Best Gaming CPU for £95: Tie
FX-4170
| FX-4170 | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | Zambezi |
| Process: | 32 nm |
| CPU Cores: | 4 |
| Clock Speed (Max. Turbo): | 4.2 GHz (4.3 GHz) |
| Socket: | AM3+ |
| L2 Cache: | 4 x 1 MB |
| L3 Cache: | 8 MB |
| HyperTransport: | 4000 MT/s |
| Thermal Envelope: | 125 W |
But the FX-4170 comes with a much higher 4.2 GHz base clock, and consequently offers compelling performance out-of-the-box. With the price recently lowered (in the U.S. at least), it makes good competition for the Core i3-2120. Unfortunately the FX-4170 uses almost twice the power to accomplish similar frame rates, but from a pure price/performance perspective it's a viable competitor.
Core i3-2120
| Core i3-2120 | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | Sandy Bridge |
| Process: | 32 nm |
| CPU Cores/Threads: | 2/4 |
| Clock Speed: | 3.3 GHz |
| Socket: | LGA 1155 |
| L2 Cache: | 2 x 256 KB |
| L3 Cache: | 3 MB |
| Thermal Envelope: | 65 W |
As our sub-£160 CPU gaming comparison article proved, the budget Core i3-2120 is a surprisingly capable gaming processor with the ability to beat some of the quad-core CPUs we've recommended at this price in the past.
Yes, you have to essentially forsake the potential for overclocking, given (what we consider to be) enthusiast-unfriendly locks on the multiplier and a base clock with very little room to scale beyond 100 MHz. But its stock performance is compelling, and this CPU still warrants a recommendation.
Read our review of the Sandy Bridge-based CPUs here.
Best Gaming CPU for £140:
Core i5-2310
| Core i5-2310 | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | Sandy Bridge |
| Process: | 32 nm |
| CPU Cores/Threads: | 4 |
| Clock Speed (Max. Turbo): | 2.9 GHz (3.2 GHz) |
| Socket: | LGA 1155 |
| L2 Cache: | 4 x 256 KB |
| L3 Cache: | 6 MB |
| Thermal Envelope: | 95 W |
Intel's Sandy Bridge architechture is undeniably fast. Test data suggests that the Core i5-2310 can stand toe-to-toe with older LGA 1366-based processors when it comes to gaming performance. We're not talking about the entry-level models, either. This affordable processor has the chops to compete with Intel's thousand-dollar Extreme Edition chips.
Read our review of the Sandy Bridge-based CPUs here.
Best Gaming CPU for £145:
Core i5-3450
| Core i5-3450 | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | Ivy Bridge |
| Process: | 22 nm |
| CPU Cores/Threads: | 4 |
| Clock Speed (Max. Turbo): | 3.1 GHz (3.5 GHz) |
| Socket: | LGA 1155 |
| L2 Cache: | 4 x 256 KB |
| L3 Cache: | 6 MB |
| Thermal Envelope: | 77 W |
As fast as Intel's Sandy Bridge architecture is in games, the 22 nm Ivy Bridge design performs slightly better per clock cycle, while using less power. For under £150, the Core i5-3450 promises to offer predictably impressive performance, based on our experiences with Sandy Bridge-based chips in the same price range.
It is also worth noting that the third-gen Core processor features a lower TDP and includes 16 lanes of PCI Express 3.0 connectivity. If you're buying a 7-series motherboard and Radeon HD 7000- or GeForce GTX 600-series graphics card anyway, enabling a faster connection between the CPU and GPU might be an important check-list feature (even if it isn't currently an important performance consideration).
Read our review of the Ivy Bridge-based CPUs here.
its great to see toms hardware recommending these low end cpu,s ,however they may be low end but they have mid range performance... as the review above stated they can take on the FX4100 and even the 8 core bulldozers.. and can keep up with a quad core phenom..... i dont know how intel have acheived this but this allows guys like myself with limited budgets to build budget gaming rigs on a shoestring.....
its nice to watch these channels on youtube with quad crossfire and overclocked i7,s but unless you have a 40K+ yearly salary or your folks are mega rich this kind of hardware is way out of your reach...
theres many decent sites that can recommend good budget hardware but "toms hardware" is the best source of information anywhere online.... the best cpu and gpu monthly reports are second to none and this was the basis of my choice to go with the G620.....