What is the best processor for a gaming pc?

[benedie]

I am planning to put together a pc from scratch but i need to know what processor is most recmended for hardcore gaming....

Gifts For Corporate

Edited January 24, 2012 by benedie

[Savan]

I am planning to put together a pc from scratch but i need to know what processor is most recmended for hardcore gaming

 

that really depends on what your budget is and at what resolution you will be gaming at. also will you be doing anything else on this computer such as video editing or photoshop, or will it be just gaming?

[medbor]

i5 2500k if your total budget is above 500-600$

[Black64]

Answer for OP, The fastest one you can get your hands on.

[Coors]

Take into account most games don't use more then 1-2 cores. And most games will also see the biggest performance boost from the gpu. Just get the highest clock speed you can and don't think that buying a 6 or 8 core cpu will give more performance then your basic quad core.

[Fogel]

Gamers would prefer the fastest single core beast imaginable. Though they kind of hit their limitations on single core progress so now we are into multicore CPUs. Which means the CPUs with the best performance per core are the best. Currently that is Intel. There isn't much difference in per core performance between the 2500k and 2600k (well enough to justify the cost difference) ...but if you got a cush budget - why not go for the 2600k. Though as Coors said, most games are more dependant on graphics cards these days as they are still making significant progress in graphics cards.

 

If you're an MMO player - I say CPU matters more and you should gain more from a good CPU so the 2600k would mean more. Most others games I got to agree with Coors on focusing more money on a good graphics card and than going with a 2500k.

[NikoDG]

If you really want to you can wait for the i7 3820 (releases on approximately one month), it's the four core SB-E chip, and is rumored to cost less than the 2600K. It's not fully unlocked, but you can still OC to about 4.5GHz, at least that's what I saw in a review. I think the 2011 motherboards with the X79 chipset give you more options, especially when it comes to PCI-e 3.0, since they have a ton of lanes (my Sabertooth X79 has a total of 40 I think, for two 16x, and a 8x, PCI-e 3.0 capable).

Edited January 15, 2012 by NikoDG

[MJCRO]

Answer for OP, The fastest one you can get your hands on.

 

it's so true, whichever one you can get for cheapest, the quickest.

[Tjj226_Angel]

The best one would be the 3960X. The most practical one would be the i5 2500K or the i7 2600K.

[Fight Game]

the cheapest 4 threads (dual core intel or quad core amd) that you can get above about 3.6ghz. after that it's not going to matter much

[Locutus]

Get an SR-2 and put dual Xeons in it and game on that.

[The Smith]

Take into account most games don't use more then 1-2 cores.

This isn't true anymore. With many recent titles exploiting over four threads, a quad-core is a safe bet.

 

Here, see by yourself how dual-cores take a hit in BF3.

 

Here, admire how the hexa-core processors take the lead in front of the quad-cores despite their lower frequency.

 

If your budget is limited, too bad but the first Intel quad-core is at 185$. On the other had, the FX-4100 is pretty nice for its price and performs not too bad thanks to its large cache. (The Athlon IIs are not a good idea for gaming) It is also an unlocked processor, unlike any offering from Intel below 230$. If your budget is not limited, then yes the many Intel options listed above make sense.