Intel® Core™ i5-2500K Processor vs. Intel® Core™ i7 950 Processor

[Mybumurface]

I am current designing a newer gaming rig, and of course I'm trying to stay within a certain budget. My current issue is a toss up between the older gen Intel i7 950 with 12 GB [2 GB X6] DDR3-1600 - Corsair or Major Brand, versus the Intel® Core™ i5-2500K with 8 GB [2 GB X4] DDR3-1600 Memory Module.

I would be paying roughly 80$ more with the latter choice, and while that doesn't seem like much in the whole scheme of things, it still puts me outside of my budget lines. I would be willing to step out of my bounds if the switch is worth it, and that's where I need some advice; Is it worth it? Should I upgrade the processor at the cost of lost ram?

As a side note I am new to "higher end" rigs, and so bear with my ignorance here.

 

[Mybumurface]

Both those games you listed in the bar graphs, which almost answers my toss up, haha.

Those are the two games I mainly play as of now, and of course the Star Wars mmo/d3/elder scrolls V, when they come out. That's primarily the reason for me wanting to upgrade as I'm eagerly looking forward to those games, and want a system that can handle them.

 

[saaiello]

I cant wait til my tax return comes the I5 2500K is the best for gaming as Psych said, the I7s are overpriced and cannot OC as high as the 2500K can. I was originally thinking of I7s a few months ago and decided to wait for sandy bridge I am so glad I did and stuck it out with my Core 2 system as long as I did.

I5 2500K all the way.

Good Luck

 

[Deleted member 362816]

The 2500k needs to be heavily overclocked to perform at the same level as the 950. remember you'll never see the same situations as in those benchmarks as it was cherry picked items running at almost 4.8Ghz. The 2500k struggled to outperform the 970be even was beaten in some games at it as it was proved the gpu makes a better difference. if you have a poor gpu a 2500k might help you a bit better in games but economical and value per performance it was proven the 950 with a Gtx 460 to be the better choice

post link to prove everything you just said. Im not saying i dont trust you i want to see it.

 

[Deleted member 362816]

1. Clock for clock the 2500K is faster then a 950
2. The 970be beats the 2500K in NOTHING

970be vs 2500K.. The 2500K wins every test

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=186

Core I7 950 Vs Core I5 2500K.... 2500K loses 5 out of the 30 tests

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/288?vs=100

I'm not sure who fed you that bs.. Probably Amd fanboi's but it's all incorrect

Nicely noted-- So dadiggle wheres your proof?

 

[oc_mania]

No need to go i7 950, 2500k pwns the 950 at performace and price. Go i5-2500k - all the stuff dadiggle said are total bullsh*t.. First at the benchmarks psycho showed the i5 2500k is running at 3.3 ghz.. All im going to say is just read the title of this video.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=achL4hIAvpo

 

[bearclaw99]

The 2500K beats the i7 950 at stock, as far as gaming is concerned, and even moreso with its better Turbo Boost. Not to mention an OC 2500K...

The only situation in which a 950 might edge out a stock 2500K is in applications that use hyperthreading. The vast majority of games do not use it

 

[Mybumurface]

http://ppbm5.com/Benchmark5.html
http://ppbm5.com/News.html

The best area to be is the blue area. The further to the right, the better the performance in the test, the higher the Bang-for-the-Buck (BFTB) score, the better the value for the money. To help interpreting these results, the two scores in the blue area and others close to it, are:

Well at least it wasn't specs off wikepedia... Granted it was close.

Thanks for the help guys, I will be going with the i5 2500k for sure after researching both rather thoroughly.