Which CPU?

[Jadsy]

Hey guys, wondering if i could get some help from anyone?

I want to buy a new CPU, and i have around a £200 budget.

The ones i have been looking at are the;

 

-Intel Xeon E3-1230 v3 3.30GHz (Haswell) LGA1150

-i5 4670k 3.40ghz

 

I only game and don't do any video editing or graphics.

 

If anyone could recommend which one is best, or even recommenced a new CPU for gaming (around £200) would be great.

Thanks guys!

[BenestoTech]

Go for the i5, Xeon not so good for gaming. If you can stretch, i7, and if you can wait, new CPUs coming next year (Broadwell, 5th gen)

[tek inpektor]

Go for the i5, Xeon not so good for gaming. If you can stretch, i7, and if you can wait, new CPUs coming next year (Broadwell, 5th gen)

Xeons are fine for gaming.

[Monti]

From what I see on this forum a lot is the I5 is really popular when just gaming

[BenestoTech]

Xeons are fine for gaming.

Sorta, but they are better constructed for Servers/Workstations. I think i7 would be best of all

[Bagmup]

What motherboard is this going into?

[Jadsy]

Go for the i5, Xeon not so good for gaming. If you can stretch, i7, and if you can wait, new CPUs coming next year (Broadwell, 5th gen)

Oh ok, i just read somewhere the the Xeon is just as good, i was just contemplating on whether or not to get the i5 or the Xeon, but if the i5 is definitely better, i will go for that

[Enderman]

Xeons are fine for gaming.

No they are not. They are locked multipliers and cant overclock. Xeon processors are meant for workstations and servers.

[Jadsy]

Xeons are fine for gaming.

But is it better then the i5? 

[Jadsy]

From what I see on this forum a lot is the I5 is really popular when just gaming

Yeah i've seen a lot of comments about the i5

[BenestoTech]

Oh ok, i just read somewhere the the Xeon is just as good, i was just contemplating on whether or not to get the i5 or the Xeon, but if the i5 is definitely better, i will go for that

Ok, great.

[tek inpektor]

No they are not. They are locked multipliers and cant overclock. Xeon processors are meant for workstations and servers.

Some i5s and i7s are locked. That doesn't mean they're not for gaming.

[tek inpektor]

But is it better then the i5? 

No.

[Jadsy]

No.

ok thanks  

[Enderman]

Some i5s and i7s are locked. That doesn't mean they're not for gaming.

The way the chip is built is not meant for gaming, not just overclocking. It has a different architecture with larger L cache for server applications as well as hyperthreading. Clock speeds are lower too. It also is the larger 32nm chip because its older than the 4670k and can only use 1066-1333MHz ram.

[Hank_Tech]

Really up to you man. The difference between the i5 and Xeon will only be noticeable if you plan to overclock. If you are gonna keep them at stock speeds though, I would probably go with the Xeon. You get hyperthreading (not that it will matter to you too much, but it is nice to have incase you encounter any highly threaded workloads), and just a general more solid chip (again, won't notice it but you are buying server grade instead of consumer grade). If you are gonna cool that i5 nice though and OC, go with that then.

[tek inpektor]

The way the chip is built is not meant for gaming, not just overclocking. It has a different architecture with larger L cache for server applications as well as hyperthreading. Clock speeds are lower too. It also is the larger 32nm chip because its older than the 4670k and can only use 1066-1333MHz ram.

But it will still perform the same as an i5 in most gaming situations.

[Nickolas47]

i5 4670k without a doubt

[TheSLSAMG]

Go for the i5, Xeon not so good for gaming. If you can stretch, i7, and if you can wait, new CPUs coming next year (Broadwell, 5th gen)

Really? People still think this?

 

The lithography is 22nm, like every Intel 1150 CPU. http://ark.intel.com/products/75054/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E3-1230-v3-8M-Cache-3_30-GHz @Enderman, you're wrong.

 

And performance will be better out of the Xeon. Here's an example:

 

The frames are 5-10 FPS better than my rig @5GHz. Comparable specs too.

[Enderman]

 

 

The frames are 5-10 FPS better than my rig @5GHz. Comparable specs too.

Are you sure? The guy has his 770 @ 1280MHz, is that the same as you?

You should also add the overclocks in your system specs.

[Enderman]

But it will still perform the same as an i5 in most gaming situations.

Yes, because games mostly rely on the GPU for the framerate. Past a certain point CPUs will no longer make fps better (unless it is Minecraft)

I would go for whichever one is cheaper

[TheSLSAMG]

Are you sure? The guy has his 770 @ 1280MHz, is that the same as you?

You should also add the overclocks in your system specs.

Actually, my GTX 770 is usually around 1300MHz (but not always). It was at 1300 when I was testing some games (including BF4.)

 

And I am keeping my system specs clean, especially with my ever changing overclocks.

[Enderman]

Actually, my GTX 770 is usually around 1300MHz (but not always). It was at 1300 when I was testing some games (including BF4.)

 

And I am keeping my system specs clean, especially with my ever changing overclocks.

I am fairly sure that 5-10fps difference is within margin of error. Every computer is different, and you can build two systems exactly the same but their fps will be different. It is very unlikely that the cpu is making the difference Unless the game actually uses more than 4 cores. IDK if it does, I dont play that game

[TheSLSAMG]

I am fairly sure that 5-10fps difference is within margin of error. Every computer is different, and you can build two systems exactly the same but their fps will be different. It is very unlikely that the cpu is making the difference Unless the game actually uses more than 4 cores. IDK if it does, I dont play that game

BF4 can use up to 8 cores, and 1-3FPS is more within a margin of error.

 

Seeing what is going on here, and that the uploader was using Shadowplay as I was not while using similar GPUs and different CPUs, I would argue that yes, it is the CPU that makes all of the difference.