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Best Gaming CPU: Mid-range

Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: October 2012
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Best Gaming CPU for £100: 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

At its stock clock rate, AMD's FX-4100 isn't a particularly compelling gaming product compared to lower-priced options from Intel. We've seen in the past, however, that enthusiasts appreciate its unlocked ratio multiplier and available headroom to scale up. When it's pushed, this processor helps enable similar frame rates as some of our favorite Core i3 CPUs, though it uses significantly more power in the process.

But the FX-4170 comes with a much higher 4.2 GHz base clock, and consequently offers compelling performance right out of the box. With a price tag recently lowered, it's at least capable of competing against the Core i3-2120.

Unfortunately, AMD's FX-4170 uses almost two times as much power to achieve similar performance in a great many applications. If you disregard consumption and focus on price/performance, though, we've at least established that it's at least a viable option.

Core i3-3220

Core i3-3220
Codename: Ivy Bridge
Process: 22 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:
55 W

As our sub-£160 CPU gaming comparison article proved, Intel's older Core i3-2120 was 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. The company's Ivy Bridge-based Core i3-3220 boasts an even more efficient architecture, enabled by advanced manufacturing technology and a thermal ceiling 10 W lower.

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 Ivy Bridge-based CPUs here.

Best Gaming CPU for £140:
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, its 22 nm Ivy Bridge design does perform slightly better per clock cycle, while using less power. For £140, 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.

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  • -1 Hide
    Anonymous , 18 October 2012 04:56
    CPU power in game rigs is irrelevant, Ive done research into many top end game engines and NONE use the cpu anywhere near to full use, For example Cryengine 3 running with a 12 core Top end cpu and 3 Nvidia SLI cards uses abount 20-25% od the CPU power (explanation from crytek the CPU has nothing to do, even if you have 3 (£700 worth) GPU's then usage will never pus high unless stupid use of the Physics systm (which in my opinion should be GPU based anyway). Ive tried to make the point that the ballance of GPU to CPU performance needs to reworked as who's going to bother buying new CPU tech if it makes no possitive impact on performance on the pricy game rigg. CPU manufactrers should be breathing down the necks of game companys to update engine code to more fully use the power of the cpu as the gaming market has always been a driver in top CPU sales, if this market is no longer relevant CPU's have no true value in a modern system and users have no reson to buy new CPU/Motherboard/Mem platforms, It all just comes down to GPU power.
  • 0 Hide
    bemused_fred , 18 October 2012 13:43
    "CPU power in game rigs is irrelevant"

    That's all I need to know about how well-crafted your argument is, right there.

    Good article, BTW, Tom's.
  • 0 Hide
    MajinCry , 18 October 2012 17:53
    Actually, last time I checked, you can get a 965 BE for £70 including shipping, so...Yeah.