Which is most important in a cpu

[realSpoderman]

I am planning to make a gaming build and was wondering what is the most important thing to consider when buying a CPU: the number of cores, the cache, or the speed? And if anyone could tell me exactly what all of these do that would be great, thanks.

[Electronics Wizardy]

How much you want to spend?

 

Look at cpu benchmarks, those numbers are normally meaningless without contex.

[Stardar1]

1 minute ago, realSpoderman said:

I am planning to make a gaming build and was wondering what is the most important thing to consider when buying a CPU: the number of cores, the cache, or the speed? And if anyone could tell me exactly what all of these do that would be great, thanks.

I mena, most games won't use more than 4 threads, but a balnce is always a good idea. Don't go for a 2GHz 16 core, don't go for a 10 Ghz single core. 

 

a 3.5+ GHz quad core i5 is usually the best solution for gaming. Obviously, more clock speed is always better, but it is not always worth the price increase. 

[typographie]

The most important thing is the architecture, and there is no easy number to look at for that. What's your budget for the system, and is it just for gaming? What else, if anything, do you want to do with it?

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, Stardar1 said:

don't go for a 10 Ghz single core.

This would be aswome if it existed, And id use it instead of a i5 any day.

[AresKrieger]

6 minutes ago, realSpoderman said:

I am planning to make a gaming build and was wondering what is the most important thing to consider when buying a CPU: the number of cores, the cache, or the speed? And if anyone could tell me exactly what all of these do that would be great, thanks.

None of the above, you need to compare how they perform directly in programs you use

[Stardar1]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

This would be aswome if it existed, And id use it instead of a i5 any day.

IDK, I would want at least 2 threads, but most of what I do can utilize more than 4. 

[incarnate]

Benchmarks and reviews are the most important spec. Never buy a cpu or gpu without looking at professional reviews and benchmarks.

[Bananasplit_00]

IPS(instructions per second) but you cant just say one aspect is more inportant then another because you need a balance. what you get depends on the workload. if it can utelise more cores the more cores are something to aim for, if it just uses one or two cores then IPS is whats most important. it all depends on what you are doing with it

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Stardar1 said:

IDK, I would want at least 2 threads, but most of what I do can utilize more than 4. 

It would be fine, as you can switch between the threads, like we already do.

 

Most programs have hundrededs of threads and the kernel has to switch there time on the cpu, and has been doing it well for half a century now.

[Stardar1]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

It would be fine, as you can switch between the threads, like we already do.

 

Most programs have hundrededs of threads and the kernel has to switch there time on the cpu, and has been doing it well for half a century now.

This is true, but what I meant is that I have tested a lot of what I do with different CPUs (i7 4790k, i5 4690k, i5 6500, FX 6300, FX 8320) and watched individual core temperature and use. (end result, for me, 8 threads are warrented. )

 

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Stardar1 said:

This is true, but what I meant is that I have tested a lot of what I do with different CPUs (i7 4790k, i5 4690k, i5 6500, FX 6300, FX 8320) and watched individual core temperature and use. (end result, for me, 8 threads are warrented. )

 

 

but with one core that is as fast as those 8, it would preform about the same in stuff that can use more cores, but will be much faster in anything that needs single threaded.

[Stardar1]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

but with one core that is as fast as those 8, it would preform about the same in stuff that can use more cores, but will be much faster in anything that needs single threaded.

But this is silly, because we don't have a 10 GHz CPU. 

[SLAYR]

For a gaming build an i5 6500 is a good choice more games are going for 8 threads of usage, but games won't require 8 threads for a while.

[typographie]

13 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

This would be aswome if it existed, And id use it instead of a i5 any day.

If all I cared about were single-threaded Cinebench scores and pre-2012 games, it might indeed be awesome.

[realSpoderman]

27 minutes ago, realSpoderman said:

I am planning to make a gaming build and was wondering what is the most important thing to consider when buying a CPU: the number of cores, the cache, or the speed? And if anyone could tell me exactly what all of these do that would be great, thanks.

My budget isn't a problem and I won't be running a lot of stuff at once mostly just gaming, and possibly some 3D modeling but there is a very low chance of that.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, realSpoderman said:

My budget isn't a problem and I won't be running a lot of stuff at once mostly just gaming, and possibly some 3D modeling but there is a very low chance of that.

6700k then.