What core processor is best?

[phil_livesey]

I was just wondering what is the best route to take. This is in terms of price, speed and overclocking ability. At the moment i am looking into quad core ivybridge i7s, i've never really looked at AMD but i know they do 3.6Ghz+ 8 core CPUs.
At the moment i have a quad core q8300, is it better to get a dual core CPU and overclock that?
The games i would be playing wouldn't be the highest demanding games, mainly just minecraft.
I just want to know from other people what in their opinion is better.

 

[richi3d10]

Best processor around is the ivy bridge i7, AMDs new piledriver fx 8350 is much better than the older bulldozers, but still doesn't match the i7.

 

[das_stig]

Get yourself an i5, has the power you need, but won't break the bank.

 

[phil_livesey]

Get yourself an i5, has the power you need, but won't break the bank.

i5s don't have hyperthreading though do they? Is that a noticeable difference or is it just another word intel have thrown into the equation?

 

[Crazy_Ivan55]

Hyperthreading doesnt make that much of a difference in gaming because it is mainly for 3DS Max and other programs. Also you dont even need an i5 at all if you are only going to run minecraft with no skins what so ever, the most you would need is an i3 which is a dual core that is equivalent in price and performance to amd cpu's. However, if you are using HD skins then you would probably want to invest in more ram instead.

 

[richi3d10]

If you want to go AMD the 8350 is a very good CPU, it just can't match the i7, it does however compete with the i5. This does all depend on what you are going to use it for, because for running resource hungry Virtual Machines like I do for work the 8350 beats all other desktop CPUs on the market.

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

Right now very few games can take advantage of more than 4 threads. For this reason hyper-threading and additional cores processors have very limited value in a gaming system. There is generally a better return on your dollar if you pick up a better video card or an SSD and go with the Intel® Core™ i5-3570K.