I5 or I7 - Future Proofing

[vellaaa]

Hey, I know this has been said many times (that I5 is all you need for gaming). But with the announcement of 8 core CPUs in the next gen consoles and the possibility that games will be using more than 4 cores in the future i'm not entirely sure which i should get...

 

If anyone could let me know which would be the better option it would be great, thanks

[helping]

i5 is still fine unless you have a good reason for getting an i7.

As most people on here will tell you, "future proofing" is a lie.

[CoolBeans]

There is no such thing as future proof and if the 8 core thing is true, get a 8350 as I doubt future games could use hyper threading even if they are optimized for 8 cores

[hehehehhehehehe]

There is no such thing as future proof and if the 8 core thing is true, get a 8350 as I doubt future games could use hyper threading even if they are optimized for 8 cores

They do and will continue to use hyperthreading..

[ZerueLX11]

On the other hand hyper threading should help you get more performance in the future as long as things are being optimized right. Games at most only utilize 2 cores, and I'm sure the minimum will be 4 cores when it gets there, and it will be a while before it gets to 8 core gaming(being even fully utilized).  To be honest though just get a good GPU, processors are very good now a days and things that determine "speed" are SSDs and for "performance" high-grade GPUs. 

[LIGISTX]

Honestly, in my opinion it comes down to how much do you use your computer. I wouldn't get an i7 because of gaming, no matter what your CPU will just get old and be too slow for next gen titles (any current i5 or i7 will be FINE for at least 3-4 years). But if you are a power user, have lots of monitors and really use your computer, get an i7. Thats what I did, and all of my "power user" friends have done. Not for gaming, but for "future proofing" their rig for every day life. Everyone else I know who is a gamer, they actually all have 3570k's or 2500k's (don't know anyone with a haswell yet).

 

So my two cents, don't get your CPU to future proof gaming, get it to make everyday stuff work better for you.

[jbr]

They do and will continue to use hyperthreading..

 

Which ones?

 

Because it's well known that having HT enabled causes DROPS in performance of games.

 

Apps benefit from HT, not games.

[Flojer0]

+1 for futureproofing being a lie.

 

One of my favorite quotes I read on another forum was that "The best way to future proof was to save your money and buy upgrades in the future". That hundred dollars you don't spend on an i7 could go towards a much better GPU, a better case, or what I'd do if I were building a machine today, An i5 + a 240mm AIO cooler with a hefty over clock. A well overclocked i5 will make everything run as fast as the speed benefit a select few tasks get from hyperthreading.

 

Here's a video Linus just did on the subject of hyperthreading:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnS50lJicXc

 

Plus most games hang around the capacities of the current crop of consoles anyway and Linus is right, console CPU's are nothing compared to what the desktop has. Current figures put the consoles at most at 2GHz 8 core. so you would do fine on a 4GHz FX-4300 and any reasonably modern i5, maybe even an i3.

[Wolfur]

New games will only utilize 6 cores on the consoles.

 

Everybody stock up on 6350's!

 

You mean i7-4930k or Phenom II x6? Because FX 63xx is not 6 core. The CPU in consoles has more FPUs than FX 63xx.

[Wolfur]

How is a 6300/6350 not a 6 core processor?

 

6 ALUs, 3 FPUs. That's three modules, but not full 6 cores. Worse performance when multithreading Floating Point stuff than old Phenom II x4 save for Phenom II x6 which all have full cores.

 

FX 63xx isn't full 6 core... but the CPU from nextgen consoles have a completely different architecture and DO feature full cores. Saying that FX 63xx is a good processor for next gen games is not true. Old Phenom II x6 will be better probably IF the games can use all FPUs from old Phenoms/3930k/4930k etc.

[RedRender]

You don't necessarely need to get an Eight core processor, you can just buy a Six core from AMD for about $250, Heres a Six core proccessor for only $120.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/5xKV