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Best Gaming CPU: Entry-level

Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: June 2012
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Best Gaming CPU for ~£50:

Pentium G630

Pentium G630
Codename: Sandy Bridge
Process: 32 nm
CPU Cores/Threads: 2
Clock Speed: 2.7 GHz
Socket: LGA 1155
L2 Cache: 2 x 256 KB
L3 Cache: 3 MB
Thermal Envelope:
65 W

It turns out that the budget-oriented Sandy Bridge-based Pentium family performs very well in games. Specifically, Intel's £50 Pentium G630 beat the FX-4100, -6100, and -8120 in our recent sub-£160 CPU gaming comparison. In fact, it finished right on par with the Phenom II X4 955.

As a result, Intel displaces AMD at the bottom rung of our recommendation list yet again this month. There's not much else to add, except that if you consider the Phenom II X4 to be a capable gaming CPU, Intel's Pentium G630 is just as viable.

Best Gaming CPU for £70:

Pentium G860

Pentium G860
Codename: Sandy Bridge
Process: 32 nm
CPU Cores/Threads: 2
Clock Speed: 3.0 GHz
Socket: LGA 1155
L2 Cache: 2 x 256 KB
L3 Cache: 3 MB
Thermal Envelope:
65 W

An extra £20 buys you 300 MHz more compared to the £50 Pentium G630.

This makes enough of a performance difference to push today's £70 processor recommendation out in front of AMD's Phenom II X4 955 in our sub-£160 CPU gaming comparison. Because the LGA 1155-based Core i3s and Pentiums are unfortunately crippled by locked multiplier ratios, paying a little extra for more stock frequency could be worth the added cost in this case.

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  • 2 Hide
    MrSiko , 20 June 2012 04:36
    A year later and my 2500K is still recommended. I haven't had this much performance and value out of a processor before, and I was AMD all the way. Still holds its 4.4 overclock stably, and shreds everything I throw at it from BF3 to video-editing. Rare to get such value these days, and it feels a bit warm and fuzzy. Or that might be the cider...
  • 3 Hide
    Thomas_89 , 21 June 2012 00:47
    Hope the 3570K will give me that same performance and value :) 
  • 0 Hide
    mrs featherbottom , 10 July 2012 17:09
    I'm making up a new build with a 2500k and a Geforce GTX670. Which motherboard type should I go for to give me the maximum overlock potential? 68? 77?