New Rig... need some advice on CPU

[Snowy42]

Hey guys,

Looking at getting a new rig, or at least dreaming in the pipeline but it got me wondering... Which CPU would be better between these:

i5-2500k Overclocked
i7-2600k Overclocked

I've been thinking for weeks "i7, i7, i7, i7"... But I started thinking about it and I'm not so sure now. The 2500k overclocked could achieve higher speeds than the 2600k (i think), the only thing you really gain is HT and 2mb cache... not sure if it's worth it.

I'm going to be using the system for boxing WoW (obviously) and probably streaming while I play. My current rig gets a bit chunky if I do 720p @ 15fps... even 480p @ 15fps starts getting it a little bit. Also looking at a bit of video rendering/encoding for youtube vids.

So what do you guys think? Obviously the CPU isn't the ONLY factor, RAM/GPU/HDD all come into factor, but if we just said (hypothetically) the system would have 16gb ddr3, a HD6990 and a Vertex III SSD running OS and the game... Which CPU would you go for?

Cheers guys

[InternetToughGuy]

The i5-2500k is actually better for straight gaming. The i7-2600k is much better for video things.

If you get the i7, you could probably do all of that at the same time. I see you said double/triple boxing in WoW, which the i5 could handle just fine while streaming. So I would say i5, unless your video work is extensive, like a job or something.

[Tim]

The i7 2600k has higher CPU Benchmarks when overclocked than the i5-2600k. But realistically, both of them should crush multiboxing hard core. HARD CORE. So have your pick

[Ualaa]

The biggest difference between the two is that the i7 2600K has hyperthreading, while the i5-2500K does not.
If the K is capitalized, either system will overclock quite well -- assuming you have adequate cooling.

If you're running straight games, hyperthreading usually doesn't do anything for you... and actually in several benchmarks is a slight loss of performance compared to the same processor but with the logical cores disabled.

The clock speed on the i7 2600K is faster than that on the i5 2500K, but its not a massive difference.

Basically ask yourself what the primary usage will be, and whether hyperthreading/logical cores will benefit that or not.
The i5 2500K is about $100 cheaper.

[Unca]

Originally Posted by Snowy42

Hey guys,

Looking at getting a new rig, or at least dreaming in the pipeline but it got me wondering... Which CPU would be better between these:

i5-2500k Overclocked
i7-2600k Overclocked

The i7 would be better, obviously. I'm assuming that what you are really asking is whether it would be worth the extra cost, in which case I'd say...

...probably not. I doubt that you'd see much of a difference in performance between the two, so it seems as if you'd be paying an extra $100 for nothing. But at the same time, it's only a $100 difference (based on a quick price check at Newegg.com) for a CPU that could last you for a few years. In that case, I think it's worth the extra money unless an extra $100 is a deal breaker.

[Chamassa]

Originally Posted by Unca

The i7 would be better, obviously. I'm assuming that what you are really asking is whether it would be worth the extra cost, in which case I'd say...

...probably not. I doubt that you'd see much of a difference in performance between the two, so it seems as if you'd be paying an extra $100 for nothing. But at the same time, it's only a $100 difference (based on a quick price check at Newegg.com) for a CPU that could last you for a few years. In that case, I think it's worth the extra money unless an extra $100 is a deal breaker.

Well, i would agree and disagree.
It's worth it if you plan on playing new games as they come, because that i7 will definitly last you a bunch longer. Especially while multiboxing.

[Tim]

Something to note:

I have an i7 980X Extreme. When I stream with multi-threaded VP6, with hyperthreading enabled, it runs a lot more efficient, and my CPU power is a ton more. If I stream with single thread VP6, it is slower, but if I disable hyperthreading, and do single thread VP6, it is faster.

So in essence.

1 core cpu > 1 Hyperthreaded cpu for single threaded applications
2 Hyperthreaded cpu > 1 core cpu for multi threaded applications

Most of what I do uses multiple threads, so hyperthreading is awesome.