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The most asked question ? i5 or i7

Lukehawk129

Lukehawk129

Lukehawk129

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14 Feb 2012
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Location
U.K
well i have a issue with CPU as i am building a new pc and i only really use sim games such as silent hunter and farm simulator and i don't know what would be best to get as i don't demand that much from a CPU and im just wanting to get my computer built as my laptop annoying me. would it be worth spending that extra bit to get the i7 ?

could anyone help me what cpu to get ?
 
For your uses (playing simulation games) then an i5 CPU will be fine, as games don't tend to benefit from hyperthreading (which is the main difference between an i5 and i7). Though I would strongly suggest you go for an i5 2500K if you do go for an i5 - as this one allows proper overclocking and has a working HD 3000 graphics core (great as a backup gpu). Also, make sure you go for a Z68 board - as these boards allow for overclocking and tend to have other useful features like SSD caching support and SLI/CF support.
 
cmndr_andi said:
For your uses (playing simulation games) then an i5 CPU will be fine, as games don't tend to benefit from hyperthreading (which is the main difference between an i5 and i7). Though I would strongly suggest you go for an i5 2500K if you do go for an i5 - as this one allows proper overclocking and has a working HD 3000 graphics core (great as a backup gpu). Also, make sure you go for a Z68 board - as these boards allow for overclocking and tend to have other useful features like SSD caching support and SLI/CF support.
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+1
 
thanks guy been a huge help and also saved me quite abit of money aswell :D and i have got a new Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD5-B3 S1155 Intel Z68 motherboard with SLI so i think i got a good board.

of topic here but im going to get my self a new gtx 680 card and im just wondering will it bottle neck from the i5?
 
No, the GTX 680 is a fast card but the i5 2500K won't limit your performance - unless you run games at less than 1080p resolution or low settings.

Also, when you overclock that CPU to ~4.5GHz then even with two GTX 680s in SLI you wouldn't be limited in games at standard 1080p(+) resolutions.
 
cmndr_andi said:
No, the GTX 680 is a fast card but the i5 2500K won't limit your performance - unless you run games at less than 1080p resolution or low settings.

Also, when you overclock that CPU to ~4.5GHz then even with two GTX 680s in SLI you wouldn't be limited in games at standard 1080p(+) resolutions.
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wow that is power!

How does i2500k go against AMD Bulldozer FX-8 Eight Core 8120 Black Edition?
 
Sorry to hijack this thread but I'm looking at the i7 920 to replace current amd cpu which will be used for video creation as well as some gaming at 1080p but looking at the above comparison it looks like i will be better off with the i5 2500k. Wouldnt hyperthreading help the i7 come out on top vs the i5 2500k?

Any helpful suggestions?
 
The bottom line is this.

The 2500k is MORE than enough for games. It is a very good chip.
The i7 series has HT which will accelerate certain apps but not really affect gaming. Video encoding is the big HT winner.

You can video encode on either and get fantastic performance, but the i7 will do it faster where HT comes into play.

If you have the money the i7 is always better than the i5 chip. End of. If you can afford it, get the i7 and HT. Anyone who argues the i7 is not a better chip is delusional.
 
I went through this myself and since the i7 2600k was on offer I stumped up the extra £60 and went for it. My reasoning being £60 over the three/four year lifetime of the machine - what 30p a week extra? So i went for i7.
However, point taken that where do you draw the line? Extra £60 per item on graphics, HD, monitor, SSD, RAm etc = a lot extra Lol....
 
Go for 2500k, along with a solid graphics card and your set! But, having said that if you can stretch to 2600k, it will assist in programs that use it.
 
Adam_101 said:
Go for 2500k, along with a solid graphics card and your set! But, having said that if you can stretch to 2600k, it will assist in programs that use it.
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Agreed.
No real point in 2600K just now. But over three years life of the machine apps and games may come out that utilize it? I don't know for sure without a crystal ball but that's my thoughts. In my case I do some video editing and router emulation and its useful to run eight threads. How much more useful than the 2500k? Could I quantify how much more useful? Er, no....! :)
 
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