The perfect CPU for gaming and overclocking
Vital statistics
Price: $250
Manufacturer: Intel
Web: www.intel.com
Odd as it is for a CPU that’s a year old to
still offer the most advanced computing technology available, the Core ị-2500K
feels like an old friend. Of all Intel’s CPUs it seems like the most honest,
and straightforward. If you’re a keen gamer, it’s probably still the fittest
for purpose.
The 2500K is based on Intel’s Sandy Bridge
PC processors. That means it’s well down the path towards the ultimate
destination for computing platforms: system-on-a-chip. Along with four Sandy
Bridge-class cores, each of which supports the latest x86 instruction
extensions including SSE4.2 and AVX, the 2500K’s die contains a dual-channel
memory controller and PCI Express system I/O.
That’s not all. With Sandy Bridge, Intel
brought graphics into the CPU die for the first time. The 2500K gets the top HD
3000 graphics core with 12 execution units. It’s a big improvement over
precious Intel efforts and until AMD’s Llano tore up the rulebook, it was the
fastest integrated GPU on the planet.
Feature-packed
That said, even the HD 3000 isn’t a graphics
core you’d want to rely on for serious gaming. What it does offer, however, is
Intel’s clever Quick Sync video encode engine. It mixes up dedicated hardware
with those 12 execution units to deliver video encode throughput that even the
best general-purpose CPUs struggle to match. The only catch is that any given
encode app needs special software hooks to take advantage of Quick Sync. If
your favourite encode platform or codec isn’t supported, you’re out of luck.
As it happens, that Quick Sync engine is
even more attractive on the Core i5-2500K than it is on closely related Core i7
quad-core models such as the 2700K. That’s because the one key feature the
2500K misses out on is Hyper-Threading. Without the ability to chomp through
two threads per core, the 2500K’s multi-threading throughput suffers to the
tune of around 15 to 20 per cent.
That’s not to say it’s a dud in any app
that generates a lot of threads. In fact, it’s only just behind AMD’s
octo-threaded FX 8150 in tests such as Cinebench. But when the threads are at
their most demanding, it falls behind. The x264 HD video encode benchmarks puts
the 2500K at 25 frames per second to the FX 8150’s 34 frames per second. Of
course, you could argue that deficit is offset by the availability of Quick Sync
accelerated encoding.
With the K series moniker it’s also an
excellent overclocker’s chip, hitting as much as 4.8GHz with an after-market
air-cooler. And that’s enough for any PC gamer out there.
What we can say for sure is that Sandy
Bridge’s per-core performance, combined with the 2500K’s decent 3.3GHz base
clock makes for outstanding gaming grunt even at stock speeds.
Even the mighty new Core i7-3930K can’t
quite match the 2500K’s 92fps in World in Conflict. Only the higher
clocked 2700K has it beaten. That’s an impressive feat for a relatively elderly
and affordable chip. Chuck in the ability to go well beyond 4GHz on air cooling
and it’s unbeatable.
Verdict
The
now year-old 2500K maintains its pole position status.
With Intel sand-bagging its new Sandy
Bridge E, the now year-old 2500K maintains its pole position status.
