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CPU for Gaming

need a bit more info to help......why are these the only choices? if its just spare parts i would choose the quad over a dual core...but then again depends on the games...newer bf series use the quad quite well...other games not so much
 
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the i7 should be better overall although the i3 should win in most single threaded apps, the i7 has 8 threads vs the 4 threads of the i3. The i7 can be overclocked highly though while you cant oc the i3 at all.
 
i7 920, unless most of the games played happen to be single threaded.
 
primetime said:
need a bit more info to help......why are these the only choices? if its just spare parts i would choose the quad over a dual core...but then again depends on the games...newer bf series use the quad quite well...other games not so much
Click to expand...

Only choices because i'm super budgeted and I can get a 920 for around $40, or an i3 combo for 95.

Just waiting for opportunities.
 
Can get a xeon hexacore for about $70-80 and it will smoke the 920.......lol i sold my 920 for like 25 bucks to help out an [H] member....just a thought i think its well worth the extra money.....extra cores are nice but maybe you don't need em
 
This is direct from .com (http://.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-920-vs-Intel-Core-i3-2120)

i7 920 Pros:
Significantly more l3 cache 8 MB vs 3 MB Around 2.8x more l3 cache; more data can be stored in the l3 cache for quick access later
More threads 8 vs 4 Twice as many threads
More cores 4 vs 2 Twice as many cores; run more applications at once
Slightly more l2 cache 1 MB vs 0.5 MB 2x more l2 cache; more data can be stored in the l2 cache for quick access later
Better PassMark (Overclocked) score 3,419.4 vs 1,336.7 More than 2.5x better PassMark (Overclocked) score
More l3 cache per core 2 MB/core vs 1.5 MB/core Around 35% more l3 cache per core
Better 3DMark11 physics score 5,590 vs 3,880 Around 45% better 3DMark11 physics score
Better overclocked clock speed (Air) 4.24 GHz vs 3.43 GHz Around 25% better overclocked clock speed (Air)
Better geekbench (64-bit) score 7,799 vs 5,428 Around 45% better geekbench (64-bit) score
Better PassMark score 5,002 vs 3,874 Around 30% better PassMark score
Better overclocked clock speed (Water) 4.42 GHz vs 3.5 GHz More than 25% better overclocked clock speed (Water)

i3 2120 pros

as a built-in GPU Yes vs No Somewhat common; A separate graphics adapter is not required
Higher clock speed 3.3 GHz vs 2.66 GHz Around 25% higher clock speed
Newer manufacturing process 32 nms vs 45 nms A newer manufacturing process allows for a more powerful, yet cooler running processor
Much lower typical power consumption 52.81W vs 135.63W 2.6x lower typical power consumption
Significantly better PassMark (Single core) score 1,681 vs 1,174 Around 45% better PassMark (Single core) score
Significantly better performance per dollar 5.01 pt/$ vs 2.21 pt/$ More than 2.2x better performance per dollar
Better performance per watt 9.17 pt/W vs 4.39 pt/W More than 2x better performance per watt
Much lower annual home energy cost 15.66 $/year vs 48.38 $/year 3.1x lower annual home energy cost
Marginally newer Jan, 2011 vs Oct, 2008 Release date over 2 years later
Much lower annual commercial energy cost 56.94 $/year vs 134.55 $/year 2.4x lower annual commercial energy cost
Slightly higher Maximum Operating Temperature 69.1 °C vs 67.9 °C Almost the same
 
if you are thinking of keeping the set up for longevity might lean more towards the 2120. 1155 vs. 1366 you will find more motherboards for cheap on the 1155 side of things. the 1366 i7 will give you more performance now, but you will have to upgrade the cpu and motherboard later down the line. personally id stick with the 1366 IF* you have the motherboard already.
it reminds me of the 1156 cpu's. the motherboards are hella hard to find and expensive, but you can find the cpu's for hella cheap. bought a quad core with hyperthreading @2.8ghz for $40!

tldr; if you have the board go with the i7. if you dont, buy the 2120 because of being able to upgrade later.
 
tonyftw said:
i7 920, unless most of the games played happen to be single threaded.
Click to expand...

True, but most single threaded games would be fairly old (like say BF2/BF2142) so in this instance the choice of CPU is mostly irrelevant provided you have a half decent graphics card. The I7 920 would still be the better choice for something like BF3/BF4 because you have 4 cores/8 threads available and also the X58 platform can still run most of today's games with a good video card (or two).

Cheers
 
i7 920 is cheap, but the 1366 motherboard itself will cost you at least 70 - 100 dollars, that would put your total up to 110+.

Since you are on a super low budget, go for the i3 combo deal for 95 dollars and buy a decent GPU.
 
bail_w said:
the 1366 motherboard itself will cost you at least 70 - 100 dollars, that would put your total up to 110+.
Click to expand...

Let me know where you are even seeing used X58 boards for that price range. Most of them are MUCH higher since they are getting rare, and there has been a spike in demand the last few months due to the flood of low cost Xeon hexcore CPUs hitting the market.
 
ccityinstaller said:
Let me know where you are even seeing used X58 boards for that price range. Most of them are MUCH higher since they are getting rare, and there has been a spike in demand the last few months due to the flood of low cost Xeon hexcore CPUs hitting the market.
Click to expand...

yea....this part is true...x58 boards probably selling for the same price if not close to it when they came out.....but its awesome if your already have one......or can find one cheap
 
I also couldn't find a working x58 board under $100.

Can you get maybe $20-$30 more in your budget?

If so, it would be really hard to pass up the new Intel Pentium G3258. If you OC it (they hit 4.6ghz in the review), it almost runs clock for clock with an i5-4570.

Just something extra to think about.
 
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