Best gaming CPU

Champ · Feb 20, 2014

So i'm on the market for a high-end gaming/multi machine. More gaming. I'm looking at the i5-2500k/i7-2600k/i7-2700k vs i5-4670k vs the best AMD offering. I wanted to stick to Intel, but I can go either way. Budget is no set price. Just want a good high-end bang for buck card. I read the newer cards don't compete with the 2500k or 2600k on performance or multi threaded task.

Hilux SSRG · Feb 20, 2014

I assume you're building, then:

i5 4670k
z87 - choose your favorite manufacturer
gskill dd3 16gb - low latency
NVidia card 770+. skip Ati/Amd, they are overpriced currently due to bitcoin mining

check newegg and microcenter for deals and that's about it.

andrewsmc · Feb 20, 2014

4670k - 219.99 AR http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116899

suraswami · Feb 20, 2014

Since your avatar shows u like Intel, no point in mentioning even AMD here.

No budget - Then go with 4770K + 780 ti

erocker · Feb 20, 2014

I'll +1 the 4770K + 780 ti.

Right now "bang for the buck" doens't apply to current GPU pricing. It's more "buck for the bang".

Champ · Feb 20, 2014

I wanted the 780 actually. Didn't know if the ti version was worth the extra cash

Champ · Feb 21, 2014

Scratch. Doing research and the 4670k looks like a good pick. Can find some nice boards too.

Durvelle27 · Feb 21, 2014

i5-4670K+My ASUS Z87-A Motherboard+16GB 1866MHz+GTX 780 Ti <---kills a 780

Jetster · Feb 21, 2014

The 780 Ti kills the Titian. Anyway I just got a 780 SC for $480. I haven't been green for years. But i5-4670K is the way to go.

arskatb · Feb 25, 2014

no budget go 4930k
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106.html

for budget upgrade go intel i5 "some 4-core"
msi z87-g45 gaming motherboard
g.skill cl9 1600Ghz ram 2x4Gb
gpu, well its upto budget

xenocide · Feb 25, 2014

Either the i5-4670K, i7-4770K, or i7-4930K. All are good CPU's and will perform great in almost all games. Just depends on how much you want to spend.

arskatb · Feb 25, 2014

xenocide said:
Either the i5-4670K, i7-4770K, or i7-4930K. All are good CPU's and will perform great in almost all games. Just depends on how much you want to spend.

indeed, allmoust ever 4-core i5 will give u way much better performance then any amd

uu ye,, almoust forget, buy lga2011 stock and x79 mb, <-- best u can have with money

Devon68 · Feb 25, 2014

Go with the i5-4670k, or if money is not a problem i7-4770k. I personally think there is no need to go for one of the 2011 chips for gaming.

arskatb · Feb 25, 2014

Devon68 said:
Go with the i5-4670k, or if money is not a problem i7-4770k. I personally think there is no need to go for one of the 2011 chips for gaming.

true that, if main thing is pc gaming, not oc or heavy loads

Vario · Feb 25, 2014

Are you going to overclock or just use it? If no overclock look into 1150 Xeon 1230v3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116906 instead of i7 or i5. The multiplier usually can be increased to yield 3.5ghz.

Right now the extra clock of an i7 probably won't give you more frames unless the game is very cpu intense. Could put the difference into your videocard. Also if you don't overclock you can save money on the motherboard as well.

Debat0r · Feb 25, 2014

+1 on the Xeon. Those are great chips for a great price. The FX-8320 is currently the best bang-for-buck CPU out there (it's like €125 here, can't go wrong for that), but can't really compete with the Xeon E3-1230v3, especially when you have the money to burn.

xenocide · Feb 26, 2014

Vario said:
Are you going to overclock or just use it? If no overclock look into 1150 Xeon 1230v3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116906 instead of i7 or i5. The multiplier usually can be increased to yield 3.5ghz.

Right now the extra clock of an i7 probably won't give you more frames unless the game is very cpu intense. Could put the difference into your videocard. Also if you don't overclock you can save money on the motherboard as well.

I am tempted to grab one of those myself. i7 performance for an i5 price? Yes please. They are an excellent value for people that don't plan on Overclocking.

Vario · Feb 26, 2014

I ran one for awhile, can't really tell the difference between a xeon 1230v2 (ivy version) and i7 3770k stock for stock. Hard to tell a difference with overclocked i7 on most games unless its really cpu bound like starcraft2. Ended up running an i7 because I like to overclock.

Also Xeons use very little power, mine ran stable at .8v full load intel burn test @ 3.5ghz (z77 mobo allowed 200 mhz overclock on 1230v2).

For benchmark comparison purposes, the 1230v2 was roughly the same performance as an i7-2600 (non-k, not overclocked). I would assume the Haswell 1230v3 brings some very modest improvement over the Ivy bridge.

Enterprise24 · Feb 26, 2014

I think no point buying LGA2011 now since Haswell-E will coming soon with more cores and DDR4.
i5-4670K with decent overclock (4.5Ghz +) should not bottleneck anything even in multi-GPU setup.

arskatb · Feb 26, 2014

4.5Ghz, u will need pretty good cooling system for that ivy and haswell (especially haswell) processors has so much heating problems with orginal thermal compound

Champ · Feb 26, 2014

Thanks for the advice guys. On amazon, is ths: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CO8TBOW/?tag=tec06d-20 the actual price and not a Prime member thing? I've always been weary of amazon but someone here said they got all there parts from there

Tatty_Two · Feb 26, 2014

arskatb said:
no budget go 4930k
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106.html

for budget upgrade go intel i5 "some 4-core"
msi z87-g45 gaming motherboard
g.skill cl9 1600Ghz ram 2x4Gb
gpu, well its upto budget

That review states it would have a hard time recommending anything more expensive than the 4670K?

arskatb · Feb 26, 2014

if u dont have 1150 mb yet and no budget i would go 2011 socket i7-4820k if ur plan is oc.
if u wont oc, go Xeon E3-1230V3 for 1150 socket or Xeon E3-1230V2 for 1155 socket

4670k is good call http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-4.html

Vario · Feb 26, 2014

Champ said:
Thanks for the advice guys. On amazon, is ths: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CO8TBOW/?tag=tec06d-20 the actual price and not a Prime member thing? I've always been weary of amazon but someone here said they got all there parts from there

Yes that is the price. If you are near a microcenter you can pick one up for $185 usually. This is a non-internet price. You buy online and pick up in store.

Easy Rhino · Feb 26, 2014

Champ said:
So i'm on the market for a high-end gaming/multi machine. More gaming. I'm looking at the i5-2500k/i7-2600k/i7-2700k vs i5-4670k vs the best AMD offering. I wanted to stick to Intel, but I can go either way. Budget is no set price. Just want a good high-end bang for buck card. I read the newer cards don't compete with the 2500k or 2600k on performance or multi threaded task.

well what games are you playing? solitaire?

System Name	Champ's 1440P Rig
Processor	Intel i7-4770K @ 4.6 GHz
Motherboard	AsRock Z97 Extreme6
Cooling	Corsair H60
Memory	Corsair Vengeance 16GB 1600 Mhz 4x4 Blue Ram
Video Card(s)	Nvidia 1080 FE
Storage	Samsung 840 Evo 256 GB/RAID 0 Western Digital Blue 1 TB HDDs
Display(s)	Acer XG270HU
Case	Antec P100
Power Supply	Corsair CX850M
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	TT eSports Poseidon
Software	Windows 10

System Name	Current Rig
Processor	AMD 7800X3D
Motherboard	MSI x670e Tomahawk wifi
Cooling	Artic Freezer II 360
Memory	G.Skill 32gb ddr5 6000mhz
Video Card(s)	AMD 7900XTX 24 GB
Storage	Samsung SSD 980 PRO 2TB
Display(s)	Alienware 3420DW 120 Freesync
Case	LianLi Lancool III white non-rgb
Audio Device(s)	Onboard ALC
Power Supply	Corsair Shift 1000W
Mouse	G502 Hero
Keyboard	Ducky Shine 5
Software	Win 11 64bit
Benchmark Scores	The second best!

System Name	In the works
Processor	4670k
Motherboard	ASUS Z87
Cooling	5x120mm
Memory	8GB Sniper Gskill 1833
Video Card(s)	MSI 970 Gaming
Storage	2x 240gb SSD's + 1TB seagate
Display(s)	27" Acer 1920x1080
Case	Corsair Carbide 200R
Power Supply	OCZ Power 600W Modular
Keyboard	Corsait K70 with red switches
Software	Win10

System Name	---
Processor	FX 8350 @ 4.00 Ghz with 1.28v
Motherboard	Gigabyte 990FX-UD3 v4.0, Hacked Bios F4.x
Cooling	Silenx 4 pipe Tower cooler + 2 x Cougar 120mm fan, 3 x 120mm, 1 x 200 mm Red LED fan
Memory	Kingston HyperX DDR3 1866 16GB + Patriot Memory DDR3 1866 16GB
Video Card(s)	Asus R9 290 OC @ GPU - 1050, MEM - 1300
Storage	Inland 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD for OS, WDC Black - 2TB + 1TB Storage, Inland 480GB SSD - Games
Display(s)	3 x 1080P LCDs - Acer 25" + Acer 23" + HP 23"
Case	AeroCool XPredator X3
Audio Device(s)	Built-in Realtek
Power Supply	Corsair HX1000 Modular
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64 bit

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS TUF x670e
Cooling	EK AIO 360. Phantek T30 fans.
Memory	32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz
Video Card(s)	Asus RTX 4090
Storage	WD m.2
Display(s)	LG C2 Evo OLED 42"
Case	Lian Li PC 011 Dynamic Evo
Audio Device(s)	Topping E70 DAC, SMSL SP200 Headphone Amp.
Power Supply	FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse	Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard	Tester84
Software	Windows 11

Best gaming CPU

Champ

Hilux SSRG

andrewsmc

suraswami

erocker

*

Champ

Champ

Durvelle27

Moderator

Jetster

arskatb

xenocide

arskatb

Devon68

arskatb

Vario

Debat0r

xenocide

Vario

Enterprise24

arskatb

Champ

Tatty_Two

Gone Fishing

arskatb

Vario

Easy Rhino

Linux Advocate

System Name	Black Prometheus
Processor	\|AMD Ryzen 7 1700X
Motherboard	ASRock B550M Pro4\|MSI X370 Gaming PLUS
Cooling	Thermalright PA120 SE \| AMD Stock Cooler
Memory	G.Skill 64GB(2x32GB) 3200MHz \| 32GB(4x8GB) DDR4
Video Card(s)	\|AMD R9 290
Storage	Sandisk X300 512GB + WD Black 6TB+WD Black 6TB
Display(s)	LG Nanocell85 49" 4K 120Hz + ACER AOPEN 34" 3440x1440 144Hz
Case	DeepCool Matrexx 55 V3 w/ 6x120mm Intake + 3x120mm Exhaust
Audio Device(s)	LG Dolby Atmos 5.1
Power Supply	Corsair RMX850 Fully Modular\| EVGA 750W G2
Mouse	Logitech Trackman
Keyboard	Logitech K350
Software	Windows 10 EDU x64

System Name	Juliette // HTPC
Processor	Intel i7 9700K // AMD Ryzen 5 5600G
Motherboard	ASUS Prime Z390X-A // ASRock B550 ITX-AC
Cooling	Noctua NH-U12 Black // Stock
Memory	Corsair DDR4 3600 32gb //G.SKILL Trident Z Royal Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600
Video Card(s)	ASUS RTX4070 OC// GTX 1650
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO NVMe 1Tb, Intel 665p Series M.2 2280 1TB // Samsung 1Tb SSD
Display(s)	ASUS VP348QGL 34" Quad HD 3440 x 1440 // 55" LG 4K SK8000 Series
Case	Seasonic SYNCRO Q7// Silverstone Granada GD05
Audio Device(s)	Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 // HDMI to Samsung HW-R650 sound bar
Power Supply	Seasonic SYNCRO 750 W // CORSAIR Vengeance 650M
Mouse	Cooler Master MM710 53G
Keyboard	Logitech 920-009300 G512 SE
Software	Windows 10 Pro // Windows 10 Pro

System Name	WorstEVER
Processor	Intel® Core™ i7-4770K
Motherboard	MSI Z87-G45 GAMING
Cooling	Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E
Memory	G.Skill 8GB (2x4GB) Sniper, DDR3 1600MHz, 9-9-9-24, 1.35V
Video Card(s)	7970 Matrix Platinum
Storage	Samsung 840EVO / Samsung F1
Display(s)	Crossover Blacktune 2763 AMG "PP"
Case	Fractal Design Define R3
Audio Device(s)	integrated
Power Supply	Corsair HX 750 Gold
Software	Win7 x64 ultimate
Benchmark Scores	over 9000

Processor	Intel i7-10700k
Motherboard	Gigabyte Aurorus Ultra z490
Cooling	Corsair H100i RGB
Memory	32GB (4x8GB) Corsair Vengeance DDR4-3200MHz
Video Card(s)	MSI Gaming Trio X 3070 LHR
Display(s)	ASUS MG278Q / AOC G2590FX
Case	Corsair X4000 iCue
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	Corsair RM650x 650W Fully Modular
Software	Windows 10

System Name	Ryzen 2023
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7700
Motherboard	Asrock B650E Steel Legend Wifi
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15
Memory	G Skill Flare X5 2x16gb cl32@6000 MHz
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Radeon RX 6950 XT Nitro + gaming Oc
Storage	WESTERN DIGITAL 1TB 64MB 7k SATA600 Blue WD10EZEX, WD Black SN850X 1Tb nvme
Display(s)	LG 27GP850P-B
Case	Corsair 5000D airflow tempered glass
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime GX-850W
Mouse	A4Tech V7M bloody
Keyboard	Genius KB-G255
Software	Windows 10 64bit

System Name	Computer of Theseus
Processor	Intel i9-12900KS: 50x Pcore multi @ 1.18Vcore (target 1.275V -100mv offset)
Motherboard	EVGA Z690 Classified
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15S, 2xThermalRight TY-143, 4xNoctua NF-A12x25,3xNF-A12x15, 2xAquacomputer Splitty9Active
Memory	G-Skill Trident Z5 (32GB) DDR5-6000 C36 F5-6000J3636F16GX2-TZ5RK
Video Card(s)	EVGA Geforce 3060 XC Black Gaming 12GB
Storage	1x Samsung 970 Pro 512GB NVMe (OS), 2x Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2TB (data 1 and 2), ASUS BW-16D1HT
Display(s)	Dell S3220DGF 32" 2560x1440 165Hz Primary, Dell P2017H 19.5" 1600x900 Secondary, Ergotron LX arms.
Case	Lian Li O11 Air Mini
Audio Device(s)	Audiotechnica ATR2100X-USB, El Gato Wave XLR Mic Preamp, ATH M50X Headphones, Behringer 302USB Mixer
Power Supply	Super Flower Leadex Platinum SE 1000W 80+ Platinum White
Mouse	Zowie EC3-C
Keyboard	Vortex Multix 87 Winter TKL (Gateron G Pro Yellow)
Software	Win 10 LTSC 21H2

System Name	Clevo W230SS
Processor	i5-4300M (-75mV)
Memory	8GB DDR3L-1600
Video Card(s)	GTX 860M
Storage	Samsung 840 EVO 500GB
Software	Windows 8.1
Benchmark Scores	Fire Strike: 3569 Sky Diver: 10 236 Cloud Gate: 10 544 Ice Storm: 63 590

System Name	Can I run it
Processor	delidded i9-10900KF @ AI OC 3x5.3 10x5.1+Supercool direct die waterblock
Motherboard	ASUS Maximus XII Apex 2801 BIOS
Cooling	Main = GTS 360 GTX 240, EK PE 360,XSPC EX 360,2x EK-XRES 100 Revo D5 PWM, 12x T30, AC High Flow Next
Memory	2x16GB TridentZ 3600@4600 16-16-16-36@1.61V+EK Monarch, Separate loop with GTS 120&Freezemod DDC
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte RTX 3080 Ti Gaming OC @ 0.85V 1950Mhz core 21Gbps mem + Barrow full cover waterblock
Storage	Transcend PCIE 220S 1TB (main), WD Blue 3D NAND 250GB for OC testing, Seagate Barracuda 4TB
Display(s)	Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 5120x1440 240Hz calibrated by X-Rite i1 Display Pro Plus
Case	Thermaltake View 71
Audio Device(s)	Q Acoustics M20 HD with Q Acoustics QB12
Power Supply	Silverstone ST-1200 PTS 1200W 80+ Platinum
Mouse	Logitech G Pro Wireless
Keyboard	Logitech G913 (GL Linear)
Software	Windows 11

Processor	Rocket Lake Core i5 11600K @ 5 Ghz with PL tweaks
Motherboard	MSI MAG Z490 TOMAHAWK
Cooling	Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120SE + 4 Phanteks 140mm case fans
Memory	32GB (4 x 8GB SR) Patriot Viper Steel 4133Mhz DDR4 @ 3600Mhz CL14@1.45v Gear 1
Video Card(s)	Asus Dual RTX 4070 OC
Storage	WD Blue SN550 1TB M.2 NVME//Crucial MX500 500GB SSD (OS)
Display(s)	AOC Q2781PQ 27 inch Ultra Slim 2560 x 1440 IPS
Case	Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Windowed - Gunmetal
Audio Device(s)	Onboard Realtek ALC1200/SPDIF to Sony AVR @ 5.1
Power Supply	Seasonic CORE GM650w Gold Semi modular
Mouse	Coolermaster Storm Octane wired
Keyboard	Element Gaming Carbon Mk2 Tournament Mech
Software	Win 10 Home x64

System Name	Desktop
Processor	i5 13600KF
Motherboard	AsRock B760M Steel Legend Wifi
Cooling	Noctua NH-U9S
Memory	4x 16 Gb Gskill S5 DDR5 @6000
Video Card(s)	Gigabyte Gaming OC 6750 XT 12GB
Storage	WD_BLACK 4TB SN850x
Display(s)	Gigabye M32U
Case	Corsair Carbide 400C
Audio Device(s)	On Board
Power Supply	EVGA Supernova 650 P2
Mouse	MX Master 3s
Keyboard	Logitech G915 Wireless Clicky
Software	The Matrix