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Best High-End Gaming Processors

Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: September 2014
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Best Gaming CPU for £170:

Diminishing Returns Kick In:

CPUs priced over £170 offer rapidly diminishing returns when it comes to gaming performance. As such, we have a hard time recommending anything more expensive than the Core i5-4690K, especially since this multiplier-unlocked processor is easy to tune up to 4.3 GHz or so with the right cooler. Even at stock clocks, though, it matches or beats the old £800 Gulftown-based Core i7-990X Extreme Edition in our benchmarks.

We have seen a small handful of titles benefit from Hyper-Threaded Core i7 processors, though. Because we believe this is a trend that will continue as developers optimize their software, we're including the Core i7-4790K as an honorable mention, now selling for £250. In a vast majority of games, the Core i7 won't demonstrate much advantage over the Core i5. But if you're a serious enthusiast who wants some future-proofing and values highly-threaded application performance, this processor may be worth the extra money.

In addition, there's certainly an argument to be made for using LGA 2011 as the ultimate gaming platform. LGA 2011-based CPUs have more available cache and as many as two more execution cores than the flagship LGA 1150/1155 models. Additionally, more bandwidth is delivered through a quad-channel memory controller. And with 40 lanes of third-gen PCIe connectivity available from Ivy Bridge-E-based processors (we're assuming that if you're building on X79 today, you're using a Core i7-4000-series chip), the platform natively supports two x16 and one x8 slot, or one x16 and three x8 slots, alleviating potential bottlenecks in three- and four-way CrossFire or SLI configurations.

Although they sound impressive, those advantages don't necessarily translate into significant performance gains in modern titles. Our tests demonstrate fairly little difference between a £170 LGA 1150 Core i5-4690K and a £800 LGA 2011 Core i7-4960X, even when three-way graphics card configurations are involved. It turns out that memory bandwidth and PCIe throughput don't hold back the game performance of existing Sandy Bridge-, Ivy Bridge-, and Haswell-based machines.

Where we do see the potential for Ivy Bridge-E to drive additional performance is in processor-bound games like World of Warcraft or the multiplayer component of Battlefield 4. If you're running a three- or four-way array of graphics cards already, there's a good chance that you already own more than enough rendering muscle. An overclocked Core i7-4960X or -4930K could help the rest of your platform catch up to an insanely powerful arrangement of GPUs.

To summarize, while we generally recommend against purchasing any gaming CPU that retails for more than £170 from a value point of view (sink that money into graphics and the motherboard instead), there are those of you who have no trouble throwing down serious money on the best of the best, and who require the fastest possible performance available. If this describes your goals, the following CPUs may be for you:

Best CPU for £240: None

Honourable Mention:

Core i5-4790K

Best Gaming CPU for £450: (or for any price)
Core i7-5930K

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  • 3 Hide
    ruban71 , 8 March 2014 09:36
    For consistency with the Best Graphics Cards For The Money: March 2014 you should give the A10-7770/7850k mention alongside the entry level. Whilst it's not a cost effective chip to pair up with a high end GPU it is a consideration for anyone looking for modest gaming. Specifically if you look at both round ups and conclude that a x4 750k and R7 240 is what you need.

    Article is looking a little out of date in places. i5-3350 could be replaced with the i5 4440 which is actually cheaper in the UK
  • 1 Hide
    Nicku , 8 March 2014 21:51
    On page: 4. Best High-End Gaming Processors, the Core i7-4930K is definitely a Ivy Bridge-E processor manufactured at 22nm. It also has a 3.4GHz base core and a 3.9GHz turbo (see the table). Getting lazy?!?
  • 0 Hide
    Nicku , 8 March 2014 21:53
    And there's no edit button? Above I meant 3.4GHz base "frequency", not core. Sorry!
  • 0 Hide
    victordrake , 20 March 2014 12:21
    Let people know: I have just composed this rig: Intel I7-4930K, MSI Big-bang Xpower II, G.skill F3-19200CL10Q-32GBZHD (4*8gB sticks), Sapphire R 290 Tri-X OC, 840 pro 512 Gbsize, WD 4tb Hyb, Power supplier Sapphire 1050 Pure, case Nox-Hummer Zero white, (altogether for more than € 2000).Well, (but I need to say very bad...), infact all this hdw (on first boot) is ABSOLUTELY NOT (reapeat) NOT working, giving each time a dull code 67 (or L9 if read upside-down), like it'ld be impossible to initialize CPU!My direct answer is: how can serious trade marks allow this shame?? Investigation are open on different fronts, completing saying already tried with a different video ad., Sapphire 5870, with same result! Good luck to others customers...
  • -3 Hide
    Moisey80 , 21 March 2014 10:24
    fuck you that there were paid for by Intel so compare fx-83 series c I3 .. fuck you that very ebanulsya FX-8350 get away I7 3770k not speak about I5 and I3! your brains quite propudrili intel!!! you finish up this garbage suffer: (
  • -2 Hide
    Moisey80 , 21 March 2014 10:24
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neeL3zymT_o
  • 0 Hide
    TheyreAllDeadDave , 4 April 2014 22:23
    I'd rather get the Athlon X4 760K.
  • 1 Hide
    paulbatzing , 16 April 2014 08:11
    The high end i5 and i7 have LGA1155 specified in your listing. It should be LGA1150
  • 2 Hide
    guanyu210379 , 8 May 2014 14:40
    No E3-1230V3? Why?
    E3-1230V3 is a good alternative for those who like i7 4770k but do not want to OC, do not want to use the iGPU and are willing to pay only the price of a i5 4670k.
    This processor belongs to the best gaming processors too.
  • -2 Hide
    Ammi6543 , 9 May 2014 17:12
    FX-8320 should've taken the £150 catergory.
    It performs as well as an i5 in games. Put it on any task like photoshop or video encoding, or even just having a bunch of programs open, and it will beat the i5, they can even perform as well as Ivy-Bridge Socket 1155 i7s.
  • 0 Hide
    Krister Arvesen , 11 May 2014 00:14
    Am I the only one thinking that AMD should be represented here? the FX-8350 is cheaper than the i5 4570 and it beats both the i5 4670K and the i7 4770K in some games... atleast I would say that's worth mentioning :p 
  • 1 Hide
    Gragiulo2000 , 28 May 2014 20:52
    The FX-6300 outperforms the i5-4430 in raw benchmark data.
    go see the passmark website
  • 0 Hide
    Alpha3031 , 4 July 2014 04:46
    Many typos this month :) 
  • 0 Hide
    Alpha3031 , 4 July 2014 04:46
    Many typos this month :) 
  • 0 Hide
    RobTHUK , 4 July 2014 17:58
    The title in Honourable mention for the i7-4790K Devil's Canyon calls it an "Core i5-4790K"
  • 0 Hide
    Twirlz , 15 July 2014 22:51
    I think the AMD 6300 should have been listed in the mid range section. Compared to an i3, which is similar in price, it offers pretty good performance on newer titles.
  • 1 Hide
    parrot1553 , 18 August 2014 21:39
    you have wrote
    Honourable Mention:

    Core i5-4790K its supposed to be i7 :)  also,I want to ask,what about the i5 4690?? where I live its about the same price as the i5 4590
  • 1 Hide
    parrot1553 , 18 August 2014 21:42
    you have wrote
    Honourable Mention:

    Core i5-4790K its supposed to be i7 :)  also,I want to ask,what about the i5 4690?? where I live its about the same price as the i5 4590
  • 0 Hide
    tea urchin , 18 September 2014 13:36
    The i5 4430 should have been given a spot months ago. It has actually been replaced by the 4440 and I believe the 4430 is end of line. (Logically..)However. I have been using a 4430 for 6 months,and the retail price has dropped as low as £116 at reputable Etailers as it became outdated. There is no competitive or sensible alternative for those who want 'enough' gaming power without expensive boards and coolers.
    I note (again) that there is no mention of this processors 4600 igp on Tom's graphics card hierarchy chart,despite it being hailed as 30 to 60% better than the hd4000. Though being fair its not important for a proper games machine.
  • 0 Hide
    tea urchin , 18 September 2014 13:39
    The i5 4430 should have been given a spot months ago. It has actually been replaced by the 4440 and I believe the 4430 is end of line. (Logically..)However. I have been using a 4430 for 6 months,and the retail price has dropped as low as £116 at reputable Etailers as it became outdated. There is no competitive or sensible alternative for those who want 'enough' gaming power without expensive boards and coolers.
    I note (again) that there is no mention of this processors 4600 igp on Tom's graphics card hierarchy chart,despite it being hailed as 30 to 60% better than the hd4000. Though being fair its not important for a proper games machine.
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