Hey,

I'd like to know which of these two would be better for gaming. The reason I ask is because one of the CPU's is 12 MB but with 4.1 GHz, whilst the other is 15 MB but with just 4.0 GHz.

3960x is faster but both are overkill. It is not worth $1000 extra.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

About the same score there, second gets just 500p more so not a big differnce.

i guess ill take the first choice then? Alright, thanks for the replies! :)

Definately first is a better option. Or maybe even a cheaper one if it is available. Any i7 CPU will be good enough for about 5 years. Best option would be getting the best GPU you can afford and pair it with basically any i7 CPU. Of course if this is a gaming rig

The reason I want a fast CPU is because I not only want to game but also render things such as videos, 3D models, etc. I already have the Duel AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7950 selectedm so I'm good on that side :)

Well, 3,3% better performance for paying 54% more

Sairothon said: The reason I want a fast CPU is because I not only want to game but also render things such as videos, 3D models, etc. I already have the Duel AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7950 selectedm so I'm good on that side :)

Right, well 3930k is what i would take. $350 more for 3960x is just way too much. Btw, this will be a real moster rig!

Just a quick question, are the CPU's overclocked to a point that's still safe? So that they won't overheat/get damaged?

Sairothon said: Just a quick question, are the CPU's overclocked to a point that's still safe? So that they won't overheat/get damaged?

They will not get damaged, don't worry. You actually should still have quiet a bit of room for more overclocking if you would like to do so.

Alright, thanks for the answers :)

Sairothon said: Just a quick question, are the CPU's overclocked to a point that's still safe? So that they won't overheat/get damaged?

The way that the CPU's work is via technology called "Turbo Boost", which means that the CPUs automatically overclock themselves when the computer is under heavy load, as a result you'll experience safe stable clock speeds with pretty much everything that you do.

6 cores is unnecessary in games.

take the first choice, second is not worth the money

kimbernator said: 6 cores is unnecessary in games.

Yes, but if you will turn your attention to post no. 6, you'll see that Sairothon also needs the processor for 3D rendering and modeling, which (correct me if I'm wrong) takes a bit more from your processor than gaming does.