Which CPU?

[Pete301]

Hi guys, I have made a thread before about my intentions to upgrade etc. however I'm still a bit torn between what CPU to get.

I will be using it for gaming, Pro Tools, and other audio related antics .

I am considering either the Xeon 1230 or the FX-8120 (possibly just OC to 8150 speeds).

As I understand the xeon is probably the better CPU however as it stands factoring in the £20 AMD cashback the xeon would be around £40 more expensive than the 8120. I also have seen the thread about blind testing the AMD's 8150 against an i7 rig and the majority said that the 8150 was the better gaming rig.

What I am looking for is the best "bang 4 buck" I guess between these two CPUs. I can't find much benchmarking for the Xeon, however with hyperthreading and the better performance per core would it still be better than an 8120 at data munching with all threads being utilised?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

For audio based work the Intel CPUs tend to be better AFAIK and lightly threaded games will run much better on the Xeon. Not so ure about Protools though so maybe you need to have a good look around for some benchmarks.

[DanceswithUnix]

Have you looked at motherboard costs?
That might push the economics one way or the other.

[Pete301]

I was thinking of sticking to about £75 for the motherboard. A z68 for the Xeon or a 970 for the 8120. However I was thinking possibly getting 16GB of ram with the money saved if I went for the 8120. But that may just be overkill. Do you guys think I'd get a better performance increase if I got the Xeon and 8GB ram rather than the 8120 and 16GB.

Also I know that the Xeon is a server CPU, does anyone know if it will be as good as an i5 for gaming. Is there much change in the architecture from the desktop CPU to the server CPU?

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I was thinking of sticking to about £75 for the motherboard. A z68 for the Xeon or a 970 for the 8120. However I was thinking possibly getting 16GB of ram with the money saved if I went for the 8120. But that may just be overkill. Do you guys think I'd get a better performance increase if I got the Xeon and 8GB ram rather than the 8120 and 16GB.

Also I know that the Xeon is a server CPU, does anyone know if it will be as good as an i5 for gaming. Is there much change in the architecture from the desktop CPU to the server CPU?

The Xeon E3-1230 is basically a lower clocked Core i7 2600 with no IGP.

[Pete301]

Ok thanks Cat . So the Xeon 1230 looks like the best bet. Should be upgrading in Feb all being well, can't wait now .

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Ok thanks Cat . So the Xeon 1230 looks like the best bet. Should be upgrading in Feb all being well, can't wait now .

If you were doing video and rendering work the FX8120 looks OK value as would be a Phenom II X6. OTH,at least from what I gather Intel CPUs tend to be a bit better with the audio stuff!