Do I need an unlocked CPU>

[dafatboicalliou]

I'm trying to make a new PC, but I don't really know if I'm going to be overclocking, should I stick with the 12600K or downgrade to a 12400?

[YoungBlade]

The 12600K also had 4 additional cores, so the overclocking is only a minor factor. What are you planning on doing with the computer?

[dafatboicalliou]

1 minute ago, YoungBlade said:

The 12600K also had 4 additional cores, so the overclocking is only a minor factor. What are you planning on doing with the computer?

Mostly Gaming, like fps games and some minecraft

[YoungBlade]

If just gaming, the 12400 will perform similarly. Unless you are pairing it with a high end graphics card or are playing at low settings and chasing every last frame, the 12400 is a good way to save $100 on the CPU, $60+ on the motherboard, and it's not going to be a noticeable downgrade for your use case.

[dafatboicalliou]

3 minutes ago, YoungBlade said:

If just gaming, the 12400 will perform similarly. Unless you are pairing it with a high end graphics card or are playing at low settings and chasing every last frame, the 12400 is a good way to save $100 on the CPU, $60+ on the motherboard, and it's not going to be a noticeable downgrade for your use case.

Ok, Thank you! Also, is a 3060 12 GB a high end card?

[YoungBlade]

19 minutes ago, dafatboicalliou said:

Ok, Thank you! Also, is a 3060 12 GB a high end card?

Not in this context. It's a good card and can handle all of the latest games, but I was referring to 3080 or 6800XT levels of performance or better. The 12400 is perfectly capable of extracting maximum performance from the 3060.