Core i7 3820 a solid choice?

[Scotty99]

I am going to be mainly playing multi-player games while streaming with xsplit software.

I am going to be purchasing the CPU from microcenter, the 3820 retails there for 229.99.

Currently i own a 2500k and i feel the lack of hyperthreading is holding me back while streaming+gaming. I originally just wanted to step up to the 2600k but microcenter seems to have discontinued it and the 2700k retails for 279.99, making the 3820 a much better purchase in my eyes. I do realize i will have to upgrade motherboard as well.

I posted a thread on the xsplit forums but figured id post here too asking if anyone thinks a hyperthreaded 4 core will be a noticeable improvement over my 2500k.

 

[Zingam_Duo]

Solid as a cube of ice on a sunny August day!

 

[blazorthon]

Gaming has roughly zero benefit from Hyper-Threading on a quad core CPU. The 3820 would be slightly faster due to it's presumably superior binning and its better cache and memory controller, but the difference would not be noticeable.

 

[Scotty99]

I realize gaming has zero benefit from hyper threading, but if you actually read my OP you will see i also plan on streaming with xsplit software, which presumably will benefit from a hyper-threaded 4 core. Also please notice the price i found the 3820 for, 229.99, which is a bunch cheaper than any 2600k or 2700k i can find. Yes i know i will need a new motherboard, but i do plan on going SLI down the road and ive read 2011 socket is a better platform for SLI rigs due to pci bandwidth.

If anyone in this forums uses the xsplit software and has this CPU id love to hear from them.

 

[Supernova1138]

If you must get an i7, get a Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge model that your current motherboard supports. Sandy Bridge E offers no real benefit for gaming. Quad Channel memory does not help gaming performance. The extra PCI-Express lanes are also largely irrelevant unless you plan on buying four video cards and putting them into SLI. Two Way SLI is not going to see any real boost with the LGA 2011 platform.

If your motherboard supports PCI-E 3.0, just get an Ivy Bridge CPU if you are that worried about PCI-E bandwidth. 8 lanes of PCI-E 3.0 for each video card will be more than sufficient for any two way SLI setup for now, and the foreseeable future. If you want to get three or four cards, then maybe consider LGA 2011.

 

[blazorthon]

I realize gaming has zero benefit from hyper threading, but if you actually read my OP you will see i also plan on streaming with xsplit software, which presumably will benefit from a hyper-threaded 4 core. Also please notice the price i found the 3820 for, 229.99, which is a bunch cheaper than any 2600k or 2700k i can find. Yes i know i will need a new motherboard, but i do plan on going SLI down the road and ive read 2011 socket is a better platform for SLI rigs due to pci bandwidth.

If anyone in this forums uses the xsplit software and has this CPU id love to hear from them.

I don't know much for xsplit, but if you're running something while you game, then sure, the Hyper-Threading Technology might help. The 2500K is an i5, not an i7. The 2600K and 2700K are far more expensive. At Microcenter, the 2500K is something like $170.

The X79's increased PCIe bandwidth does not make much of a difference unless you are using three or four way CF/SLI on cards such as the GTX 670, GTX 680, Radeon 7970, or somewhat lower end cards with good overclocks (highly overclocked 7850, 7870, and 7950 can matter). So long as a card has more than 4GB/s of PCIe throughput, it is generally good enough to not bottle-neck it much at all and having at least 8GB/s eliminates bottle-necks completely. Even a Z77 board can supply up to 8GB/s to two cards with dual PCIe 3.0 x8 slots.

Also, a Z77 PLX motherboard can also have 32 graphics PCIe lanes for such a setup, so there's not a whole lot of reasoning behind going X79 unless you need to for some other reason.

 

[Scotty99]

But the 3820 is such a good price, thats what really made me think in the first place, its even cheaper than the 2600k when its in stock (by like 30 bucks).

Maybe i will just scour craigslist for a 2600k.

 

[Scotty99]

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0383144

Pretty sure the 2600k is at least 30 bucks more than this when its in stock.

 

[blazorthon]

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0383144

Pretty sure the 2600k is at least 30 bucks more than this when its in stock.

True, but why is it cheaper than a similarly performing CPU from the same company? Simple. The motherboards are much more expensive. So much more that the money that you save by getting the 3820 is lost several times over. You already have a motherboard, so buying the 2600K would save you money because you don't need a new motherboard for the 2600K. The 3820 is a poor choice in your situation.

EDIT:
What Supernova1138 said below this post is also correct.

 

[Supernova1138]

True, however you would have to buy a new motherboard, and a CPU cooler as well, the LGA 2011 CPUs don't come with coolers. All of that is going to cost a lot more than the $100 you would "save". The 3820 also doesn't have an unlocked multiplier, so it is much harder to overclock, that is why it is being sold for so cheap, most enthusiasts going onto the 2011 platform, are buying up the 3930k, not the 3820. That retailer is just trying to unload an unpopular CPU.