2700K or 3820?

[jayarte]

Hi,

I asked for advice on my new system build before, but I wasn't very specific. Basically, I am really torn between 2700K build:

Total Cost: £1226.40 (inc VAT) no GPU add £300 for 7950 a (or maybe 7850 at lower price)
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 500R White Mid-Tower Gaming Case w/ front USB 3.0
Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Default Case Fan (might add extra)
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-2700K Quad Core 3.50 GHz 8MB Cache LGA1155 + HD Graphics ***Overclockable XXX***
Cooling Fan: Asetek 510LC / Xtremegear Liquid Cooling system w/ 120mm Radiator
Motherboard: Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 Intel Z68 Chipset CrossFire / SLI DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ 4 RAM slots, BT GO! Lucid Virtu, Intel SRT, UEFI BIOS, Intel SRT, 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB3.0, 4x SATA-III RAID, 2 Gen3 PCIe X16, 1 Gen2 PCIe X16, 2 PCIe X1 & 2 PCI [+50]
Memory: 8GB (4x2GB) PC10666 DDR3/1333mhz Quad Channel Memory (Kingston Hyper X Blu Series w/Heat Spreader [+12])
Power Supply Upgrade: 850 Watts Power Supplies (CoolerMaster 850watt Silent ProModular Gaming Power Supply, SLI / Crossfire ready [+25])
Hard Drive: 180 GB Intel 520 Series SATA-III 6.0Gb/s - 550 MB/s Read & 520 MB/s Write [+118] (Single Hard Drive)
Optical Drive: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE. (BLACK COLOR)
Sound: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
Operating System: Windows 7 Prof (64-bit Edition)


3820 build: £1237.20 (no gpu, add £300 for 7950)
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 500R White Mid-Tower Gaming Case w/ front USB 3.0 [+57]
Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Default Case Fan (might add extra)
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-3820 Quad Core 3.60 GHz 10MB Intel Smart Cache LGA2011
Cooling Fan: Asetek 510LC / Xtremegear Liquid Cooling system w/ 120mm Radiator
Motherboard: Asus P9X79 Pro Intel X79 Chipset, 3-Way SLI / Crossfire supported, 4 Channel DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ 8 RAM slots, UEFI Bios, BT GO, SSD Caching, 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB3.0, SATA-III RAID, 4 Gen3 PCIe x16 & 2 PCIe x1 Memory: 8GB (4x2GB) PC12800 DDR3/1600mhz Quad Channel Memory [+8] (Kingston Hyper X Blu Series w/Heat Spreader [+16])
Power Supply Upgrade: 850 Watts Power Supplies (CoolerMaster 850watt Silent ProModular Gaming Power Supply, SLI / Crossfire ready [+25])
Hard Drive: 180 GB Intel 520 Series SATA-III 6.0Gb/s - 550 MB/s Read & 520 MB/s Write [+118] (Single Hard Drive)
Optical Drive: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE.Sound: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
Network: ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT -- As standard on all PCs
Flash Media Reader/Writer: INTERNAL 52in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer [+9]
Video Camera: Logitech Webcam C210 [+13]
Operating System: Win 7 Prof (64-bit Edition)

I know the 3820 is more future proof, but basically I just need a decent gaming pc, and I'm also concerned with using less power, quieter running etc. The 2700K seems to perform more quietly and power efficiently than the 3820, but from the above supplier there isn't the price difference I'd expected (yet, prices may drop, I suppose). If the 2700K was substantially cheaper then I'd definitely go for it given the excellent reviews from reviewers and owners, but the fact that both systems are similar prices and the 3820 being more "future proof" is making me hesitate.

Any advice gratefully received. Thanks.

 

[jayarte]

p.s. I'd also consider a 2500K if price was right, or even ivy bridge 3770K.
btw Why, when I use edit and then click confirm, does it say "you are not allowed to edit this post?"

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

The biggest key between this processors come down to what you are going to be doing with them. The Intel® Core™ i7-3820 supports the quad channel memory and the board will support PCI-E 3.0 but you really can't overclock it.

The Intel Core i7-2700K is an unlocked processor that will allow you to overclock but you can't take advantage of PCI-E 3.0 with it and it is only dual channel.

Now since you state that you want to game with this system my advice is to get the Intel Core i5-2500K, good cooler and overclock it up over 4GHz and spend the extra money on an SSD and you will get better overall performance then you would wiht the other items out of a gaming system.


Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[jayarte]

Thanks for the prompt reply, Christian. Very clear, sound advice. A blessing to my mind which feels rather overheated thinking about the whole thing.

Is the cooler in the proposed builds I posted what you would consider good enough?

Plus, what about the fact that from CyberPower atm the 3820 and 2700K builds are similar prices?

Finally, I read somewhere that the 2700K overclocks better (ie a higher percentage of them will successfully OC to a decent speed) because the 2500K's on sale now might not be good as the older ones (or something like that).