i7 not worth of for gaming?

jamenn · 14 Nov 2011 at 22:10

I've read quite a few discussions on the subject and am still not completely clear.
Purely for gaming is there no benefit in getting an i7 chip over an i5?

bhavv · 14 Nov 2011 at 23:46

Nope, there isnt any benefit.

Hyperthreading doesnt do anything for games, and also in BF3 it creates a lot of problems and needs to be turned off too.

All it will do is make your CPU run around 10 degrees hotter, thats the only noticable difference you would see in a pure gaming rig.

The 2500k is the best CPU you can get right now for gaming.

kedge · 15 Nov 2011 at 08:20

bhavv said:
Hyperthreading in BF3 creates a lot of problems and needs to be turned off too.

I agree on some things but i tried ht on and off with bf3, no difference really, server lag in europe is annoying but expected and origin and battlelog is probably the only things i would turn off but i doubt that is possible without some issues, origin is next to a trojan horse i heard from those with security awareness. Yep, so i leave ht on

jamenn · 15 Nov 2011 at 08:30

Thanks for the replies, I think I will just get the 2500k and be done with it

danyjr · 15 Nov 2011 at 08:51

3930K vs 2500K
$555 vs $216

Discuss!

Shaddow · 15 Nov 2011 at 13:26

I've had no problems with BF3 using my 2600k (oc @4.6ghz)

Surveyor · 15 Nov 2011 at 13:37

danyjr said:
3930K vs 2500K
£499.99 vs £163.99

Discuss!

More appropriate for this forum

Based on today's price at OcUK.

Okatsu · 15 Nov 2011 at 13:41

bhavv said:
Hyperthreading doesnt do anything for games, and also in BF3 it creates a lot of problems and needs to be turned off too.

Not a single problem with HT here in BF3...

bhavv · 15 Nov 2011 at 14:16

This is why I shouldnt listen to what I read in reviews

gareth170 · 15 Nov 2011 at 14:36

bhavv said:
This is why I shouldnt listen to what I read in reviews

hence why i don't trust review sites.

i have no issues with HT on in BF 3

Martini1991 · 15 Nov 2011 at 14:38

gareth170 said:
hence why i don't trust review sites.

i have no issues with HT on in BF 3

Just because one doesn't, doesn't mean the rest don't either.
I bet there's still a few Xbox 360 launch consoles working, doesn't mean there wasn't stability issues.

bhavv said:
Nope, there isnt any benefit.

Hyperthreading doesnt do anything for games, and also in BF3 it creates a lot of problems and needs to be turned off too.

The only reason hyperthreading doesn't do anything for games, is that most games don't make use of 5+ threads, and those that do would likely be GPU bound.

If you CPU bound yourself by turning your CPU to 1 core, 1 thread, recorded FPS, then did the same at 1 core, 2 threads, you'd notice a difference.

As it stands right now, from a gaming standpoint, the 2500k is the best CPU to invest in.

gareth170 · 15 Nov 2011 at 14:46

Martini1991 said:
Just because one doesn't, doesn't mean the rest don't either.
I bet there's still a few Xbox 360 launch consoles working, doesn't mean there wasn't stability issues.

The only reason hyperthreading doesn't do anything for games, is that most games don't make use of 5+ threads, and those that do would likely be GPU bound.

If you CPU bound yourself by turning your CPU to 1 core, 1 thread, recorded FPS, then did the same at 1 core, 2 threads, you'd notice a difference.

what???

reviews say with HT on you'll see stuttering. im just stating it doesn't

i didn't even say anything about if games benefits from HT or not

Martini1991 · 15 Nov 2011 at 14:52

gareth170 said:
what???

reviews say with HT on you'll see stuttering. im just stating it doesn't

i didn't even say anything about if games benefits from HT or not

I forgot to quote Bhavy.

But, point bolded, just because you don't see stuttering doesn't mean it didn't affect the reviewers, or hasn't affected other people.
EDIT : I'm sure on this forum I've seen posts of the stuttering, and disabling HT fixing it.

gareth170 · 15 Nov 2011 at 15:05

Martini1991 said:
But, point bolded, just because you don't see stuttering doesn't mean it didn't affect the reviewers, or hasn't affected other people.
EDIT : I'm sure on this forum I've seen posts of the stuttering, and disabling HT fixing it.

i think bhavv thought it affects all systems with HT on

also it doesn't mean it a 100% sure it will affect OP if he gets a chip with HT

bhavv · 15 Nov 2011 at 15:06

Martini1991 said:
EDIT : I'm sure on this forum I've seen posts of the stuttering, and disabling HT fixing it.

^^

This has been written in lots of places. By reviews, I mean any user review or comments on the game too, and there have been lots of complaints about BF3 having problems with hyperthreading enabled.

Martini1991 · 15 Nov 2011 at 15:09

bhavv said:
^^

This has been written in lots of places. By reviews, I mean any user review or comments on the game too, and there have been lots of complaints about BF3 having problems with hyperthreading enabled.

Could be a..... BD Buzzword incoming ; Thread Scheduling problem.

Since BF3's supposed to be able to use X amount of threads, it might be using the HT thread as the second thread, instead of a core, and keep on going, so some of the more strenuous tasks are done on the "weaker" thread.
Not the best phrased post, but you get the gist.

gareth170 said:
i think bhavv thought it affects all systems with HT on

also it doesn't mean it a 100% sure it will affect OP if he gets a chip with HT

Oh, I agree.
But then it boils down to ; Is the 2600k/2700k worth the premium over the 2500k? And quite simply, as it stands? Nope.

gareth170 · 15 Nov 2011 at 15:14

Martini1991 said:
Could be a..... BD Buzzword incoming ; Thread Scheduling problem.

Since BF3's supposed to be able to use X amount of threads, it might be using the HT thread as the second thread, instead of a core, and keep on going, so some of the more strenuous tasks are done on the "weaker" thread.
Not the best phrased post, but you get the gist.

if thats the case surely it would affect every system with ht on

Martini1991 · 15 Nov 2011 at 15:16

gareth170 said:
if thats the case surely it would affect every system with ht on

Microstutter is pretty much always there, but some people don't notice it. Perhaps it's the same thing here? But as regards to why HT creates a problem, I'm just speculating.

Caracus2k · 15 Nov 2011 at 18:30

bhavv said:
Nope, there isnt any benefit.

Hyperthreading doesnt do anything for games, and also in BF3 it creates a lot of problems and needs to be turned off too.

All it will do is make your CPU run around 10 degrees hotter, thats the only noticable difference you would see in a pure gaming rig.

The 2500k is the best CPU you can get right now for gaming.

Not strictly true though is it (the bit about there being no benefit). Especially if you want to run a heavy SLI setup which 1366 I7's and 2011's provide more lanes for.

Poster needs to be a bit clearer about what I7's and I5's he is talking about no thanks to Intels confusing naming scheme meaning that I5's and I7's could, between them, relate to any of four separate incompatible motherboard sockets!

But to answer the question, when considering money spent the smart buy is still a 2500K or a 2700K if you have the money and want a circa 5ghz overclock

If you want to go mental with 3-way SLI'd 580's or something then you are going to want to shell out for the latest 3960X because you obviously are not too concerned about money and this will be a bit faster for most things at the top end (ie games at silly resolutions over three screens etc) than anything else out at the moment

GTO656 · 15 Nov 2011 at 21:30

i7 isnt really necessary for gaming, i5 does the job.