Intel 3rd Generation Core i7-3770K CPU (4 x 3.50GHz, Ivy Bridge, Socket 1155, 8Mb L3 Cache, Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0)

Please let me start by point out I do some intense gaming and intense video editing as well as he light load stuff like word documents ect for college,As a computer student, I knew what I was going to need to give me the 'horse power' in all round applications. And the I7 3770K is great for this. Whilst only having 4 physical cores, it can be hyper-threaded into 8 cores. I had previously read that this wasnt as good as an 8 physical cored processor -as your probably have guessed, but I went ahead with my purchase.Instillation was relatively simple, but I was still neverous at placing the brackets back over - I didint want to damage a pin on a £250 CPU. But everything installed great! Please note, this does require 2x 6 pin power for the PSU.After instillation I done what any other self confessed geek would do; I jumped straight into my benchmark software. Firstly, I tried the Intel Burn Test -which isn't actually made by intel. This little piece of software seen all 8 threads jump up to 100% load and reached around 68 Degrees Celsius. On a after market Corsair H60 Cooler.I then used 3D Mark 11 and Vantage, unfortunately I do not have these results to share but the end result wasn't stunning but it was highly respectable.But I guess it more of a work load based thing. So I opened up my Sony Vegas Pro 12 (64 Bit) and started doing some video editing. The results were brillant! I edit in 1920x1080p full HD and the CPU was utilizing all threads for the work @ around 50-60%. I then rendered the video and the cores reached the expect 60-80% work load and raised to 50 Degrees Celsius. My 10 minute video was done in 7 minutes! I was astonished! I was previously using an AM3 AMD Phenom x4 955 BE and that took up to and hour for a similar piece!But for the gamers out there, I highly recommend this! It will be coming down in price and games will start to use those all importent threads within the next couple of years. Especially since the next gen consoles have up to 8 cores! You're really wanting a system that will run games brillantly. As I said, video editing wise this is dandy but in-games it's actually great! I play things like Shogun 2 and the recent Total War installments and the thing runs them great - I dont have any stats sorry,but It copes with any issues in 4v4 land battles at 50-60 FPS. Please note, I use a dedicated video card (GTX 570 2.5 GB).Overall,I love this CPU! It idles at around 30 Degrees for me and is clocked perfectly-I haven't tried O.C yet. But Im confident in doing so in the future. If you do alot like the things above, Get this! You'll not regret it!My Specs:Mo/Bo: ASUS Maximus V GeneRAM: 8 GB : 1333 MhzGPU: EVGA GTX 570 HD 2.5 GBCPU: I7 3770K @ 3.5 GhzPSU: X-Case 900 WattCase: X-Case S1

This processor is simply beasty! It's currently in my new Bitfenix Prodigy M-ITX build and it functions like a dream. I use my system for gaming and video editing as I am a proud member of the YouTube community. I can be rendering a video in Sony Movie Studio Platinum 11 Suite, playing Minecraft and recording it at the same time in 1080p without frame drops. Videos also render really quick, being almost twice as fast as real time, I can render a video that is 50 minutes long and it will render within 30 minutes. What more could you ask for?I am thinking of doing a 4GHz overclock soon as I have used the Zalman CNPS9900 Max CPU cooler in my build instead of the stock one. Currently it is operating at stock clocks and after running Prime 95 for 30 minutes it only reached a maximum of 62 Celsius. Most of the time though it stays around 55 Celsius while rendering a video. Prime 95 is good for testing the temperatures although these results are quite synthetic since the CPU will never reach 100% usage unless your running a program like Folding At Home.All in all, I'm glad I went for the i7 over the i5. That's up to you to decide though depending on what sort of PC you would want. If you're only gaming on the system, get the i5. The i7's Hyper-threading on the i7 makes hardily any difference, and you're saving about £80. Meanwhile, if you're recording, rendering and heavily multi-tasking go for the i7. It was the best ever decision I've made.This CPU will not disappoint you in any way.Also, check out my YouTube channel if you like: Warrenaterz

Pro's:Fast - HD Video, massive audio productions, gaming - not a problem. You could probably even do them all at the same time with sufficient screens (and skill!!)Extra power on tap - If you have temperature headroom, your CPU will boost itself to 3.9Ghz. The stock cooler is adequate for that sort of thing, but I replaced it with a H60 just to be safer long term.Efficient - Coupled with my Asus Z77 WS board with its advanced power tech, this CPU has got to be the most economical I have had the pleasure of owning. I am running my full system (3770k, 2 HDD, 1 SSD, 16GB DDR3 , GTX660ti) with safe headroom from a good quality 550w PSU.Con's:Cost - Fair enough its substantially cheaper here on amazon that other component retailers, but circa £240 is still a lot when you consider for most applications this chip gives you nothing over a 3570k.Also a few issues with Avid Pro Tools 10 and the turbo boost/HT tech. Pro Tools is much happier with static clock speeds from what I can tell. Some virtual instruments have hiccups with hyper threading, most noticeably NI Kontakt 5 - which is only optimised for 1,2,3 or 4 cores. When it can see 8 it just isnt happy!

Following an upgrade from an i5 2500k I can't say that any significant performance increase during normal daily tasks is discernible. However, that is to be expected as I don't perform too many tasks that really stretch the CPU's ability. Windows experience index increased from 7.5 to 7.7; according to performance charts based on calculation rates, this ostensibly minor difference actually translates into a speed increase of around 30%, so do take Microsoft's arbitrary grading system with a pinch of salt.Next day delivery was provided by Amazon despite having been purchased at around 6pm, so I cannot fault the service.4/5 due to value from Intel - could be better in my humble opinion. Also when I am spending over £200 on a processor, it might be nice to have packaging befitting the price as it is rather drab and the same as much cheaper models.

Everyone says this is the best thing since toast and i don't know why this CPU seems to be not much faster than my old quad core q8300. Rendering times, it still takes like an hour to render a 30 mins 4Mbps WMV video with z77 mobo and 8GB 1600Mhz ram.