What is the best Processor for a gaming computer?

J

jdarmstrong

New Member
I'm looking at buying a new desktop primarily for gaming and I'm looking for the best processor for this. I'm leaning towards the Intel I7 2600 or 2600k, but notice that a lot of systems are still using the I7 960. Are the Sandy Bridge processors much better?
 
yes sandy is better, and no game uses the 2600k other than flight simulator x, i7 is threaded as 8 cores which that's the only game threaded to use 8, nothing else uses more than 4, so the 2500k is considered the best gaming cpu at the moment, and next year ivy bridge is coming out and will work on a sandy bridge board, so you can get those later too.
 
jonnyp11 said:
yes sandy is better, and no game uses the 2600k other than flight simulator x, i7 is threaded as 8 cores which that's the only game threaded to use 8, nothing else uses more than 4, so the 2500k is considered the best gaming cpu at the moment, and next year ivy bridge is coming out and will work on a sandy bridge board, so you can get those later too.
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but would a 2600k still have better performance on an average game then a 2500k?
 
If you only use 4 threads in a game and you have 8 threads then the last 4 are wasted so it is irrelevant how many threads you have if the game in question only uses a max of 4. Once you hit the max number of threads you want higher clock speed. So a 2600k wouldn't have any noticeable increase because the 4 unused cores don't affect performance in anyway.

Of course the 2600k is 100 mhz faster so would notice that. The 100 dollar price hike doesn't justify getting a 2600k unless you're using programs that are CPU intensive and utilize all 8 threads.
 
Not better, but pretty much the same. Most games are not even threaded for 4 cores. So have a 2600k with 4 cores with 8 threads is kinda pointless. A 2500K will perform just as well. But if you want to throw down a extra 100 bucks go for it.
 
i belive i heard the 2500k is because of the 2600k's threads messing with it, for the money the 2500k is best, and early next year you'll be able to go ivybridge with the same motherboard if it gets updated which should be a good bit faster, even at the same clock speeds.
 
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