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Best Gaming CPU: Budget

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

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

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

At 3.0 GHz, the Pentium G860 is 300 MHz faster than the G630, earning our recommendation at the £50 price point. 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 G860 is an even faster option that uses less power.

Best Gaming CPU for £70: None

With the discontinuation of Intel's Pentium G2120, there's little reason to spend more than £50 on a Pentium G860 until you can afford to step up to the FX-4170 or Core i3-3450, at least. We expect this position to remain until Intel introduces another Ivy Bridge-based budget processor at ~£70.

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  • 1 Hide
    sam_p_lay , 12 December 2012 04:35
    'Core i3-3450' on page 2.
  • 4 Hide
    MajinCry , 12 December 2012 17:53
    What? No 'Best gaming CPU for £70'? The 965 BE!
  • 1 Hide
    Blahman11 , 12 December 2012 22:04
    Agree with MajiinCry. The Phenom 965 can be had for £70 now. If not the FX4100 has dropped to that price and I think it's a really good buy at that money. Overclocked it can rival CPUs £30 more (the core i3s)
  • 0 Hide
    Anonymous , 21 December 2012 17:55
    For £150, the fastest CPU you can get is actually the i7-880, which is on the less popular LGA1156 socket. This absolute gem beats an i7-2600k in most benchmarks, despite its lower speed.
  • 0 Hide
    bigirishman , 23 December 2012 06:05
    Whats happened to the 975's. You cant get one anywhere?
  • 1 Hide
    ITFT , 30 December 2012 23:20
    The best gaming CPU for reasonable money is 2500K - and the reason for that is because it has good capabilities for overclocking! The Core i5-3570K is not that good for overclocking as 2500K, therefore not the best.

    However, running the standard clocks then of course 3570K is better, as well as colder with lower TDP.


    Paul
    ITFT Computers
  • 0 Hide
    bigirishman , 17 May 2013 10:30
    Quote:
    The best gaming CPU for reasonable money is 2500K - and the reason for that is because it has good capabilities for overclocking! The Core i5-3570K is not that good for overclocking as 2500K, therefore not the best.

    However, running the standard clocks then of course 3570K is better, as well as colder with lower TDP.


    Paul
    ITFT Computers

    @ 4.8ghz the 3570k is faster than a 2500k @ 5ghz. Most people have no need to go above these clocks so I'd say the Ivy is the better choice. Theres not much in it though and as you stated the ivy don't o/c as good as the sandy. I wouldn't go past 4.8 on ivy
  • 0 Hide
    ITFT , 17 May 2013 14:41
    Quote:
    Quote:
    The best gaming CPU for reasonable money is 2500K - and the reason for that is because it has good capabilities for overclocking! The Core i5-3570K is not that good for overclocking as 2500K, therefore not the best.

    However, running the standard clocks then of course 3570K is better, as well as colder with lower TDP.


    Paul
    ITFT Computers

    @ 4.8ghz the 3570k is faster than a 2500k @ 5ghz. Most people have no need to go above these clocks so I'd say the Ivy is the better choice. Theres not much in it though and as you stated the ivy don't o/c as good as the sandy. I wouldn't go past 4.8 on ivy


    You can push over 5Ghz on Sandy no problem - no point doing that, but it is possible! Ivy as well as new Haswell is a fail for desktop in my opinion, yes they consume less power, but only about 5% faster than Sandy if that!!! Ivy overheats very quickly under overclocking - loads of info about it online.

    For games it wouldn't make any difference anyway - no matter what CPU have you got IVy or Sandy - the i5 - 2500K or any i7...

    Paul
    ITFT Computers
  • 0 Hide
    bigirishman , 17 May 2013 18:31
    Quote:
    Quote:
    Quote:
    The best gaming CPU for reasonable money is 2500K - and the reason for that is because it has good capabilities for overclocking! The Core i5-3570K is not that good for overclocking as 2500K, therefore not the best.

    However, running the standard clocks then of course 3570K is better, as well as colder with lower TDP.


    Paul
    ITFT Computers

    @ 4.8ghz the 3570k is faster than a 2500k @ 5ghz. Most people have no need to go above these clocks so I'd say the Ivy is the better choice. Theres not much in it though and as you stated the ivy don't o/c as good as the sandy. I wouldn't go past 4.8 on ivy


    You can push over 5Ghz on Sandy no problem - no point doing that, but it is possible! Ivy as well as new Haswell is a fail for desktop in my opinion, yes they consume less power, but only about 5% faster than Sandy if that!!! Ivy overheats very quickly under overclocking - loads of info about it online.

    For games it wouldn't make any difference anyway - no matter what CPU have you got IVy or Sandy - the i5 - 2500K or any i7...

    Paul
    ITFT Computers

    My 3570k @ 4.5 max temp on a gaming load is 60c and full load prime test is 65c. I'm only using a Xigmatek Gaia cooler also. I don't get why people say ivy runs hot! It's not that much of an issue until you really push it. 2500k and 3570k are both a good choice for any gamer.