more comparisons

[hoofhearted4]

ok i think this will be my last comparison. this is just my first time building a computer and i really wanna get the best for my money to avoid future problems and to go as far as i can without major upgrades. so as it says, there are two CPUs im comparing and two PSUs. please give me your opinions. thanks!

 

i7-2600 Sandy Bridge:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=19-115-071&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=1&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=%28keywords%29&Page=1#scrollFullInfo

 

i5-2500 Sandy Bridge:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=19-115-073&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&Pagesize=10&PurchaseMark=&SelectedRating=3&VideoOnlyMark=False&VendorMark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Keywords=%28keywords%29&Page=1#scrollFullInfo

 

on a note about these. they seem to be very similar. i do notices some differences like the L3 cache and the overall speed, and the i7 supports hyperthreading, basically, is the extra $90 even worth it. what is hyperthreading? is it good? and again is it worth it to spend the extra money on it? also, each of these have a K version (i7-2600k, i5-2500k) they are like $20 more expensive, but i see no difference. whats up with that?..now for the PSUs

 

Corsair:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=422166&sku=C13-2814

 

Xigmatek:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817815009

 

as for these, they are both 600W ones, which is what i think i need. the corsair is technically $10 more expensive but after rebate it essentially becomes $10 cheaper. just want your opinions on these. idk anything about PSUs, so are these good ones? can i get better for the same price? im guessing either of these will work itll just depend on if i want the rebate or not. but still opinions would be great!

 

 

once again thanks for all your help. ones i get results with these, ill post my final build for critiques!

[Nysba]

You will not find anyone who would tell you that the extra $90 is worth it unless you REALLY need the hyperthreading on the 2600. The difference in cache size is, from what I've read, nothing to even think about. Would help if we knew what you used your computer for. Gaming only: 2500 all the way. If you do something like video editing which apparently needs/takes advantage of hyper threading then you could probably consider the 2600. But the 2500 should still be more than adequate for that job.

 

The K in the end means it's unlocked and you can overclock. If it does not have the K in the end, it means you can't overclock it. Or at least not a lot, afaik you can overclock the non-K models some but it's minimal.

 

I say go with the K version. Unless your're 100% sure you'll never ever want to overclock.

 

I'd go with the K version myself, mainly because I want to be able to overclock (and I already have it :P ) and secondly beacuse the K is actually cheaper here LOL! I don't know why but the 2600k is 2 euros cheaper here than the 2600k, and 2500k is 9 euros cheaper than the 2500 ;D

 

E: And the 100 MHz difference in the stock speeds is nothing to even think about.

Edited June 11, 2011 by Nysba

[hoofhearted4]

yea my rig is for casual gaming. i play games like Starcraft 2, fallout NV, dragon age origons and da2, diablo, C&C. i might get into fps down the road but not yet, i have a ps3 as well and thats my main console. no video editing.

 

as for over clocking, idk. as i said im not a hardcore pc gamer. the turbo boost asaik should cover any of my needs for a faster cpu. but at only $15 more ima get the K just for the hell of it., im still saving like $75 overall.

 

so the i5-2500k it is

 

 

what about the PSUs?

[Vecna6667]

Hyperthreading is mostly for people who do a lot of video editing(Sony Vegas Pro) and encoding(Handbrake.) What it basically boils down to is if a core has been assigned a task and it still has unused resources while performing the task, it can be assigned another task and in effect be two cores(one physical and one virtual.) Video games tend to use up all of the resources of a CPU core so hyperthreading doesn't activate. Edited June 11, 2011 by Vecna6667

[hoofhearted4]

right on. just saved myself some money, but like i said, ill go with the i5-2500k. barely any extra money. whats $15 when im already spending $1300.

 

just need to finalize my PSU. does any one work? does it really matter as long as it puts out the desired Watts?