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Best Gaming CPU: Mid-range

Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: December 2012
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Best Gaming CPU for £90: 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 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 hovering around £90, it's at least capable of competing against the Core i3-2220.

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 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 £150:
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 £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.

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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.