Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: January 2012 (Archive)

[stevmary5]

Thanks again for your help.

 

[lunyone]

I guess the FX 8350 for ~$180-190 isn't going to show up on the list, because of?

 

[ingtar33]

I guess the FX 8350 for ~$180-190 isn't going to show up on the list, because of?

Because Tom's doesn't consider overclocking when ranking the chips (unless it's a K series cpu... then the i5-3570k gets listed even though it's identical to the i5-3350 when at stock) and the games used to determine cpu quality are mostly intel optimized titles (skyrim and starcraft) vs one non-optimized title, far cry 3.

For some reason they don't consider the FX6300 at $115 (all month), a chip when moderately overclocked which will match or beat the i5-3350 in pretty much every title out there (not named skyrim, civ5 or starcraft), to be a gaming chip worth suggesting. Apparently, according to Tom's it's inferior to a 4 core fx4300... at $120

yeah... I have a real love hate with this list. on one side it's really rather impressive. on the other, it's not even close to an enthusiasts or gamer list.

 

[lunyone]

I guess the FX 8350 for ~$180-190 isn't going to show up on the list, because of?

Because Tom's doesn't consider overclocking when ranking the chips (unless it's a K series gpu... then the i5-3570k gets listed even though it's identical to the i5-3350 when at stock) and the games used to determine cpu quality are mostly intel optimized titles (skyrim and starcraft) vs one non-optimized title, far cry 3.

For some reason they don't consider the FX6300 at $115 (all month), a chip when moderately overclocked which will match or beat the i5-3350 in pretty much every title out there (not named skyrim, civ5 or starcraft), to be a gaming chip worth suggesting. Apparently, according to Tom's it's inferior to a 4 core fx4300... at $120

yeah... I have a real love hate with this list. on one side it's really rather impressive. on the other, it's not even close to an enthusiasts or gamer list.

I feel the same thing. I don't like the slanted point of view with these recommendations, but what can you do? Not use the site and not come back, but I like most people on the site and they do have some interesting articles and do some things pretty good.

 

[csm101]

was reading haswell performance stuff for a month but I was waiting until thjs chart come up. I invested on a i 950 2 years ago. it seems its a good buying and im still in the 3rd level of the chart. no need to go for the new cpu at all for me so I feel happy for my investment xD

 

[logainofhades]

I guess the FX 8350 for ~$180-190 isn't going to show up on the list, because of?

Because Tom's doesn't consider overclocking when ranking the chips (unless it's a K series cpu... then the i5-3570k gets listed even though it's identical to the i5-3350 when at stock) and the games used to determine cpu quality are mostly intel optimized titles (skyrim and starcraft) vs one non-optimized title, far cry 3.

For some reason they don't consider the FX6300 at $115 (all month), a chip when moderately overclocked which will match or beat the i5-3350 in pretty much every title out there (not named skyrim, civ5 or starcraft), to be a gaming chip worth suggesting. Apparently, according to Tom's it's inferior to a 4 core fx4300... at $120

yeah... I have a real love hate with this list. on one side it's really rather impressive. on the other, it's not even close to an enthusiasts or gamer list.

Yea the constant ignoring of the FX6300 and event he 8320 annoy me. The 8350 is back up to $200 again, so that doesn't really bother me much this month.

 

[HellfireMagic]

The AMD 760K is available in Europe - Quad core, 3.8 GHz Base with a 4.1 GHz turbo unlocked. For only £52 (or $82)

 

[jrstriker12]

Local Micorcenter is selling the i5-3570K for only $10 more than buying the i5-3350P online. I don't intend to overclock but are the extra 300 MHz worth it for $10?

Makes the choice much tighter at that price point.

I wonder if Haswell is even worth looking at since Microcenter is selling the i5-4670K for only $20 more than the online price for the i5-3350P.

I'm surprised the price on the i5-3350P hasn't dropped more considering that it doen't have HD Graphics. What's up with Intel's pricing?

That's not down to Intel's pricing, that's Microcenter having its own weird pricing. The cheapest Core i5-3570K apart from Microcenter is $220; the cheapest Core i5-3350P is $179.

I guess Microcenter know that the K models are the ones that will draw in the crowd, so they gouge the price on them and make up for it from the other stuff people buy.

In your situation, the Core i5-4670K and 3570K both make sense. The 3350P is a bit pointless when it barely costs any less than the 3570K.

Thanks for the feedback. Just wanted to make sure. And yes, beside the processors, the other stuff can be a bit expensive unless you go in for the super-cheap house brand/no-name stuff (cables, connectors, chargers, etc).

 

[darkmendez]

That's good when you updated the CPU Hierarchy Chart and now for next issue about it...the Phenom Processors do not fall in to category of FX Series...Why? Two different families and Phenoms getting too rear to get. AM3 vs AM3+.....FX series do not go below a quad-core.

 

[kenbad]

Cleeve, You say that the AMD FX-4300 has a 2 core/4 thread processor and that Windows 8 states this. I was wondering if you have this processor because I have the one under it the 4100 and I contacted AMD directly and was told my processor has indeed 4 cores and 4 threads and my Computer information and all my utilities state this also including my Gigabyte, program and PC Wizard, and CPUZ. So I can't figure out why they would make mine a 4 core and a more expensive 4300 only a 2 core. Are you sure you have your info correct ?

 

[Sakkura]

Cleeve, You say that the AMD FX-4300 has a 2 core/4 thread processor and that Windows 8 states this. I was wondering if you have this processor because I have the one under it the 4100 and I contacted AMD directly and was told my processor has indeed 4 cores and 4 threads and my Computer information and all my utilities state this also including my Gigabyte, program and PC Wizard, and CPUZ. So I can't figure out why they would make mine a 4 core and a more expensive 4300 only a 2 core. Are you sure you have your info correct ?

The FX-4300 has 2 modules which each have 2 integer cores. So it's more than just 2 cores, but not quite 4 full-fledged independent cores. Windows sees that as 2 physical cores and 4 logical cores; that's the same way it would see an Intel Core i3, a dual-core processor with hyperthreading (allowing each core to address two threads).

 

[kenbad]

Hello Sakkura,
I would like to think you are right however like I said my AMD 4100 Zambezi has 4 cores and 4 threads as stated by my Windows 8 information. I also used CPUZ and that stated it also I used SIV32L - System Information Viewer V4.37 again states it so I can not understand why you and Cleeve, state otherwise and since mine is stating this I can not see AMD making the 4300 any less. I have a picture of the results fro CUPID however I don't see any way of posting it with this comment (reply) but I was able to copy the information I got with the other programs. I posted bellow maybe you could read it and let me know if I am right or wrong.

SIV32L - System Information Viewer V4.37 KENSPC::Ken

Windows 8 x64 (Type 0x65) (Single User) V6.02 Build 9200 KENSPC::Ken English (0409) United States (1)
Workgroup WORKGROUP 00 00:05:12 2013-06-19 22:12:08 [BIOS 04.06.05 10/23/12] Mains Power

Resource Usage 9% [1] 0.0% Current Maximum
System Physical Memory 1.60GB 13.49GB 16.00GB
System Paging File 1.64GB 16.58GB 18.22GB
System File Cache 0.96GB 15.04GB 0.96GB


Chips 4 Disks 34°C 100% DIMMs 16GB

Processor FSB 9.1% CPU Utilisation Volts Temp APIC Socket AM3+ PGA-942 AMD FX-4100 Quad-Core (Zambezi) [OR-B2]
CPU-0 3.62GHz U 2% K 6% I 1% 0.0 Technology 32nm x64 Family 21 Model 1 (01) Stepping 2 Brand 1.0.0.00 (0)
CPU-1 3.62GHz U 2% K 6% 0.1 CPUs 4 Cores 4 AMD FX(tm)-4100 Quad-Core Processor
CPU-2 3.62GHz U 2% K 8% I 1% 0.2 L1 Code Cache (2) 2-way 64-byte 2 x 64KB
CPU-3 3.62GHz U 5% K 4% D 1% 0.3 L1 Data Cache 4-way 64-byte 4 x 16KB
Memory GPU 0.0% GPU Utilisation Fans L2 Unified Cache (2) 16-way 64-byte 2 x 2MB
GPU-0 324MHz P8 324MHz Activity 0% 0.95 32°C 30% L3 Unified Cache (4) 64-way 64-byte 1 x 8MB
[Cache-0 Latency] [MMX+ SSE4.2 XD AVX]

Technology 32nm x64 Family 21 Model 1 (01) Stepping 2 Brand 1.0.0.00 (0)
CPUs 4 Cores 4 AMD FX(tm)-4100 Quad-Core Processor
L1 Code Cache (S)
L1 Data Cache 4-way 64-byte 4 x 16KB
L2 Unified Cache (S)
L3 Unified Cache (S)
[Cache-1 Latency] [MMX+ SSE4.2 XD AVX]

Technology 32nm x64 Family 21 Model 1 (01) Stepping 2 Brand 1.0.0.00 (0)
CPUs 4 Cores 4 AMD FX(tm)-4100 Quad-Core Processor
L1 Code Cache (2) 2-way 64-byte 2 x 64KB
L1 Data Cache 4-way 64-byte 4 x 16KB
L2 Unified Cache (2) 16-way 64-byte 2 x 2MB
L3 Unified Cache (S)
[Cache-2 Latency] [MMX+ SSE4.2 XD AVX]

Technology 32nm x64 Family 21 Model 1 (01) Stepping 2 Brand 1.0.0.00 (0)
CPUs 4 Cores 4 AMD FX(tm)-4100 Quad-Core Processor
L1 Code Cache (S)
L1 Data Cache 4-way 64-byte 4 x 16KB
L2 Unified Cache (S)
L3 Unified Cache (S)
[Cache-3 Latency] [MMX+ SSE4.2 XD AVX]

 

[klomaxian]

Seeing that AMDs old guard has retaken its place...not shure what to think about: Propus may be powerful enough to push a HD 7790, but serveral games including massive gameplay-scenery may miss L3 Cache and newer architecture.

So, better deal may be a 750K or 4300. - FX 6300 for little more bugs.

 

[Sakkura]

Hello Sakkura,
I would like to think you are right however like I said my AMD 4100 Zambezi has 4 cores and 4 threads as stated by my Windows 8 information. I also used CPUZ and that stated it also I used SIV32L - System Information Viewer V4.37 again states it so I can not understand why you and Cleeve, state otherwise and since mine is stating this I can not see AMD making the 4300 any less. I have a picture of the results fro CUPID however I don't see any way of posting it with this comment (reply) but I was able to copy the information I got with the other programs. I posted bellow maybe you could read it and let me know if I am right or wrong.

The FX-4100 and FX-4300 are identical in this regard. It's possible that Windows 8 changed the way it reports the cores. It doesn't really matter, it's just a matter of definitions.

 

[purplecrayon]

gunna go with the 4430.

 

[kenbad]

Hello Sakkura,
I would like to think you are right however like I said my AMD 4100 Zambezi has 4 cores and 4 threads as stated by my Windows 8 information. I also used CPUZ and that stated it also I used SIV32L - System Information Viewer V4.37 again states it so I can not understand why you and Cleeve, state otherwise and since mine is stating this I can not see AMD making the 4300 any less. I have a picture of the results fro CUPID however I don't see any way of posting it with this comment (reply) but I was able to copy the information I got with the other programs. I posted bellow maybe you could read it and let me know if I am right or wrong.

The FX-4100 and FX-4300 are identical in this regard. It's possible that Windows 8 changed the way it reports the cores. It doesn't really matter, it's just a matter of definitions.

Thank you since I just built this computer with an AMD board I guess I will just upgrade my CPU to a FX-8350 soon watch I'll be told later this one has only 4 or 6 LOL . I think I will contact AMD again and tell them I don't like the fact that they said the 4100 and 4300 are 4 core and 4 thread when technically they don't even though it won't make a difference it will make me feel better. I bought mine on the assumption that it was and it shouldn't state that if it isn't even if it acts like it does. They should be more descriptive about what they are.

 

[bdiddytampa]

Thanks for the write up guys, I enjoy reading through your price round ups 🙂

 

[butremor]

How about finishing long promised "CPU Charts 2012: 86 Processors From AMD And Intel, Tested" article update?

 

[ojas]

Hello Sakkura,
I would like to think you are right however like I said my AMD 4100 Zambezi has 4 cores and 4 threads as stated by my Windows 8 information.

Yeah it has 4 integer cores, but 2 floating-point units. Bulldozer arch specifies that each module has 2 integer cores and a single shared float unit.

Your 4100 has 2 modules, 4 int and 2 float units, exposed to the OS as 4 threads (apparently one per int core), and Windows reports threads. It'll show 4 "cores" for an i3 as well, 8 for an i7.

 

[slomo4sho]

Yeah it has 4 integer cores, but 2 floating-point units. Bulldozer arch specifies that each module has 2 integer cores and a single shared float unit.

Your 4100 has 2 modules, 4 int and 2 float units, exposed to the OS as 4 threads (apparently one per int core), and Windows reports threads. It'll show 4 "cores" for an i3 as well, 8 for an i7.

Lets cart out the dead horse and proceed to beating any remaining marrow out of the bones.

 

[Wisecracker]

Yeah it has 4 integer cores, but 2 floating-point units. Bulldozer arch specifies that each module has 2 integer cores and a single shared float unit.

Your 4100 has 2 modules, 4 int and 2 float units, exposed to the OS as 4 threads (apparently one per int core), and Windows reports threads. It'll show 4 "cores" for an i3 as well, 8 for an i7.

Lets cart out the dead horse and proceed to beating any remaining marrow out of the bones.

Ding!

Steamroller (and HSA) should demonstrate the viability of the Flex FP, and DDR4 should make it even stronger.

 

[modex20]

the 4670k may not be much different from the 3570k.. but it's worth mentioning the improvements made in the z87 chipset over the z77

 

[darkmendez]

I say it once and SAY IT again.....AMD FX Series and Intel "i" series designed differently. People are trying to hate on AMD through Windows 7 OS. Cache Memory Levels and threads are the biggest difference of the cores. Now, the upcoming video games consoles(X-box One and PS4) are made from AMD. My point....take a hint..get what you can afford, and not what you can hate.

 

[JamesWaters]

Core i7-3930K is just $470 here http://corei7.com/amz-product/intel-core-i7-3930k-hexa-core-processor-3-2-ghz-12-mb-cache-lga-2011-bx80619i73930k/ Very tempting! I want to upgrade my 2011 2700k so badly!

 

[daswilhelm]

Core i7-3930K is just $470 here http://corei7.com/amz-product/intel-core-i7-3930k-hexa-core-processor-3-2-ghz-12-mb-cache-lga-2011-bx80619i73930k/ Very tempting! I want to upgrade my 2011 2700k so badly!

your 2700k isnt on the 2011 socket.