Crash course in CPUs?

[DarklordKyo]

As a PC gamer, there will come a time where I'll have to learn how to build my own PCs. That includes being, at least, okay at shopping around for parts. As far as CPUs go, mind giving me a crash course on the basics? Namely, should I stick to I5? or shell out for I7?, should I focus more on the model family? (6600, 3770, etc.) or the gigahertz? (3.3 6600 vs. 3.7 3770, for example).

Can anyone give me any tips?

 

[Kyrian007]

Maybe I'm the only one who thinks this way, but if I'm going for the "what I'll shell out a little more for" I'll usually dish out for a more expensive motherboard. I've been burned before by getting a good processor, on a motherboard where it winds up being the (or very close to) the best processor that motherboard can handle. Leaving me no where to go when better processors come out. Just look for the motherboard with the socket type that supports at the low end a processor you can afford now and does what you need it to. Then later on when you want to upgrade you can actually make a good sized jump in performance with just a processor upgrade. I'm looking at a socket R LGA 2011 board and a LGA 1151 has a pretty good range as well.

Make sure the case you buy has plenty of room, another thing I've been burned on. When upgrading a video card I once neglected to realize that the new video card would require me to upgrade my power supply. However a power supply with enough wattage wouldn't actually fit inside the case I had. That's another tip, a 700 or so watt power supply (or better.)

 

[Kolby Jack]

I just ordered all the parts to build a new PC, myself. Literally, they have not all arrived yet. Luckily I have a friend who is an engineer who has built a lot of computers before, so I'm not going in blind.

Basically, an i7 is obviously better, but more expensive. When building a new computer, getting the higher end parts will be more expensive but make the computer relevant for longer. It all depends on your budget really. I think the i7 processor I got was a 4790.

Fun fact, according to my friend, ALL processors start as i7 but some develop irreparable flaws that downgrade them to i5 or i4. What a weird facet of computer manufacturing.

 

[skywolfblue]

1) i5 is "good enough" for most games. (I have a "no-overclock" i5 (intel adds a k to the end of the processor name to indicate you can overclock it) and it's served me pretty well so far, it was waaaaay cheaper then the i7 I was originally looking at) If money is no issue, why not i7. On Processor Family vs GHZ: here is a in-depth link [http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/best-intel-processor-core-i3-i5-i7].

2) As Krian mentioned, a big case is important.

3) Do your research. You already are, which is good. You have to be careful to make sure all the components will work together and fit in the case.

4) I found the people over on the NewEgg forums extremely helpful while I was building my first computer. They know all the ins and outs of the hardware!

 

[sanquin]

As said before make sure your motherboard has the same socket type as your processor. Otherwise things won't work.

I personally look for GHz + how many cores a CPU has to make my decisions. And I'd go for an i7, since even if it isn't entirely needed for a lot of games yet, it's good to have a CPU that can last you a while. Will save you money in the long run.

I personally bought the i7-3770 @ 3.4 GHz and OC'd it to 3.7 GHz. Works perfectly for me and probably will keep working for me for another 2~3 years at the very least.

 

[KaraFang]

The main difference in I5 and I7 is primarily hyperthreading.

(VERY Crudely - one core can act as "two" cores to programs that can take advantage of it. A program that does NOT support hyperthreading cannot use this)

I am not aware of any games that actually take advantage of hyperthreading... It's more for video encoding and heavy workloads in the professional range. (TB. jessie cox, Dodger et all use I7's for encoding tasks).

Usually an I7 will offer more cores at a slightly higher speed. I5's normally have less cores, and more variable speed. (last time I checked, I7's within normal budgets are 4,6 and maybe 8 cores? I5's are 2,4,6

K's are the overclockable ones and sold at a higher speed (and so cost more for both reasons).

Last time I upgraded, was about 8 years ago and I have an I7 920... it served me well at the time, but now it drags badly as almost ALL games I play do not hyperthread.

So, I am also considering upgrading and an I5K variant it not looking too bad right now.

 

[Baffle]

I found PC parts picker pretty useful when I put mine together. The actual physical aspect of putting a PC together is very straightforward.

As it goes I got an AMD FX8350, which is more than good enough for my needs.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

I'm still running the same i7 2600k I bought back in 2011 with no problems, including in music production and in running VR games. From what I understand, the trend is towards offloading strain from the cpu to the gpu, since the gpu market is booming (gtx 10 series is very nice. A ?250 1060 now is competitive with a ?400 980 from the last series) and the cpu market is relatively stagnant.

 

[Delicious Anathema]

Wait for AMD's Zen. If anything it will shake current prices. I had a FX-8320E overclocked, which was the best cheap video rendering monster ever.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

It all comes down to budget and what you want out of it. The only reason to get an i7 is if you have extra cash you don't mind spending and you need it for something other than gaming. Video editing/encoding and other CPU intensive stuff. The differences between a modern i5, say the 6600k and i7, the 6700k are close to negligible in gaming. That being said, if you get a boner for having the absolute best grab an i7.

As for your other question, I'm of the opinion that newer is better. My i5 4670k from a few years ago is probably 85 or 90% as powerful as a 6600k, but if I was upgrading or doing a new build I'd want that 15%.

 

[Delicious Anathema]

It all comes down to budget and what you want out of it. The only reason to get an i7 is if you have extra cash you don't mind spending and you need it for something other than gaming. Video editing/encoding and other CPU intensive stuff. The differences between a modern i5, say the 6600k and i7, the 6700k are close to negligible in gaming. That being said, if you get a boner for having the absolute best grab an i7.

As for your other question, I'm of the opinion that newer is better. My i5 4670k from a few years ago is probably 85 or 90% as powerful as a 6600k, but if I was upgrading or doing a new build I'd want that 15%.

Games are becoming more and more multithreaded and the i7s are worth it now.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

It all comes down to budget and what you want out of it. The only reason to get an i7 is if you have extra cash you don't mind spending and you need it for something other than gaming. Video editing/encoding and other CPU intensive stuff. The differences between a modern i5, say the 6600k and i7, the 6700k are close to negligible in gaming. That being said, if you get a boner for having the absolute best grab an i7.

As for your other question, I'm of the opinion that newer is better. My i5 4670k from a few years ago is probably 85 or 90% as powerful as a 6600k, but if I was upgrading or doing a new build I'd want that 15%.

Games are becoming more and more multithreaded and the i7s are worth it now.

It's all relative