World of Warcraft™

Hey guys I am looking at building my own computer. Now I am looking at building a computer that will be able to handle upcoming games like GW2, Tera, Tribes Ascend, and Diablo 3 at the highest quality without going overboard in price. I want something that will be able to last awhile, and that I wont HAVE to replace in 3 years. I am wondering which processor options are out there for what I am looking for. Originally I was looking at the -Intel Core i7-960 Bloomfield 3.2GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601960- however I began to think, what about AMD? I mean looking at the prices AMD seems to be less expensive, and the CPU in my comp right now is an AMD and it has been extremely good. So what is the AMD equivalent to the i7-960, and if so, am I looking at the wrong cpus completely. I do not know which is the low, medium, and high quality of cpus for this year. Any help would be appreciated.

The i7 is just and i5 with hyperthreading. Hyperthreading is of no use to games so having an i7 would be the same as getting an i5 for your gaming.

Right now the Intel processors have a higher IPC (Instruction per clock) cycle than the AMDs.

So the best processor for gaming would be an i5 and specifically the i5-2600K. That allows you to overclock the processor.

With that said Ivy Bridge is coming out in the next few months. So you might want to wait until then before you get your processor.

I should add that I've always had an AMD processor and currently have the Phenom II 1090T. While I'm happy with it. I know the i5 would be a better processor.

Also, i7-960 is last gen stuff. Don't bother with them.

so is any i5 good for the games which are coming out which I listed?

More than good enough. You could say overkill even.

I would wait for i5-3570K Ivy Bridge CPU though, or if you absolutely refuse to wait, buy a cheap Celeron G530 (with appropriate Z68 motherboard like ASRock Z68M/USB) then upgrade.

What if I am not interested in overclocking, would the i5-2500k be a better choice?

If you aren't going to overclock, and don't want to wait: i5-2300

Is that the only difference between the i5-2500k and 2300?

I5 2500k, is about 230 dollars, the I5 3570k is going to be about the same. The It 2500K beats the 960 in almost every single benchmark out there, and the 3570 is supposed to be 10% better than the 2500.

02/22/2012 06:16 PMPosted by Stephíe

I5 2500k, is about 230 dollars, the I5 3570k is going to be about the same. The It 2500K beats the 960 in almost every single benchmark out there, and the 3570 is supposed to be 10% better than the 2500.

A little but of clock speed that's about it.

02/22/2012 06:15 PMPosted by Daikijin

Is that the only difference between the i5-2500k and 2300?

Core difference is 600 MHz difference in maximum speed, and that 2500k supports overclocking. 600 MHz difference will not be felt with gaming.

It is $250 for the 2500, and $179 for the 2300. So if the 2300 is able to run the games I listed at the max settings then I might as well go with that. I can always upgrade it later :).

Now for motherboards between

ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z/GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

What is the difference besides that the first one is about $30 more than the second. Both are capable of SLI and Crossfire.

Unless you absolutely plan to do SLi/CrossFireX, save some $ and go with:

ASRock Z68M/USB

If you do want that feature, ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 can do proper 16x/8x SLi/CrossFireX for lot cheaper than either of those ASUS boards.

Ya, i would like to have that option available too me. Thanks!

Now is the case completely up to me in terms of what I am looking for? I do not have to worry about compatibility besides size? Also how do you determine what power supply you need, i have yet to determine which graphics card I am going to get, probably an nvidia as I have a coupon :)

As for the case, almost.

I generally recommend people CoolerMaster HAF 912 due to looking not so bad, while being very roomy inside with good airflow.

As for the power supply, it depends on how high quality of a graphics card you will use, as well as whether you will SLi or not.

Is that case big enough to fit extra fans if needed? I have no clue how hot it would run and how to check it besides using NVIDIAs computer manager.

Yes, it's big, and it has few more extra fan install points. But that is really not necessary.

As long as you don't get a Thermi (GTX 470 / 480) or extreme uber high-end, GPU temperature will be fine.

I was looking at like the GTX 560/570 havent really decided yet. Also havent decided if it would be better to SLI two cheaper ones together.

If you could get up to 570, I'd wait for Kepler (GeForce 6xx) lines in two months.

SLi is really for people running multiple monitors or people who want to max out extremely demanding games like Battlefield 3. SLi does have its share of headaches too.