Best Intel i7 Processor for gaming?

[Alekds]

A simple question that I want the answer to.

Kind regards,
Aleks.

 

[lazyboy947]

the 6 core for socket 2011 as games dont use HT on the i7s so more cores the better lol or else a 4770k or 3770k will do just fine, but for strictly gaming just get an i5

 

[fonzieguy]

the 6 core for socket 2011 as games dont use HT on the i7s so more cores the better lol or else a 4770k or 3770k will do just fine, but for strictly gaming just get an i5

I second this, if you are just gaming then you are wasting your money if you get anything higher than an i5 4670K.
And if you have a microcenter near you it is only 199, 299 with mobo.
http://www.microcenter.com/site/brands/intel-processor-bundles.aspx

 

[k1114]

the 6 core for socket 2011 as games dont use HT on the i7s so more cores the better lol or else a 4770k or 3770k will do just fine, but for strictly gaming just get an i5

Games do use ht. Windows handles thread distribution. There are games that will use all 8 threads on my i7, especially anything with 64 players. I also have an i3 laptop, dual core with ht, and many games will use its ht.

 

[lazyboy947]

Okay srry there are not alot of games that use HT similar to use 4+ cores.

 

[inzone]

Usually a gaming computer is going to run an i5 processor as it is all that is needed, so depending on the model you want to go for , Ivy Bridge or Haswell you would be looking at an i5-3570k or a 4670k.
If your going to be doing any video rendering or photo editing then you would jump to an i7, either i7-3770k or i7-4770k.

If you just plain want to use an i7 because you want to then I would go with the i7-3930k because the X-79 chipset and LGA 2011 socket processor will give you 40 lanes of Pci-e bandwidth to run your video cards at the full x16 bandwidth even if your running two cards..

 

[k1114]

The problem is saying they don't use ht. Ht is irrelevant other than which logical core is used first. I could say games will use a certain amount of threads, not cores, but it's much more complicated.

 

[inzone]

It also isn't just about the game , it's what is also being run in the background that may occupy a core or two. Unless you have everything turned off that's not being used by the game or Windows there may be some small programs that will be running.
Open the resource manager while gaming and see what the number of cores (threads) are being used or parked and you'll get an idea of what is needed.
I have a second screen that I use for the purpose of having some things running like Real temp or Evga Precision along with the resource manager to see what number of cores are being used and how much ram is utilized. Of the twelve threads at least half are being used and of the 16gb of ram only 5.5gb is used.

 

[caj]

For ivy bridge z77 motherboard best bang for buck would be 3770 k (overclocking) or 3770 ( non overclocking) . for haswell z87 motherboard 4770k (overclocking ) & 4770(non overclocking)

 

[Alekds]

Hey guys, and thank you for your answers. But, I have a question: What is HT?

Also, I want a Processor that is utterly completely overkill for the Block game Minecraft.

Kind regards,
Aleks.

 

[inzone]

HT , is Hyperthreading. It's a process that Intel uses to add virtual cores to a processor. If you have a Quad core CPU with Hyperthreading then what you really have is a processor with 8 cores, 4 physical cores that have two threads each. I guess the simplest way to look at it is that you have a 4 core processor and each core is a dual core for a total of 8 single cores.
If in Windows you open the resource manager and look at the CPU you will see 8 single cores. In the bios you have the option to turn of Hyperthreading if you want to.

There are a number of processors that will be utter overkill for Minecraft, almost any i5 and all the i7s would be. The problem is that the game may only use a certain number of cores because of the way it is designed and you could have a 12 core and the game would still only use the same number of cores it was designed for.

Don't forget there is another component involved when it comes to gaming and that's the video card. Most of the time it's more important to get the most powerful video card then it is to get the most powerful CPU.
I would rather have a 4670k with a GTX Titan the a 4770k with a gtx 760

 

[caj]

well most of us will rather have a 4770k & a dual 7970 CF or 7990 for our gaming rigs. Titan is a complete bogus & gimmick by nivdia refusing to admit it isnt worth its price. even a 7990 priced at $700 can easily rape the $1000 titan in most game.