Best Gaming CPU for £180:
Core i5-2500K
| Core i5-2500K | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | Sandy Bridge |
| Process: | 32 nm |
| CPU Cores/Threads: | 4 |
| Clock Speed (Max. Turbo): | 3.3 GHz (3.7 GHz) |
| Socket: | LGA 1155 |
| L2 Cache: | 4 x 256 KB |
| L3 Cache: | 6 MB |
| Thermal Envelope: | 95 W |
From the standpoint of raw compute power, Core i5-2500K offers very little over the cheaper Core i5-2400. It does hold three distinctions, however: it's clocked a few hundred MHz higher, it comes with Intel HD Graphics 3000, and it has an unlocked CPU multiplier.
The 200 MHz (300 MHz with Turbo Boost) advantage is almost insignificant over the Core i5-2400, and gamers with discrete graphics cards will care little about the integrated graphics engine. But the unlocked CPU multiplier is a must for overclockers using any Sandy Bridge-based CPU. The Core i5-2500K is the obvious choice for gamers looking for the best combination of overclock-ability and gaming potential.
Read our review of the Sandy Bridge-based CPUs here.
Past the Point of Reason:
CPUs priced over £200 offer rapidly diminishing returns when it comes to game performance. As such, we have a hard time recommending anything more expensive than the Core i5-2500K, especially since this multiplier-unlocked processor can be tuned to great effect if more performance is desired. Even at stock clocks, it meets or beats the £800 Core i7-990X Extreme Edition when it comes to gaming.
But now that LGA 2011 has arrived, there's certainly an argument to be made for it as the ultimate gaming platform. LGA 2011-based CPUs have more available cache and as many as two more execution cores than the flagship LGA 1155 models. Additionally, more memory bandwidth is delivered through a quad-channel controller. And with 40 lanes of third-gen PCIe connectivity available from Sandy Bridge-E-based processors, the platform natively supports two 16-lane slots and one eight-lane slot, or one 16-lane slot and three eight-lane slots, alleviating potential bottlenecks in three- and four-way CrossFire or SLI configurations.
Although they sound impressive, those advantages don't necessarily translate into significant performance gains in modern titles. Our tests demonstrate fairly little difference between a £180 LGA 1155 Core i5-2500K and a £800 LGA 2011 Core i7-3960X, even when three-way graphics card configurations are involved. It turns out that memory bandwidth and PCIe throughput don't hold back the performance of existing Sandy Bridge machines.
Where we do see the potential for Sandy Bridge-E to drive additional performance is in processor-bound games like World of Warcraft or the multiplayer component of Battlefield 3. If you're running a three- or four-way array of graphics cards already, there's a good chance that you already own more than enough rendering muscle. An overclocked Core i7-3960X or 3930K could help the rest of your platform catch up to an insanely powerful arrangement of GPUs.
To summarize, while we generally recommend against purchasing any gaming CPU that retails for more than £200 from a value point of view (sink that money into graphics and the motherboard instead), there are those of you who have no trouble throwing down serious money on the best of the best, and who require the fastest possible performance available. If this describes your goals, the following CPU is for you:
Best Gaming CPU for £460: (or for any price)
Core i7-3930K
| Core i7-3930K | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | Sandy Bridge-E |
| Process: | 32 nm |
| CPU Cores/Threads: | 6/12 |
| Clock Speed (Max. Turbo): | 3.2 GHz (3.8 GHz) |
| Socket: | LGA 2011 |
| L2 Cache: | 6 x 256 KB |
| L3 Cache: | 12 MB |
| Thermal Envelope: | 130 W |
Take the £800 Core i7-3960X, remove 3 MB of shared L3 cache, and drop its base frequency by 100 MHz. The result is an Intel Core i7-3930K, which costs almost half the price of the flagship.
The 100 MHz difference in clock rate is irrelevant really, given that both processors feature unlocked multiplier ratios for easy overclocking. Moreover, you'd be hard-pressed to find a situation where the extra cache improves performance quantifiably on its own. The money you save on the second-fastest Core i7 easily pays for a high-end motherboard and cooler, while still facilitating the same four-channel memory subsystem and 40 lanes of PCI Express 3.0.
Read our review of the new Sandy Bridge-E based CPUs here.
Based on price/performance, from what I've read, including motherboard cost, I reckon the FX4100 is one of the best budget solutions around.
I estimate it delivers 75% - 80% of the gaming performance of a 2500K, but for 60% of the cost, (CPU & motherboard, AM3+ boards being significantly cheaper than 1155 boards).
Yet several months after launch, they still don't make it to what I consider to be the Rosetta Stone of CPU information.