Hey guys, I hope this is the right forum for this. I'm doing my first ever PC build and I'm looking to spend £170-£230 on a processor. I want as fast a processor as possible with a view to gaming. I'm initially intending to run the processor in stock form and then overclock later in the year with a cpu cooler etc. What would you recommend in terms of these 3 processors: i5-3570k £178 http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007RMH1...de=asn&creative=22210&creativeASIN=B007RMH1R4 i7-2600k £230 http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004FA8N...de=asn&creative=22210&creativeASIN=B004FA8NOQ i7-2700k £232 http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005X55O...de=asn&creative=22214&creativeASIN=B005X55OR6 Are the second two worth the higher price? Is the overclocking potential good? Are there any other similar processors you'd recommend over these? Also I'm struggling to find places better priced than amazon, if you know of anywhere where I could get these cheaper then let me know. Thanks
I'm not an expert but, the i5 is better for gaming. The 2600k is a second gen processor (sandy bridge) this is bad because it wouldn't work aswell paired up with a newer motherboard. If your looking for cheaper prices in the uk try scan.co.uk, they have some really great offers on today only. Hope I helped (once again I'm not a pro so I would wait for a 2nd opinion)
If your build is purely for gaming then the i5 3570K is a no-brainer. The only advantage the 26/2700K have over the 3570K is hyperthreading (Not essential to gaming at all) and potentially SLIGHTLY higher overclock.
Software that gives you a REAL benefit from having i7 (as opposed to Ivybridge i5), are few and far between. It's only, really, high end photography, and design, software that benefits much, and then you need to be doing a fair bit to justify the cost. In terms of sourcing components, use pc partpicker. They, in theory, provide the cheapest source, for each component. Scan are another good site, and with them, you can insure your "build" against "mishaps"
I wouldn't buy an i7 unless I had specific needs for those extra threads myself. The value proposition of the i5 seems like a winner from where I'm sat. Plus latest gen intel with z77 boards is the way to go no?
Yeh, 3570K and Z77 (assuming budget doesn't force a cheap mobo) has got to be the way to go, today. Only slight thought, if there's no rush, just MIGHT be worth waiting on Haswell. Wish I had a crystal ball, as planning new build, myself, shortly.
I'd go for the i5 3570k myself and exactly what I went and did when upgrading from an i7 930 X58 build. Although the i5 3570k lacks hyperthreading, when compared to my older chip I haven't noticed any difference in terms of gaming or multitasking, even when using VM's as test servers. Z77 chipset will give you native USB3.0 integrated into the chipset which means an add-on controller chip isn't required but some motherboards will still add another controller to increase the number of USB3.0 ports. SSD caching (using a small SSD as a cache to your mechanical HDD). PCIe 3.0 is supported (if paired with a 3rd gen i5/i7 like the 3570k) but this doesn't really much difference at the moment.
