I5 2500K vs i7 3820

[andrew.odowd]

i am looking to build a new gaming rig, i am wondering if i should go ahead and buy and i5 2500K and a Z68 board or should i wait for the new i7 3820 with the new X79 chipset.

is there going to be much difference?

 

[xBanzai89]

No one really knows what the SB-E will perform like or if the 3820 will be overclockable. The platform is likely going to cost way more then a SB build due to the motherboard and ram (quad channel) cost anyway. Two different pricing leagues.

 

[mrbigshot]

the prices that were leaked a few days ago show the 3820 at $294 note its a non k so it will be locked, and you wont be able to adjust the bclk so you get what you get (mabey 150mhz overclock at best). if it were me i would buy the $583 6 core thats unlocked.

"Considering, that the processor is built on the same microarchitecture, and has higher core frequency, larger L3 cache, and twice as many integrated memory controller channels than the i7-2600, we wouldn't be surprised to learn that the i7-3820 is noticeably faster than the i7-2600."

 

[xBanzai89]

Are we 100% sure it will be locked? The K could just be for a unlocked multi, but still allow for bclk clocking.

 

[paperwastage]

for gaming, the i5 2500k is more than enough, and you can definitely OC that until 4.5ghz easily

don't waste your time on 3820 if its more expensive and cant be overclocked

 

[Forceman]

Chances are the 2500K is going to perform very close to the 3820 in games (probably better once you overclock it). It's not like SB is hurting for memory bandwidth or anything. I'd just go ahead and get the 2500K, and put the extra money towards a better video card.

 

[mrbigshot]

i think i jumped the gun a little, after some research it seems there might be some limited bclk adjustment. so you will be able to have some adjustment other than multiplier. given the multiplier of 36, without turbo enabled you could have some range.

"Besides the references speed at 100 MHz there will be locked values at 125 MHz, 166 MHz, 200 MHz and 250 MHz."

 

[xBanzai89]

If you can just change the BCLK like could you potentially reach 5GHz if these clock like the 2x00K series? If you can lower the multi to 30 and use the 166 clock that gets you 4.98 GHz. Unless of course Intel locks you from dropping the multi.

 

[E4g1e]

Are we 100% sure it will be locked? The K could just be for a unlocked multi, but still allow for bclk clocking.

The i7-3820 will be what's called "limited unlocked", which means that overclocking via the multiplier will be limited compared to the nearly limitless unlock of the K- and X-series CPUs.

 

[German Muscle]

The 3820 will likely perform like a 2600 overclocked to 3.6GHz. The only benifits of getting a 3820 system over a 2500/2600 is if you need the quad channel memory and want to move to a 6 or 8 core later. Otherwise get a Socket 1155 system.

 

[Michaelius]

Hmm i just had a sad realisation that i7 3820 might be a native six cores with 2 cores disabled which would negate all possible gains from lack of gpu

 

[German Muscle]

Hmm i just had a sad realisation that i7 3820 might be a native six cores with 2 cores disabled which would negate all possible gains from lack of gpu

This could be the case as well.