Im looking for a site that benchmarks current CPUs with simulations rather than shooters... I found some benchmarks at Tomshardware but looking for more.

My budget would be 70-100 euro for the mainboard and around 100 euro for the CPU.

Core i3-3220 vs. FX-4170 according to Tomshardware (previously they were so disappointed by the AMD but now its a tie ... interesting... since other reviews showed even the phenom II x4 955 is faster in games overclocked)

Id definitely go for the Core i3 after reading some more reviews (newer technology better mainboards less energy sucking) but id be looking for some other option because i do like the idea of being able to overclock and im not sure a dual core is so good for hardcore simulations??

Yes i know if i wanna be on the safe side i have to fork out the 200 euro for the Core i5-3570K ...

any other options???

Well, I don't know if you checked it already but there is http://lfsbench.iron.eu.org/ which is LFS only though but may be a start.

edit: you may want to go back to the Z28 replay for a bigger list of systems, the 0.6B replay is rather new.

LFS isn't a very good game for bench performance results for modern hardware, since it only makes use of a single processor thread.

i5-3570K is a great CPU for the price, but along with all the other Ivy processors, it isn't as good as the previous generation for overclocking due to the crappy thermal compound Intel used between the heatspreader and the chip itself.

Quote from Matrixi :

LFS isn't a very good game for bench performance results for modern hardware, since it only makes use of a single processor thread.

i5-3570K is a great CPU for the price, but along with all the other Ivy processors, it isn't as good as the previous generation for overclocking due to the crappy thermal compound Intel used between the heatspreader and the chip itself.

Last I heard the thermal compound myth was debunked since it wouldn't make that much of a difference. It's more likely that the smaller size of the CPU makes it harder for the CPU coolers to get away the heat fast enough.

http://uk.hardware.info/news/2 ... ge-processor-not-worth-it

Actually the difference in temperatures under full load is pretty huge when done properly with a high quality thermal paste.

http://muropaketti.com/artikke ... n-ja-vakiotahnan-vaihto,3

However, even with high quality thermal compound, the size of the Ivy chip itself is starting to become too small to dissipate all the generated heat to the heatspreader, and the actual cooler from there. That's why older Sandy based processors overclock slightly better than Ivy even after the TIM has been replaced.

Still, I'd rather buy a 3570K than the previous generation CPU, just because of the lower power usage and pretty much equal performance even at lower clockspeeds when overclocked.

Simulations (like physics simulations) would probably multi-threaded, so you might be better off with as many cores as possible. Regarding games, I'd still go with an I3 just because you can clock it high and most games may still not take full potential of all cores. If they don't, the i3 will destroy any AMD processor just because of its architecture and how its instruction pipelines run. Unfortunately whatever you run, basically no competition even for the 3 year old 2500k.

I guess AMD is still looking for its Athlon64 days...

If I were you I'd take the Intel i5 3570K, because I have the 2500K and I absolutely love it. Mainboard - Asrock Pro3 should be enough.

Quote from GenesisX :

Simulations (like physics simulations) would probably multi-threaded, so you might be better off with as many cores as possible. Regarding games, I'd still go with an I3 just because you can clock it high and most games may still not take full potential of all cores. If they don't, the i3 will destroy any AMD processor just because of its architecture and how its instruction pipelines run. Unfortunately whatever you run, basically no competition even for the 3 year old 2500k.

I guess AMD is still looking for its Athlon64 days...

yeah i also came to that conclusion...

my last system some years ago (sold it and got a laptop) was budget build Athlon II X3 435 + GTX260 ... pretty good bang for the bug Tripple Core but i wouldnt build it again since its really old tech now and if just 2 cores are used by the game/sim the CPU doesnt stand a chance against I3 or Pentium G860 ... its just 2 gens newer

checked some reviews and for games the difference between the i3 and the pentium is really minimal...

so it will be budget build Pentium G860 + GTX660 or if its not enough power ill drop the i5 3570K in later ...

finally bought a Pentium G860 (2cores 3GHZ)+ HD7770.

what can i say i didnt expect it but even in simulations its way faster than my old AMD X3 435 (3cores 2.9GHZ) + GTX260 system

and produces half the noise and consumes half the energy...

i tested with Aerofly FS, LOMAC, BLACKSHARK, Netkar PRO, Rise of Flight, Stalker COP and many more...

in full HD and medium-high settings 40-80FPS on average...

i think that is pretty much amazing considerung we are talking about 150Euro for CPU+GPU and 150Watts max power consumption.