After a brisk September, filled with AMD CPU refreshes, October brings us Intel's new Pentium E5700. We're also getting a first look at the recently-released Phenom II X3 740. Oh, and there's that recent 50% price reduction on the speedy Core i7-950, too!
If you don’t have the time to research the benchmarks, or if you don’t feel confident enough in your ability to pick the right processor for your next gaming machine, fear not. We at Tom’s Hardware have come to your aid with a simple list of the best gaming CPUs offered for the money.
October Updates
The only new CPU since last month's update is the Intel Pentium E5700, a 3.0 GHz LGA 775 model similar to the rest of the Pentium E5000-series. The $85 price tag might make it interesting to folks upgrading an older motherboard limited to an 800 MHz front side bus, but the existing 3.3 GHz Pentium E6800 is more attractive to buyers who can accommodate the 1066 MHz bus speed. If you are, in fact, upgrading, the E6800 is still the chip we'd choose.
Aside from this, Intel recently dropped the price on its Core i7-950 to about $300--half of its previous $600 price tag. This makes it the most attractive LGA 1366 option by a landslide, and makes a 3+ GHz high-end rig a much more accessible option.
There's nothing new at retail from AMD. But cut the company some slack--it launched a number of revised models back in September. We are seeing a very interesting OEM processor on the radar, though: the Phenom II X3 740 Black Edition. With three cores, a 3.0 GHz clock, 6 MB of L3 cache, an unlocked multiplier, and a $90 price tag this processor seems designed around the needs of budget gamers and tweakers. The chip's OEM status, associated 30-day warranty, and lack of bundled cooler make it difficult to give it a full recommendation. On the other hand, it certainly deserves honorable mention status for gamers who can see the value that this processor brings to the table. Incidentally, AMD was thinking about launching this chip about a year ago and pulled back from that plan. Clearly, the landscape has changed enough from then until now to warrant making the 740 available.
There's not much else to talk about at this point--well, nothing that we're allowed to talk about just yet--but I think it's safe to say that the near future will have some interesting surprises for the CPU enthusiasts out there. Keep your eye on Tom's Hardware!
Some Notes About Our Recommendations
This list is for gamers who want to get the most for their money. If you don’t play games, then the CPUs on this list may not be suitable for your particular needs.
The criteria to get on this list are strictly price/performance. We acknowledge that there are other factors that come into play, such as platform price or CPU overclockability, but we're not going to complicate things by factoring in motherboard costs. We may add honorable mentions for outstanding products in the future, though. For now, our recommendations are based on stock clock speeds and performance at that price.
Cost and availability change on a daily basis. We can’t offer up-to-the-minute accurate pricing information in the text, but we can list some good chips that you probably won’t regret buying at the price ranges we suggest (and our PriceGrabber-based engine will help track down some of the best prices for you).
The list is based on some of the best US prices from online retailers. In other countries or at retail stores, your mileage will most certainly vary. Of course, these are retail CPU prices. We do not list used or OEM CPUs available at retail.
*Facepalm*
You realize the only coverage of Bulldozer so far has been on the server side? Obviously that's not a gaming chip. But there has not been any coverage on the desktop counterpart.
It's like you saying Phenom II is not a good gaming chip because the 12 core Opteron is not a good gaming chip.
I think you guys forgot to add the AMD Phenom II X3 740 to the chart.
My biggest contention has been with the LGA 1156 somehow being better than LGA 775, and LGA 775 being a dead-end. I'm glad you finally mentioned LGA 1156 is dead too. Interestingly, it was from the day they made it. They still haven't introduced anything higher end than the i7 870, which was a first day release. It's not like they added USB 3.0, or SATA 6 Gbps, or a new PCIe spec either.
I still think LGA 775 is viable if you can get a good deal. It's older, but as mentioned has the same technologies as x58 and P55. On top of that, Sandy Bridge is going to bury Nehalem once it gets going, being a brand new architecture for the first time since the Pentium 4.
For many people, a cheap LGA 775 platform with a Pentium E6700 might do the trick until the new micro architecture comes out next year. If it means finally getting rid of the 1995 Pentium Pro architecture sooner rather than later with the saved money, it could make sense. But only if it's good enough.
And then there is AMD. Bulldozer is obviously not a good gaming chip, but AMD prices things so aggressively, it still might compete very well. Bobcat, to me, is just as interesting as Intel's new architecture. I guess I could be disappointed, but this processor seems to have hit the market in the perfect spot. Adequate performance (as opposed to bad for the Atom), with very good power efficiency, low heat, and small size/low cost could make this processor an extremely successful product. Maybe not for 3D games, but for 95% of the people, it's going to be an almost perfect fit, if it's as good as I'm hearing.
There's too much exciting stuff coming out next year to spend a lot this year, unless you really need it. Bobcat and Intel's next generation, not to mention Bulldozer are all dramatic departures that could easily make anyone buying stuff today regret spending a lot of money. I can't remember a year with so many exciting, and completely new processors coming out.
Keep your powder dry. 2011 is going to be exciting.
"This six-core monster recently stole the bragging rights for the world's fastest CPU from the Core i7-975 Extreme"
you are destroying the definition of recent
*Facepalm*
You realize the only coverage of Bulldozer so far has been on the server side? Obviously that's not a gaming chip. But there has not been any coverage on the desktop counterpart.
It's like you saying Phenom II is not a good gaming chip because the 12 core Opteron is not a good gaming chip.
I wouldn't mind a 12 core Opteron in my gaming PC to be honest
Yes I could have afforded an i5 or maybe stretched to a i7 920, but looking at what I really needed a cpu to do, anything more than the 440 would have been great for bragging rights but a waste for my wallet.
But yeah- not a real exciting time to buy: unless, of course, you have an AM3 mainboard.
On the other hand, I wonder how many spaces will be filled by Intel once the Sandy Bridge platform comes out: since some of these CPUs are also sorted by overclocking value, I wonder how much value the totally-locked Intel CPUs will offer against the easily-overclocked AMDs?
......in my laptop.....
nice joke
I didn't know there was a price cut on the i7-950. That's quite dramatic.
I was going nuts trying to ensure I got a i7-920 D0 batch, not a C0. Then the i7-930, and now the i7-950 for the same price.
Sure, nothing dramatic, but slow and gradual improvements. On a 920 I'm running 3.57GHz on stock voltage, what could these do?
It certainly will. I'm waiting. Intel and its mysterious Sandy Ridge, and AMD with them touting that Bulldozer will have both higher clocks and IPC mixed with a couple extra cores.
There is a lot of design stuff out for the Bulldozer, if you cared to read it. You can't slip lipstick on a pig and instantly transform it into a hyena.
The processor is not designed for single-threaded performance. There is nothing they can do to change that; it's integral to the design. It's made to maximize multiple thread performance very economically and beat Intel there. Intel maximized single-threaded performance, which is better suited for games, since games can't use 12 logical processors effectively.
That's integral to the design, and a lot is known about the design. AMD will no doubt price it competitively, like I mentioned, but the best gaming CPU will continue to come from Intel for quite some time.
Bulldozer should clock pretty high though, but it won't be enough. You might not like it, because you think AMD is your buddy and loves you back, but they aren't, they don't, and they probably made the right design decision since the area they will be superior isn't trivial, and they aren't superior in anything right now (from a design perspective).