bit of a wash since the 670 is pretty much just as fast and for $100 less.

 

[Solo Wing Pixy]

Thank you for replying, but just to be sure, the Mudbox is a graphic and design software (what my brother needs for his schoolwork). Now I'm sure the i5-2500K will suit my gaming needs, but it will be fine for what my brother needs to do?

 

[abekl]

You don't really need hyperthreading for mudbox because it deals with static images, not rendering motion scenes. The HT would be nice, but it's not necessary for your brother. So I concur, the 2500K or it's newer brother would be fine for you.

 

[Solo Wing Pixy]

You don't really need hyperthreading for mudbox because it deals with static images, not rendering motion scenes. The HT would be nice, but it's not necessary for your brother. So I concur, the 2500K or it's newer brother would be fine for you.

That's good to know. Thank you both, I'm still waiting on the rest of the money for the build, but looks like the 2500K is the best bet. However, in the event my brother DOES need to render motion scenes like you described down the road (hopefully Mudbox is all he needs to use), would the i7-2600K suffice? Or the newer i5? Sorry to keep bugging over this ><.

 

[esrever]

the 2500k will have no problem doing that but the 2600k will probably give a slight improvement. The new i5 doesn't really improve on much, its only like 5% faster than the 2500k.