I'm gonna buy a gaming desktop. I got a few questions about the i5 processor: 1) I'm on a budget. Is the non-clockable i5 future proof for the next 4 years for gaming? Do I need to spend more in upgrading to another processor in the future? 2) Is the non-clockable i5 just as good in gaming as the clockable vresion?
1) I should have thought that you'd be ok with the non-clockable version if gaming is what you're after as games are much more gpu limited rather than cpu limited. 2) If you're not intending on overclocking then basically yes
I would not buy a CPU that you can not overclock any more. Learned my lesson the hard way. However, that being said I hear they're all overclockable if you have the right bios? Either way just go for the K version. That way when it starts to show its age after a year or so you can overclock it for a nice boost.
If you use out of date BIOSes then yes but Intel had a strop and nuked / made vendors nuke that feature on newer versions. You'd be gutted to find out in the future that you needed to update the BIOS for another reason and that broke your ability to overclock. Personally I'd only ever buy overclockable CPUs unless it was for a low power / low performance PC (like a HTPC for example)
Most motherboards are now sold with later gen BIOS's that won't roll back/flash to the beta BIOS's that allowed you to overclock non K CPU's - I'd stick with a K series CPU to be safe if you plan to overclock.
Ok, both you guys gave opposite answers. I just want a CPU that I don't have to upgrade in 4 - 5 years. That's why I was thinking of getting a K so that when future games get more demanding I'd be prepared by overlocking the CPU. But if a non K like the 6500 can be sufficient enough for gaming without upgrading it in 4 - 5 years, I'll buy it. What do you think?
Curve ball - wait until later this year and see what Zen does. If nothing else it might make Intel parts a little cheaper.
It depends what you mean by sufficient really. I'd imagine a 6500 would still be able to run everything in 4 - 5 years, but if you are going all out on graphics then it would probably limit you. What GPU will you be using, and what resolution do you want to play at?
Bit optimistic, that. I bought a locked I5 once (2400) and within a year it started to creak. When I went SLI it became rather woeful, given its derped clock.
I'm no expert but to help those that are, what motherboard, graphics and monitor you getting? No point getting a good CPU in the others aren't up to par.
still rocking a phenom ii 955. It came out at the end of 2009 while the 940 (AM2+ only version and one of the first 45nm quad from AMD) Came out in January 2009. Any Intel on the market should easily reach 5 years as GPU's are still the major bottleneck for gaming. DX12 should also squeeze more from the CPU. Unless your going SLI or for VR then an i5 will do fine for a while to come. The K version will help extend the life a bit more.
Really hard to advise without knowing what the rest of the specs are, and remember only certain chipsets even allow overclocking ... no point putting a K in a board that won't allow it to overclock.
