Best intel gaming CPU?

[Dimetime35c]

Okay I'm wondering from a pure gaming stand point what is the best stock CPU and what's the best over clocked CPU??? Does hyper threading make any difference in games or only if let's say I'm gaming then something starts downloading in the background? Finally what CPU would pair best with the GTX 980ti to help unlock the cards full power?

[hoot.]

4690k would be the best. 4790k could arguably be the best if you'll be rendering videos etc, because of hyperthreading. But if just gaming, 4690k will be the best. Hyperthreading does not affect FPS in gaming. 4690k will not bottleneck either.

 

So, in the end... get a 4690k.

[JebKerman]

well the best would still be the best, 4790K, 5960X. but the best reasonably priced and not completely overkill ones are core i5s the 4460 for locked and the 4690K for unlocked

[XxDeadpool67xX]

Okay I'm wondering from a pure gaming stand point what is the best stock CPU and what's the best over clocked CPU??? Does hyper threading make any difference in games or only if let's say I'm gaming then something starts downloading in the background? Finally what CPU would pair best with the GTX 980ti to help unlock the cards full power?

As of now 4690k i7 will have very little performance in games 1fps if your lucky. If you wait for skylake the 6600k

[ZMyers14]

I love my 4690K, insane overclocking potential for the future, cool temps, and great price. Won't bottleneck with any single GPU out there, or most SLI/CF for that matter.

[Stanvard]

4690k is about the best for gaming, pretty good for everything else

[CatzRuleZWorld]

Best stock: 4790k because it has the highest stock clock speed.

Best overclocked: Probably 4770k because it can be overclocked the highest with 2 cores (http://valid.canardpc.com/240rw0)

Best for 980Ti: 4690k because it can be easily overclocked to almost the speed of the i7 and you don't need more than 4 threads unless you make your living off your CPU.

Game slow down from something downloading in BG: Only if you're talking about ping.

[DarkBlade2117]

Any Haswell refreshed i5 for unlocked and lock

[Sam Z Man]

well the best would still be the best, 4790K, 5960X.

How in the big blue world, is the 5960X a good gaming CPU, the only thing its good at is compensation.

[othertomperson]

4690k would be the best. 4790k could arguably be the best if you'll be rendering videos etc, because of hyperthreading. But if just gaming, 4690k will be the best. Hyperthreading does not affect FPS in gaming. 4690k will not bottleneck either.

 

So, in the end... get a 4690k.

 

OP asked for the best, not the best value. The best is the 5960X because of the 0.001% of games that use more than four cores and will benefit from the actual cores rather than just hyperthreading.

 

 

How in the big blue world, is the 5960X a good gaming CPU, the only thing its good at is compensation.

 

There are games that benefit from having six cores over four. The 5960X has (more than) six cores. The 4790k and the 4690k do not.

[Faceman]

 

OP asked for the best, not the best value. The best is the 5960X because of the 0.001% of games that use more than four cores and will benefit from the actual cores rather than just hyperthreading.

 

 

 

There are games that benefit from having six cores over four. The 5960X has (more than) six cores. The 4790k and the 4690k do not.

 

But then there are a heck of a lot more games that benefit from the higher clock speed that the i5-4690k and i7-4790k provide.

 

All in all, the i7-4790k is the best gaming CPU because of those few games that do benefit from 4+ threads, and because of its very high stock clock speed, and overclockability.

[hoot.]

But then there are a heck of a lot more games that benefit from the higher clock speed that the i5-4690k and i7-4790k provide.

 

All in all, the i7-4790k is the best gaming CPU because of those few games that do benefit from 4+ threads, and because of its very high stock clock speed, and overclockability.

Thank you. ^

[othertomperson]

But then there are a heck of a lot more games that benefit from the higher clock speed that the i5-4690k and i7-4790k provide.

 

All in all, the i7-4790k is the best gaming CPU because of those few games that do benefit from 4+ threads, and because of its very high stock clock speed, and overclockability.

 

True 3.5 < 4.4, but you can pretty easily overclock the 5960X as well -- tbh someone getting either of these CPUs should be overclocking anyway and then you get the clock speed advantage and the cores. It's the best gaming CPU available, just at a price to performance ratio that makes it not the most sense for most people.