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Gaming CPU

Soldato
Joined
19 Oct 2002
Posts
5,185
Location
Pembrokeshire
I'm looking to build a new pc this week but to be honest I've lost track of all the different CPUs. Its going to be a gaming rig so I want something decent.

Looking at the list I'm drawn toward that i7 3960 with a asus rampage IV x79. Is this a good choose or am I way off for a gaming pc.

Thanks
 
I'm looking to build a new pc this week but to be honest I've lost track of all the different CPUs. Its going to be a gaming rig so I want something decent.

Looking at the list I'm drawn toward that i7 3960 with a asus rampage IV x79. Is this a good choose or am I way off for a gaming pc.

Thanks

For gaming you'd want an i5 2500K :) The 3960 is great, but its very expensive and games wont make full use of it - its better for video editing and such.

An i5 2500K, and a good Z77 board is a better bet - you've got more money for GPUs then too!

Are you building a whole new rig? What sort of budget?

EDIT: as above, wait for ivy bridge too! Reviews should be out today, and CPUs out on the 29th
 
Thanks guys, that's why I'm asking here as I'm clueless when it comes to this sort of thing.

It is a new build, my current machine will be a second machine for photo editing etc.

I will be getting a new video card etc but again torn on that as I'm not sure what an upgrade for my 6990 will be but I'll keep that questin to another thread I think.

I'll keep an eye in this section for news on the new CPUs you mention.
 
Ohh and as for budget, I was looking at about £2500-£3000 for the system excluding monitor, keyboard etc.
 
Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail
Asus Z77 Sabertooth Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm 1150 RPM (x2 to replace fans on H100)
Samsung Green 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit (x2 for 16GB)
Corsair Force GT 240GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM
EVGA GeForce GTX 680 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (x2 for SLI)
Corsair Professional Series AX850 High Performance 850W Modular '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply
Corsair Graphite 600TM Midi Tower Mesh Windowed Case - Black
Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D PCI-E Soundcard - Retail
Samsung SH-B123L/BSBP 12x BluRay ROM / 16x DVD±RW Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black

£2,245.85 inc del.

Would utterly destroy anything you throw at it.
 
Intel Core i7-3960X 3.30GHz (Sandybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - Retail
£799.99

EVGA GeForce GTX 680 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (02G-P4-2680-KR) x2
£859.90

Asus Rampage IV Extreme Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard
£399.98

Corsair Force GT 240GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CSSD-F240GBGT-BK)
£239.99

Corsair Professional Series AX850 High Performance 850W Modular '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply (CMPSU-850AXUK)
£149.99

Corsair Graphite 600T Midi Tower Case - Limited Edition White
£139.99

Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (ST2000DM001)
£99.98

Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/LGA2011/AM2/AM3) (CWCH100)
£89.99

Samsung SH-B123L/BSBP 12x BluRay ROM / 16x DVD±RW Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM)
£54.98

Samsung Green 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit (MV-3V4G3D/US) x2
£95.98

Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm 1150 RPM - 3 Pin x2
£25.96


Total : £2,980.86 inc del

Considering you have £3000 to spend, you might aswell get the best :D
 
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Thanks again guys, those lists look spot on even the corsair case is what I had decided on.. One thing I notice you recommended the Samsung memory, I would have looked straight at the corsair, I take it that Samsung is good then.

When you say the 3960 is good but games won't make use of it, does this mean it will not perform as good as the other Chips or do you mean I just won't get the extra cost value out of it ?

I'd not thought about a 3 monitor setup just running one 27".. Don't put more ideas in my head :)
 
You may want to think about custom water for that budget, especially if you'll be getting an IB and overclocking as they look to get very hot.
 
Thanks again guys, those lists look spot on even the corsair case is what I had decided on.. One thing I notice you recommended the Samsung memory, I would have looked straight at the corsair, I take it that Samsung is good then.

When you say the 3960 is good but games won't make use of it, does this mean it will not perform as good as the other Chips or do you mean I just won't get the extra cost value out of it ?

I'd not thought about a 3 monitor setup just running one 27".. Don't put more ideas in my head :)
You won't notice a difference for gaming if you go with the 3960x, however you have a lot of money to spend, so it's your choice if you want to get the best or save some money. With your budget I would expect you to go with multiple monitors, and if you do, I would recommend a 3930k, which leaves you money to buy the monitors, otherwise PCI-E 2.0 limitations will bottleneck your cards.
This is what I would go with:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i7-3930K 3.20GHz (Sandybridge-E) Socket LGA2011 Processor - Retail £469.99
2 x EVGA GeForce GTX 680 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £429.95 (£859.90)
1 x Asus Rampage IV Extreme Intel X79 (Socket 2011) DDR3 Motherboard £399.98
1 x Corsair Force GT 240GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £239.99
1 x Corsair Professional Series AX850 High Performance 850W Modular '80 Plus Gold' Power Supply £149.99
1 x Corsair Graphite 600T Midi Tower Case - Limited Edition White £139.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM £99.98
1 x Corsair Hydro H100 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/LGA2011/AM2/AM3) £89.99
1 x Samsung SH-B123L/BSBP 12x BluRay ROM / 16x DVD±RW Lightscribe SATA-II Optical Drive - Black (OEM) £54.98
2 x Samsung Green 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit £47.99 (£95.98)
2 x Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm 1150 RPM - 3 Pin £12.98 (£25.96)
Total : £2,653.38 (includes shipping : £22.20).

With enough left for monitors.
 
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