Which processor for gaming?

[Mr Smiley]

I have been out of the loop with computer parts and my friend asked me to help him pick out some parts for a purely gaming pc. His budget is $1000 and he says he wants to allocate around $200 for the processor.

I am currently looking at the following processors:
1. Intel E8400
2. Intel Q9400
3. AMD x4 940
4. AMD x3 720

Looking at benchmarks, all processors seem to have similar performance with gaming. For instance, here. I read the sticky post in the CPU forum about Quad or Dual core processors but it did not mention which type is better for gaming. Most games in the future will take advantage of multi-threading but will additional physical processors perform better than a higher clocked chip with fewer physical processors?

I am leaning towards the AMD X3 720 and using the rest of the money towards a more expensive video card. What is your opinion?

 

[masteryoda34]

Originally posted by: Mr Smiley
using the rest of the money towards a more expensive video card

:thumbsup:

 

[zerocool84]

The X3 720 is a great buy for the money. Is your friend going to be using anything that is going to take advantage of anything more than 2 cores? Games, programs? Is he going to be overclocking?

 

[Lunyone]

I am leaning towards the AMD X3 720 and using the rest of the money towards a more expensive video card. What is your opinion?

I think this generally is a good idea. Have a decent CPU, which the x3 720 is and get the most GPU you can afford = Good budget gaming rig!! Most games (not all) currently only use 1 or 2 CPU cores, but more and more will start to use 3 or 4 or more cores in the near future. For now I think 3 cores is plenty, not that 4 is a waste, but for the $ the x3 720 is a good buy. What are your other parts that your going to use in this rig??

 

[mmntech]

E8400 no question for a gaming build. I personally would only go with a triple or quad core right now for professional uses (CAD, video editing, server) or heavy multitasking. IIRC, most games still are not optimized to take advantage of more than two cores. They tend to benefit more from raw gigahertz than anything else. The Wolfdales are somewhat more energy efficient than what AMD is offering right now and they're known to overclock quite well.

 

[dguy6789]

I vote for the Phenom II X3 720. Even at stock speeds, it will play any game that doesn't benefit from more than two cores well enough. For games that use more than two cores, you have that little boost there. Like you said, use the extra money to increase the video card power.

 

[Lunyone]

Whatever you decide, PLEASE use a quality PSU for your/his build. Don't skimp out on one and you should have a pleasant computer build. I'd recommend getting a Corsair/Seasonic/Antec/PCP&C PSU for the build. Depending on which GPU/CPU you get will depend on which PSU you should consider. Most 500w PSU's that I mentioned before will cover about 95% of the GPU/CPU combinations. Only if you go with X-fire/SLI or one of the multi-GPU cards will getting a 600-700w PSU make more sense.

 

[deputc26]

PhII 940 wins at the $190 price point but I think going 720 and upping the gpu is the best plan.