Which Core ix-xxx do i get?

[MopeyMartian]

Upgrade time!

I'm looking at a LGA 1156 chip but don't know which to pick. Money isn't an issue but saving some doesn't hurt either. I already have a Xigmatek HDT S1283 that I'll be using instead of the stock cooler.

I'm looking at chips like the core i3-530, core i5-650 or the unlocked core i5-655k. I'd like to keep power consumption downish, but still get a nice air-cooled OC for gaming.

Should I go dual-core or quad and which core i series do you think will be best for me?

 

[rick22]

quad quad quad quad

 

[mosheen]

i5 760

 

[Athlon2K15]

if your just gaming id just grab a dual core 650

 

[ebolamonkey3]

i7 860, for the HT, especially if u can get one from micro center

 

[MopeyMartian]

Gaming is my primary concern for this build. While $ isn't really an issue I'd still like to keep the price ~$200 or below. I guess my concern with the quads is that they cost more, generate more heat and from what i understand there still aren't a lot of games written to take advantage of the power. I haven't had time to keep up on this though, so let me know if I'm wrong.

Here's a couple other components that I'll be gathering:
Motherboard
RAM <--- this is not definite. waiting to see what Labor Day sales comes out.
GPU

 

[motasim]

Gaming is my primary concern for this build. While $ isn't really an issue I'd still like to keep the price ~$200 or below. I guess my concern with the quads is that they cost more, generate more heat and from what i understand there still aren't a lot of games written to take advantage of the power. I haven't had time to keep up on this though, so let me know if I'm wrong.

Here's a couple other components that I'll be gathering:
Motherboard
RAM <--- this is not definite. waiting to see what Labor Day sales comes out.
GPU

Go with i5 760 and make is future-proof. The difference is only $30 between it and the i5 650, so the downgrade is not worth it.

 

[the54thvoid]

We ought to ban the term 'future proof'.

But i agree with the quad route. If you're planning on buying any product that costs three figures or above you want to plan it to last (unless it's an expensive hooker). But for tech - if you know games will start utilising quad cores why stick with a dualie?

Also, on that front, although the i 'insert number here' range do outperform the AMD's, you could get a 6 core 1090T @ 3.2 Ghz. You wouldn't notice you didnt have an i 'whatever' and you'd have 6 cores.

Basically, whatever you do, buy a quad or above. That would make it short-mid term future proof. (can we get an equation for that please?)

 

[afw]

As ebolamonkey3 said ...pick up a processor from microcenter ...
i5 760 for $170 --> http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0341729
i7 860 for $230 --> http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0319779

 

[Dent1]

Upgrade time!

I'm looking at chips like the core i3-530, core i5-650 or the unlocked core i5-655k. I'd like to keep power consumption downish, but still get a nice air-cooled OC for gaming.

Should I go dual-core or quad and which core i series do you think will be best for me?

I would get neither, the athlon II X4 is cheaper and faster than core i3-530 and core i5-650 in almost all tasks. Gaming its slightly slower but this will turn around as games become more optimised.

 

[MopeyMartian]

As ebolamonkey3 said ...pick up a processor from microcenter ...
i5 760 for $170 --> http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0341729
i7 860 for $230 --> http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0319779

Holy Monkey Balls that's cheap!

What's wrong with them? Oh... looks like they don't ship those The closest one to me is Yonkers but I don't have time to make that trip.

 

[AltecV1]

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3871/the-sandy-bridge-preview-three-wins-in-a-row/1

 

[overclocking101]

speaking of someone that has had clarkdales and lynnfields. the pros of clarkdale: fast speed mhz wise. pros of lynnfield: stronger IMC ans NB. a lynnfield at 4.2ghz matches a clarkdale at 4.6ghz and sometimes surpasses it, why?? because the lynnfield nb and imc are really good and for some reason clarkdales dont perform well with 3d apps like the lynnfields do. dont get me wrong they will play games fine. but a lynnfield at 4.2 will outperform a clarkdale at 4.6 in benchmarks both in 3d and 2d. that being said my next cpu is still going to be a clarkdale 655k

 

[MopeyMartian]

So... it looks like quad core is the way to go. If I could get that core i7 870 for $230 anywhere else I'd jump on it like fat man jumps on a giant cheeseburger. Hopefully some really nice Labor Day sales come out next week and I'll get lucky. If not, I guess I'll look into the core i5 750.

Is there anything I'd be missing out on by not getting the newest CPU? Someone in a review mentioned no USB 3 support, but maybe they didn't know what they were talking about.