In this month's update, we introduce a staggering 14 processors, which mostly include Haswell-based CPUs that trickled down to the Core i3 and Pentium families. There are a few surprises from the Athlon X4 760K, Core i5-3340, and Ivy Bridge-E line-ups.
If you don’t have the time to research benchmarks, or if you don’t feel confident enough in your ability to pick the right processor for your next gaming machine, fear not. We at Tom’s Hardware have come to your aid with a simple list of the best gaming CPUs offered for the money.
September Updates:
Fourteen new CPUs launched over the last month. A majority were Haswell-based Pentiums and Core i3s, but we also saw a handful of Ivy Bridge-E-based processors show up, in addition to a fresh Athlon X4.
Let's begin with the latest from AMD, its Athlon X4 760K. In essence, you're looking at an Athlon X4 750K with higher 3.8 GHz base and 4.1 GHz Turbo Core clock rates. At around £70, the 760K only costs about £5 more than the 750K. But since both CPUs feature unlocked multipliers, we're not really excited about spending extra, particularly since that price gets us closer to the £80 FX-4130. Enthusiasts might hope the 760K is binned for higher frequencies, but we have no evidence to suggest it'll hit more aggressive overclocks. As such, the 750K retains our £65 recommendation.
Next up is Intel's Core i5-3340, built on the Ivy Bridge architecture. Think of this as a Core i5-3350P, but with HD Graphics 2500. Operating at a base clock rate of 3.1 GHz and a 3.3 GHz Turbo Boost ceiling, rated for 77 W, and priced at £150, gamers with discrete graphics wouldn't pick this chip over the Core i5-3350P, which is £15 cheaper and is every bit as fast.
Gamers might be tempted to pull the trigger on one of the new Ivy Bridge-E-based Core i7s, though. The £275 Core i7-4820K is a quad-core model with 10 MB of shared L3 cache. Its base frequency is 3.7 GHz, but can ramp up to 3.9 GHz in lightly threaded apps. There's also an unlocked ratio multiplier to consider. But would you really want that over a Core i7-4770K? The £460 Core i7-4930K (3.4 GHz base; 3.9 GHz peak Turbo Boost clock rate) and £800 Core i7-4960X (3.6 GHz base, scaling up as high as 4 GHz) are six-core CPUs able to work on 12 threads at a time. The -4930K features 12 MB of shared L3, while the -4960X employs 15 MB. As Chris Angelini concluded in Intel Core i7-4960X Review: Ivy Bridge-E, Benchmarked, Intel's latest is just a little faster than the Sandy Bridge-E-based models that came before. Really, their biggest advantage comes from lower power consumption, enabled by 22 nm manufacturing. Consequently, we're giving the Core i7-4930K an honorable mention in the top spot, replacing the Core i7-3930K.
The remaining nine introductions are based on Intel's Haswell architecture. From the bottom up, we have a £50 Pentium G3220 (3 GHz), a £65 Pentium G3420 (3.2 GHz), and the £80 Pentium G3430 (3.3 GHz). They're all 54 W parts with HD Graphics on-die, which gamers won't care about. The only real news bit is that the 3.3 GHz Pentium G3220 is Intel's fastest Pentium ever, breaking the record set by its Wolfdale-based Pentium E6700 at 3.2 GHz.
Core i3s built on the Haswell architecture are more interesting. The £100 Core i3-4130 (3.4 GHz), £120 Core i3-4330 (3.5 GHz), and £140 Core i3-4340 (3.6 GHz) should be competent gaming processors thanks to Hyper-Threading and high clock rates. All three are rated at 54 W. The Core i3-4300s boast HD Graphics 4600, while the -4100s are limited to HD Graphics 4400. Intel also has a lower-voltage Core i3-4130T, which is limited to 35 W. Of these introductions, the Core i3-4130 is perhaps most attractive because of its £100 price point and great per-core performance. It takes our recommendation from the Core i3-3240. We like that the Core i3-4300-series models operate at higher frequencies (the Core i3-4340 at an impressive 3.6 GHz). However, they're priced too much like the superior Core i5s.
The last two recent releases are the £150 Core i5-4440, with a 3.1 GHz base clock that stretches to 3.3 GHz using Turbo Boost, and the £250 Core i7-4771, operating between 3.5 and 3.9 GHz. Both are quad-core models with 84 W TDPs and HD Graphics 4600. The Core i7 naturally gets Hyper-Threading. However, neither model really grabs our attention compared to CPUs that are already available.
There isn't much happening on the AMD side to counter. The FX-4300 is down a smidgen, making it an interesting alternative to the FX-4130. Additionally, AMD's FX-9370 and -9590 have also dropped but remain far more expensive than competing models from Intel, at least as far as gaming goes.
Some Notes About Our Recommendations
This list is for gamers who want to get the most for their money. If you don’t play games, then the CPUs on this list may not be suitable for your particular needs.
The criteria to get on this list are strictly price/performance. We acknowledge that there are other factors that come into play, such as platform price or CPU overclockability, but we're not going to complicate things by factoring in motherboard costs. We may add honorable mentions for outstanding products in the future, though. For now, our recommendations are based on stock clock speeds and performance at that price.
Cost and availability change on a daily basis. We can’t offer up-to-the-minute accurate pricing information in the text, but we can list some good chips that you probably won’t regret buying at the price ranges we suggest (and our PriceGrabber-based engine will help track down some of the best prices for you).
The list is based on some of the best US prices from online retailers. In other countries or at retail stores, your mileage will most certainly vary. Of course, these are retail CPU prices. We do not list used or OEM CPUs available at retail.
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1 Hidebemused_fred , 19 September 2013 10:07Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the FX-4130 is based on the bulldozer architecture, not Vishera. It's the FX-4300 that's based on the Vishera architecture.....
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-1 Hidejldevoy , 19 September 2013 16:02Taking the 3770k over the 4770k because it needs a new motherboard was dumb; since i was on an x58 system before they both needed a new motherboard.
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0 HideFisheth , 24 September 2013 20:03Wish I saw this before I dropped 600 on a new PC... Show's what a little bit of research can do! Never saw this article before.
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0 Hidexystus , 7 October 2013 09:55I'm still playing on my 2500K @ 4.5GHz...on the one side it's good I haven't had the need to upgrade but on the other hand I am itching for an upgrade but I guess I'll have to wait another two years.