Hi everyone,
I would like to apologize for the delay in my update but it is thanksgiving week here which means things are hectic. I have been working long hours and then some just to make sure everything at my work is up to date. But now that my work is done, I am marching on wards with my computer builds and ideas.
I will be discussing Intel CPUs in this post and then following it up with AMD CPUs and finally following it up with what I decided on getting for myself so stay tuned ^_^ .
A.) The CPU
The first and the most crucial part of the build. Which CPU to go with. The choices we have are Intel and AMD in this department. Intel has the powerful Core Family of processors which has three main branches to choose from. Core i3 (The entry level processor), Core i5 (The mid-range processor) and Core i7 (The high-end processor.) My wish to build a gaming PC pretty much ruled out Core i3 for me and left me with Core i5 and Core i7. The processors of interest to me were as follows:
Core i5
Core i5-2500K
The 2500K is a really great processor which runs on the Sandy Bridge architecture. This little beast is amazingly fast and in benchmarks can actually perform better then Core i7-975 Extreme and Core i7-965 Extreme which were the i7's from Intels first generation of the Core i7's. The K in the 2500K denotes that it has an unlocked multiplier which means that you can overclock it with ease. It is a really great choice and the price is also very competitive. As of the date of this post is priced at $224.99. If you buy this processor please take note you will need a motherboard which has the Socket LGA 1155. Get the wrong socket type and your cpu will not work with it.
Core i7
A lot of options here. From the first Core i7 generation we have
Core i7 980X
An unlocked 6 Core (12 thread) beast of a cpu with the price to match. Currently selling on Amazon (deactivated on Newegg for now so found it on Amazon) for $929.99 (The Amazon price is in fact higher. I am quoting the price I found under the selling as New link.)
Core i7 990X
The ultimate Intel processor on the LGA 1366 socket. Currently selling on for $999.99. Either of these are for a the foreseeable future guaranteed to crush most games (along with a good GPU ofcourse.)
If you do not want to shell out so much cash you could alternatively go for Core i7 980 which right now is selling for $579.99. Please note that this one has a locked Core which will not allow you to overclock it the way you can OC both the 980X and the 990X. All three listed above are on the LGA 1366 socket type so please choose your motherboard accordingly.
From the 2nd generation (Sandy Bridge) we have
Core i7 2600K
One of my favorite processors. This is an unlocked 4 core processor with hyper threading which basically gives you 8 threads. to work with. It is selling for $319.99. This in my opinion is the best CPU for the value and in benchmarks sits below the 990X, 980X (or above depending on what is being bench marked.)
Core i7 2700K
The latest introduction in the Sandy Bridge lineup, the 2700K has a speed of 3.50Ghz versus the 3.40Ghz of the 2600K. The slightly more brawnier brother of the 2600K is selling for $369.99.
Both CPUs require the LGA 1155 socket motherboards to work with so as always, choose wisely.
The latest addition to all of these processors are the Sandy Bridge Extreme chips which require a motherboard with LGA 2011 socket.
Core i7 3930K
The latest 6Core-12Thread beast which operates at 3.20Ghz. Selling for $599.99. The K as usual denotes an unlocked multiplier for overclocking ease.
Core i7 3960X
The ultimate Intel CPU to date with 6 Cores -12 Threads operating at 3.3Ghz of speed and more L3 Cache than the 3930K. Selling for $1049.99
One main difference to note is that the 2600k and 2700k come with built in Intel HD graphics eliminating the need to buy a separate Video Card whereas the 3930K and 3960X do not have that option. With that being said, if you want to do serious gaming, you are going to need a dedicated GPU for all your visual needs.
My personal thought on which processor to choose are as follows.
If you want to do serious gaming but do not have a big budget, you should choose the i5-2500K. It does not have Hyper Threading which results in 4Cores-4Threads but those 4 Cores with a decent GPU will run just about anything.
If you can spend a little more money you should go for the i7-2600K. It offers some serious computing power and can run through any game with remarkable ease.
Got money to burn? Lots of money to burn? You should choose 3960X. It does everything the 990X does and more. The difference? With 990X you had the option of going with tri-channel ram for some serious performance. The 3960X will give you the option to go with quad-channel ram for ever more potential performance.
Next post I will discuss the world of AMD Processors.
Till then,
Adios--
I would like to apologize for the delay in my update but it is thanksgiving week here which means things are hectic. I have been working long hours and then some just to make sure everything at my work is up to date. But now that my work is done, I am marching on wards with my computer builds and ideas.
I will be discussing Intel CPUs in this post and then following it up with AMD CPUs and finally following it up with what I decided on getting for myself so stay tuned ^_^ .
A.) The CPU
The first and the most crucial part of the build. Which CPU to go with. The choices we have are Intel and AMD in this department. Intel has the powerful Core Family of processors which has three main branches to choose from. Core i3 (The entry level processor), Core i5 (The mid-range processor) and Core i7 (The high-end processor.) My wish to build a gaming PC pretty much ruled out Core i3 for me and left me with Core i5 and Core i7. The processors of interest to me were as follows:
Core i5
The 2500K is a really great processor which runs on the Sandy Bridge architecture. This little beast is amazingly fast and in benchmarks can actually perform better then Core i7-975 Extreme and Core i7-965 Extreme which were the i7's from Intels first generation of the Core i7's. The K in the 2500K denotes that it has an unlocked multiplier which means that you can overclock it with ease. It is a really great choice and the price is also very competitive. As of the date of this post is priced at $224.99. If you buy this processor please take note you will need a motherboard which has the Socket LGA 1155. Get the wrong socket type and your cpu will not work with it.
Core i7
A lot of options here. From the first Core i7 generation we have
Core i7 980XAn unlocked 6 Core (12 thread) beast of a cpu with the price to match. Currently selling on Amazon (deactivated on Newegg for now so found it on Amazon) for $929.99 (The Amazon price is in fact higher. I am quoting the price I found under the selling as New link.)
Core i7 990XThe ultimate Intel processor on the LGA 1366 socket. Currently selling on for $999.99. Either of these are for a the foreseeable future guaranteed to crush most games (along with a good GPU ofcourse.)
If you do not want to shell out so much cash you could alternatively go for Core i7 980 which right now is selling for $579.99. Please note that this one has a locked Core which will not allow you to overclock it the way you can OC both the 980X and the 990X. All three listed above are on the LGA 1366 socket type so please choose your motherboard accordingly.
From the 2nd generation (Sandy Bridge) we have
Core i7 2600K
One of my favorite processors. This is an unlocked 4 core processor with hyper threading which basically gives you 8 threads. to work with. It is selling for $319.99. This in my opinion is the best CPU for the value and in benchmarks sits below the 990X, 980X (or above depending on what is being bench marked.)
Core i7 2700K
The latest introduction in the Sandy Bridge lineup, the 2700K has a speed of 3.50Ghz versus the 3.40Ghz of the 2600K. The slightly more brawnier brother of the 2600K is selling for $369.99.
Both CPUs require the LGA 1155 socket motherboards to work with so as always, choose wisely.
The latest addition to all of these processors are the Sandy Bridge Extreme chips which require a motherboard with LGA 2011 socket.
The latest 6Core-12Thread beast which operates at 3.20Ghz. Selling for $599.99. The K as usual denotes an unlocked multiplier for overclocking ease.
The ultimate Intel CPU to date with 6 Cores -12 Threads operating at 3.3Ghz of speed and more L3 Cache than the 3930K. Selling for $1049.99
One main difference to note is that the 2600k and 2700k come with built in Intel HD graphics eliminating the need to buy a separate Video Card whereas the 3930K and 3960X do not have that option. With that being said, if you want to do serious gaming, you are going to need a dedicated GPU for all your visual needs.
My personal thought on which processor to choose are as follows.
If you want to do serious gaming but do not have a big budget, you should choose the i5-2500K. It does not have Hyper Threading which results in 4Cores-4Threads but those 4 Cores with a decent GPU will run just about anything.
If you can spend a little more money you should go for the i7-2600K. It offers some serious computing power and can run through any game with remarkable ease.
Got money to burn? Lots of money to burn? You should choose 3960X. It does everything the 990X does and more. The difference? With 990X you had the option of going with tri-channel ram for some serious performance. The 3960X will give you the option to go with quad-channel ram for ever more potential performance.
Next post I will discuss the world of AMD Processors.
Till then,
Adios--
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