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Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: January 2012

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  • AMD
  • CPUs
  • Processors
  • Components
  • Intel
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Anonymous
September 16, 2014 9:22:03 PM

This month, we talk about new Llano-based APUs with unlocked core and graphics clock multipliers, Intel's upcoming Atom CPU refresh, and a few notable price adjustments. Then, we bid farewell to a few favorite processors that are quickly disappearing.

Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: May 2012 : Read more

More about : gaming cpus money january 2012

September 16, 2014 9:43:38 PM

No recommendation/honorable mention of i7-5820k in article whaaaaat
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September 16, 2014 9:47:04 PM

If I was paying for the electricity, I would be picking Intel for my builds. What benefit do AMD's current CPUs have over Intel other than price and 'competition'?
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September 16, 2014 9:53:37 PM

i love the pentium g3258.
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September 16, 2014 9:58:22 PM

Agreed with Treynolds416.

All things considered, I would pick the Core i7 5820K over the 5930K. The processor itself is priced just very slightly over the 4790K and will still perform quite a bit better in Heavily threaded apps and gaming. I wouldn't care much about the lack of 12 PCI-E lanes because I wouldn't cramp in anything more than 2 GPUs anyways. Apart from the -12 PCI-E Lanes, the 5820K is still pretty much a 5930K; even if that was clocked lower, you can Overclock it so no difference at all.
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September 16, 2014 11:32:54 PM

Sooo we still don't know if the new FX's will overclock to the same Hz using less W?
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September 17, 2014 12:03:15 AM

How about i3-4330 110$ @ Amazon ?

Cpu benchmarks at 5000 ( 2000 single thread)
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September 17, 2014 12:31:59 AM

amd should launch steamroller-b based athlon x4 860K a.s.a.p. i wanna see how it fares against the pentium g3258.
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September 17, 2014 12:41:31 AM

Since Intel has the same price for i5 4440 and i5 4430, why placing best gaming CPU for $180 the i5 4430? i5 4440 is clocked 100Mhz higher.
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September 17, 2014 2:50:04 AM

There's a typo on the recommendation of Intel Core i7-5930K. In the text it say's Core i7-3530K and should say Core i7-5930K.
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September 17, 2014 3:30:55 AM

Based on this article I would like to know about the 35W TDP options.
I'm building a gaming HTPC with a PicoPSU 160XT (which has 96w of continuous output) and a GTX 750Ti from KFA2. I know that the i3 4130T fits the power requirements but I wish to know if stepping up to a 4C/4T with lower frequencies is better. In my opinion it should. Meanwhile I think I'll wait Broadwell K and the Impact VII ITX.
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September 17, 2014 3:50:11 AM

Yes I'm interested in 860K both for power consumption and performance in the entry level. I don't like 2M/4T architecture. I want AMD to go back to SMT architecture and if possible triple core processors.
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September 17, 2014 4:04:02 AM

Until I see the stuttering issue thoroughly addressed, I won't even consider the G3258 for a gamer. Maybe it's fine, but if it isn't, a lot of buyers will be severely irritated if they buy one. Tests please! And, this is one where balance matters. I know you typically isolate CPU performance by using a top-end graphics card, but in this case that may be little more than giving this chip the rope by which to hang itself. G3258+R7 260X may be more enjoyable than G3258+R9 290 (even if settings must be lowered), and AMD+nVidia differences may matter too, like R7 260X vs. GTX750Ti.
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September 17, 2014 4:44:27 AM

Small typo in the 5930K article
"Four hundred dollars and change left over, and an Intel Core i7-3530K. "

As many have argued I would have liked to see the 5820K as an honorable mention but with the caveat that any build will cost more due to the high price of DDR4 right now.
Also would be nice to see more segregation at the top of the hierarchy right now there are 39 (by my quick count) processors listed in the top bracket
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September 17, 2014 5:50:34 AM

The top tiers definitely need to be spread out. There is no way that AMD is going to be that near the top.
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September 17, 2014 6:58:10 AM

Why don't you list the famous i5-4440 processor in hierarchy chart?
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September 17, 2014 7:02:48 AM

I have the same question !
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September 17, 2014 7:16:48 AM

so when my i5-2500K will be considered as obsolete??
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September 17, 2014 7:35:25 AM

tomshardware need test the 5820k x 5860k with 32gb DDR4 dual crossfire 290x. see what diference we will find with 28 lanes or 40 lanes of pci-e.
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September 17, 2014 7:36:35 AM

*****ops "5830k"
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September 17, 2014 8:25:58 AM

1) With a $70 overclockable Pentium and a $100 FX-6300the i3's should never be recommended. Both of these chips will outperform and i3 for less money (Especially the notably more powerful FX-6300). Stop phoning it in and pay attention to your article.

2) The last CPU recommendation is laughably bad. It's like someone spent 1 minute after they woke up to write it. Spelling mistakes are everywhere and it makes no sense. You can't copy and paste the new 6-core in with the old one when there is now a cheaper 6-core out there, and an 8-core that makes a massive difference between the two. Act like professionals!!!
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September 17, 2014 9:01:01 AM

Quote:
If I was paying for the electricity, I would be picking Intel for my builds. What benefit do AMD's current CPUs have over Intel other than price and 'competition'?


AMD tends to have more cores at a given price point. I care a little about gaming, but more about highly parallel, CPU-only video transcoding. A 750K/760K/860K with their four cores is a better fit for me than the G3258's two.
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September 17, 2014 9:36:14 AM

CaptainTom said:
1) With a $70 overclockable Pentium and a $100 FX-6300the i3's should never be recommended. Both of these chips will outperform and i3 for less money (Especially the notably more powerful FX-6300). Stop phoning it in and pay attention to your article.
.
.
.

That depends on the game. In MMOs and other poorly-threaded titles, the i3 is the better choice (reserving judgement on the Pentium until stuttering tests are done). Overclocking a FX-6300 to match it may be possible, but will require a more expensive mobo, non-stock cooling, and a lot more power.
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September 17, 2014 9:38:33 AM

I wish Toms would do a Overall processor chart, outlining performance/Price for Gaming, Video encoding, office tasks to give an Idea of what is the best overall processor.
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September 17, 2014 9:52:48 AM

Surprised the 5820 wasn't listed. I thought it was the bargain Haswell-E. Is there really no advantage unless you run mutiple GPU? Am I just better off getting the Core i5-4430 for $180? I want max FPS, will I see a significant boost with Haswell-E?
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September 17, 2014 10:51:45 AM

"What do end up with? Four hundred dollars and change left over, and an Intel Core i7-3530K. "

Spelling error!
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September 17, 2014 11:25:04 AM

G1620 still rocks my world, i will upgrade only when Intel passes at 14nm.
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September 17, 2014 11:48:49 AM

I would love to see some tests done with the Xeon E3 v3 processors for gaming (at least the 1230+ models). They seem like great no-OC CPUs in the $250-$300 range for people looking to get the benefits of a hyperthreaded 4 core CPU.
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September 17, 2014 12:53:23 PM

Onus said:
Until I see the stuttering issue thoroughly addressed, I won't even consider the G3258 for a gamer. Maybe it's fine, but if it isn't, a lot of buyers will be severely irritated if they buy one. Tests please! And, this is one where balance matters. I know you typically isolate CPU performance by using a top-end graphics card, but in this case that may be little more than giving this chip the rope by which to hang itself. G3258+R7 260X may be more enjoyable than G3258+R9 290 (even if settings must be lowered), and AMD+nVidia differences may matter too, like R7 260X vs. GTX750Ti.

You, I, and others have been asking for this for a while. Sadly we've also been asking for a proper comparison between the 750K and 760K with its improved memory controller. Neither have happened yet. *sigh* Hopefully someday our ( article ) prints will come.


Onus said:
CaptainTom said:
1) With a $70 overclockable Pentium and a $100 FX-6300the i3's should never be recommended. Both of these chips will outperform and i3 for less money (Especially the notably more powerful FX-6300). Stop phoning it in and pay attention to your article.

That depends on the game. In MMOs and other poorly-threaded titles, the i3 is the better choice (reserving judgement on the Pentium until stuttering tests are done). Overclocking a FX-6300 to match it may be possible, but will require a more expensive mobo, non-stock cooling, and a lot more power.

Yep, and the i3 is still the best low-budget gaming chip for people who want to build but aren't comfortable tweaking their system. Just want to plug it in and start it up with no fuss? At stock clocks, Intel is the way to go.


numanator said:
I would love to see some tests done with the Xeon E3 v3 processors for gaming (at least the 1230+ models). They seem like great no-OC CPUs in the $250-$300 range for people looking to get the benefits of a hyperthreaded 4 core CPU.

The E3-1230 will perform just below a stock clocked i7 so tests really don't need to be done. And you're right, they are excellent chips for people that game and also run heavily threaded apps on the side. But how big is that market really? For that reason I don't think the Xeon deserves a full-on best-of award right now, but it probably deserves an honorable mention. The 1230 is also about the only E3 that deserves mention. The 1220 is just a more expensive 4440 with no IGP, a slightly higher turbo, and 2MB more L3. None of that matters much in gaming. The 1240 is $30 over the 1230 for a 100MHz speed bump, and above that is pricier than a 4790K.
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September 17, 2014 12:59:03 PM

The 5930k is a really price agnostic recommendation considering you could get the 5820k for close to 200$ cheaper and only lose 12 pcie lanes which only start to become a factor once you get to 3-way sli/crossfire+ because even if you sli 2 cards they'll run at 16x 8x(which at least with current cards doesn't impact performance) and you still have 4 pcie lanes left to get like a pcie ssd.
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September 17, 2014 1:35:54 PM

why are you still recomending the i3 4130 when at the same price tag comes i3 4160 with +200mhz clocks?
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September 17, 2014 1:38:11 PM

I'd cut Don a little slack on pricing and availability. This article probably had a two-week lead time, but prices and availability can change on a daily basis.
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September 17, 2014 2:46:57 PM

still gaming with my i5 2500k @ 4.2 ghz ...... i dont think its worth upgrading?
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September 17, 2014 2:50:20 PM

Intel Core i5-4690K and Intel Core i7-4790K with TDP 84 W
Intel Core i7-5930K Memory Support : DDR3-1066/1333/1600
REALLY? LOL
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September 17, 2014 3:02:04 PM

please note and correct: the i7 5930k utilize DDR4 not3 as mentioned in the datasheet.
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September 17, 2014 3:05:25 PM

Oh, also please note that 5930k uses LGA 2100 not 2011 as mentioned in your tech.specs.
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September 17, 2014 3:12:04 PM

5930k uses LGA 2011-3
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September 17, 2014 3:27:38 PM

Best deals power/$ in Microcenter (+tax): 1) FX 6300 6 cores/6 threads - $90 ($99 with Mb). 2) Intel Core i7-5820k 6 cores/12 threads - $300 ($499 with Mb). Also 4690k/4790k not bad. But i3-4130, i5-4430 are junk.
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September 17, 2014 7:37:45 PM


The i7 4820K is missing from the summary table (should be in the top tier),
which is a shame given that it does have 40 PCIe lanes.

Ian.

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September 17, 2014 8:06:43 PM

mapesdhs said:

The i7 4820K is missing from the summary table (should be in the top tier),
which is a shame given that it does have 40 PCIe lanes.

Ian.



Not just that, the Non-K 4790, the 4770R,
And also maybe about time to introduce the Mobile Processors to the list too?
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September 17, 2014 10:06:50 PM

I was waiting for this article to come out
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September 18, 2014 7:39:42 AM

The price ranges have been picked so Intel processors would have come as best price/performance chips. If i am curious to see the best p/p ratio for, say $100-150 or 160-220$ intervals, i can find other processor better worth to buy, with more AMD processors among them. The message of this article is loud: Buy Intel, not the best bang for your bucks! Just my 2 cents worth opinion
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September 18, 2014 8:48:48 AM

While I can respect the recommendations this post really should be broken out into two camps the AMD camp and the Intel camp. I've already got and existing AMD set so 99.999% of the recommendations are Intel so reality of it is that the $70 processor now becomes $110 since Id need a new mobo and the prices just go nuts from their since
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September 18, 2014 9:35:46 AM

Speedracerkb1978 said:
While I can respect the recommendations this post really should be broken out into two camps the AMD camp and the Intel camp. I've already got and existing AMD set so 99.999% of the recommendations are Intel so reality of it is that the $70 processor now becomes $110 since Id need a new mobo and the prices just go nuts from their since

since the article is about "best...for money", we need to consider both brands. best gaming intel cpu for money doesn't make sense if amd offers a better option at the same price point and vice versa. same with gfx cards. besides, situation specific recommendations are always mentioned so there's no need for brand-specific recommendations.
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September 18, 2014 10:27:32 AM

One difficult factor to address is the effect of overclocking. This article is presumably based on stock performance. Limited to stock, recommendations will be a lot different than once overclocking is considered; IMHO there's no way Don hasn't applied some level of pro-overclocking bias in his recommendations (which is not a ding; any rational builder would do the same). The Pentium G3258 is a great example; I wouldn't want that "thing" stock, but it might be great [in poorly-threaded titles] once it is overclocked.
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September 18, 2014 11:22:29 AM

AMD needs to do better than this to pry my phenom 980 out of my cold, dead hands. Also, where are the price cuts? I noticed the 8350 was still listed on the egg at $179 last week, only to drop another mere $10 this week. C'mon now.
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September 18, 2014 4:37:58 PM

Onus said:
One difficult factor to address is the effect of overclocking. This article is presumably based on stock performance. ...


This is why I've said so many times that, for those on a tight budget, a used 2700K offers so much value.
I've obtained five so far, every one of them handles 5GHz with ease; doesn't cost that much, Z68 boards
are cheap (bought a new ASUS M4EZ for 60), no need for a fancy cooler (old TRUE with two typical fans
is fine), excellent performance. Ideal stepping stone to something higher up the scale in the future after
one can save up for a while.

I guess the problem with charts is there really isn't any consistent way one could factor in oc potential
into the rankings. So many factors involved. All one can do is read reviews, check benchmarks, etc.,
to see how the kind of games one likes to play are affected by CPU power, based on one's desired
detail settings, resolution, single vs. multiple GPU, etc.

Ian.



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September 18, 2014 5:06:39 PM

Huba79 said:
The price ranges have been picked so Intel processors would have come as best price/performance chips. If i am curious to see the best p/p ratio for, say $100-150 or 160-220$ intervals, i can find other processor better worth to buy, with more AMD processors among them. The message of this article is loud: Buy Intel, not the best bang for your bucks! Just my 2 cents worth opinion

Ok, let's examine that. Really the only CPUs not on this list right now are the low Athlons and FX 8320, so that must be what you're sore about. Now yes, the 750K and 760K deserve mention at the low budget end simply because you still get four threads whereas the G3258 is limited to two ( and there is some suspicion that leads to stuttering. )

Compared to the i3, the 8320 gets you four more threads and an unlocked chip for $30 more. But those extra threads don't help much in most gaming right now or the immediate future. And in order to OC the 8320, you need to spend more on the mboard and cooling compared to the i3. At that point, you're not really building a lower budget gaming PC anymore, so the i3 comparison starts to be inapplicable.

Next, the 6300. Sure, going for the 8300 gives you two more threads, but again those aren't going to make any difference in a gaming first machine when you've already got six. The 6300 is already unlocked and the price difference between the two chips would pay for the CPU cooling you'd need to use it. So again, why pay more for the 8320 over the 6300?

Stepping up to your $160 - $220 range, The 8320 starts going against the i5. Again keep in mind the extra price in OC components to crank up the FX chip eats away at the price difference between the 8320 and a 4440 in a relatively cheap H87/97 board with stock cooling. In the vast majority of games you won't see a difference. In the heavier threaded games you may see some benefit in the 8320, but mostly you'll just have more noise and heat due to the OC. So again, a locked i5 is generally preferable. If you're in the budget for an unlocked i5, there's very little reason to consider an 8320.

Consider an 8320 like a cheaper Xeon 1230. They make sense to people that game but also spend considerable time on other CPU intensive tasks. As such, they aren't main recommendations in an article that is talking about best gaming performance for your money.
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September 18, 2014 9:12:07 PM

That top tier has gotten too crowded for my tastes. There needs to be a paradigm shift to where you can use more of that power. Fortunately, GPU processing has taken the load off the CPU, especially with shaders. Newer APIs are poised to drop the need for a powerful gaming CPU further
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