Processor (CPU) for a Gaming PC
Right now is a perfect time to build a new or upgrade your old computer if you’ve been waiting. With the release of 64-bit processors, PCI-Express, DDR2 and new clock speeds, the price on yesterday’s high end components have fallen like a rock, especially for processors.
On the high end, you’ll definitely want to pick up the new chips from Intel and AMD. Intel has released their LGA775 socket processors which comes with speeds of 3.46GHz and 3.6 GHz. Benefits of this new processor include a 1MB L2 cache and support for SSE3. For AMD, you’ll want to pick up a chip from their Athlon 64 line. The best value in this series is the 3500+ which offers cutting edge 64-bit performance and also is comparable to a similar Intel 3.6GHz Pentium 4.
On the low end you’ll still want to pick out a powerful CPU so that it doesn’t become the bottleneck for your system. For Intel you’ll want to get at least a Pentium 4 3.0Ghz. Be sure to get a Prescott core model which gives you a 1 MB L2 cache, SSE3, 800 MHz front-side bus and hyper-threading. On the AMD side, you can still stick with an Athlon 64, just at a lower clock speed. A 3000+ will offer about the same performance as our Intel choice but at a lower price.
Low: Intel - Pentium 4 3.0E GHz (B000184BLU) : Prescott chip which will give you solid performance.
AMD - Athlon XP 3000+ (B00008CMMI) : Cheaper than the Pentium with similar performance.
High: Intel - Pentium 4 530 (B0002IHOVI) : The new chipset running at 3.46GHz
AMD – Athlon 64 4000+ (B0006IC004) : 64-bit processing is the wave of the future.