The amount of "Ultimate!!1!" builds that just use whatever parts that person has on hand instead of going all out is too damn high.

Is there a 2700k? For some reason I am remembering the 2600k as the one of that generation that everybody was getting...

My view: go Ivy Bridge. Let me ask two questions:
1) Have you thought about the i5-3570k? Four cores with no hyperthreading is more than enough for a retro XP rig, and maybe that's less pricy?
2) I don't know what the pricing is like, but what about the non-unlocked-multiplier 3700 (or its i5 equivalent)? It'll be a teeny bit slower but again might save you some money...

I would like to offer a 3'rd CPU option: Xeon E3 (either the sandy-bridge ones or the Ivy-bridge V2 models). Your motherboard has support for them and they are basically i7's, but can be had for much cheaper.

I have a similar setup and I opted for the 3770K because it offers PCIe 3.0, unlike the 2700K, which only supports PCIe 2.0. Since GeForce 600 series, all high end NVidia cards are PCIe 3.0.
If overclocking isn't in your plans, you could consider the Xeon E3-1275v2, which is supported by your motherboard and has the same specs as the 3770K, except for the unlocked multiplier.

Thanks a lot for the answers!

Just one question: wouldn't the Ivy bridge requiere delidding of some sorts eventually?

Regarding the i5, the thing is that it is less common (and more expensive) in my zone.

Either a 2700k or 3770k would be fine.

The typical period of gaming for an Windows XP system will be from the late 90s to 2008 or so. Sandy or Ivy Bridge systems from the 2010s should give more than enough performance headroom for games from the 2000s.

As for GPU, again either a GTX 780Ti or 970 will be fine. Similar to the CPU, it will have more than enough performance headroom for XP-era games.

FWIW, I set up my own 'ultimate' XP system with an 3770k and 980Ti. I run games up to about 2008 with no performance issues. Crysis for example gets over 100 FPS with settings maxed out.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-05-03, 15:23:

Either a 2700k or 3770k would be fine. […]
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Either a 2700k or 3770k would be fine.

The typical period of gaming for an Windows XP system will be from the late 90s to 2008 or so. Sandy or Ivy Bridge systems from the 2010s should give more than enough performance headroom for games from the 2000s.

As for GPU, again either a GTX 780Ti or 970 will be fine. Similar to the CPU, it will have more than enough performance headroom for XP-era games.

FWIW, I set up my own 'ultimate' XP system with an 3770k and 980Ti. I run games up to about 2008 with no performance issues. Crysis for example gets over 100 FPS with settings maxed out.

That's great! Did you modify the INI File for the drivers?

victormun wrote on 2024-05-03, 16:08:

That's great! Did you modify the INI File for the drivers?

Yes, I had to change the INI file to get it to recognize the 980 Ti. Worked great after that.

Great!

I think I'm leaning now towards the 3770K (+970) combo.

sysctl wrote on 2024-05-03, 12:35:

I have a similar setup and I opted for the 3770K because it offers PCIe 3.0, unlike the 2700K, which only supports PCIe 2.0. Since GeForce 600 series, all high end NVidia cards are PCIe 3.0.
If overclocking isn't in your plans, you could consider the Xeon E3-1275v2, which is supported by your motherboard and has the same specs as the 3770K, except for the unlocked multiplier.

Shoot, you could go with a E3-1280v2 or a E3-1290v2 to really push stock speeds. I use a E3-1280v2 in my Gigabyte B75 motherboard to turbo up to 4GHz at stock. It works great for me.

The i7-3770k isn't a bad choice either. Reports at the time gave it high marks for overclocking. I'd pick it over the Sandy Bridge i7s.

victormun wrote on 2024-05-03, 12:52:

Thanks a lot for the answers!

Just one question: wouldn't the Ivy bridge requiere delidding of some sorts eventually?

Regarding the i5, the thing is that it is less common (and more expensive) in my zone.

Delidded my i7-3770k back in the day. It of course gave a substantial temp decrease when benching and pushing the CPU to the limit, but in real world scenarios, it only ran like 5°C cooler.

Might be worth it if you're one of those guys who finds pleasure in optimizing everything, however most retro machines see so little use that 5° C won't have any practical effect on lifetime etc.

kaputnik wrote on 2024-05-04, 09:58:

victormun wrote on 2024-05-03, 12:52:

Just one question: wouldn't the Ivy bridge requiere delidding of some sorts eventually?

Delidded my i7-3770k back in the day. It of course gave a substantial temp decrease when benching and pushing the CPU to the limit, but in real world scenarios, it only ran like 5°C cooler.

Might be worth it if you're one of those guys who finds pleasure in optimizing everything, however most retro machines see so little use that 5° C won't have any practical effect on lifetime etc.

I'm guessing victormun was talking about the possibility of the paste between the chip and IHS going dry, since Intel stopped soldering them with Ivy.

I've got no idea what kind of paste they used but I suppose none of them last forever. Probably aren't going to go unusably dry anytime soon though.

Sombrero wrote on 2024-05-04, 11:52:

kaputnik wrote on 2024-05-04, 09:58:

victormun wrote on 2024-05-03, 12:52:

Just one question: wouldn't the Ivy bridge requiere delidding of some sorts eventually?

Delidded my i7-3770k back in the day. It of course gave a substantial temp decrease when benching and pushing the CPU to the limit, but in real world scenarios, it only ran like 5°C cooler.

Might be worth it if you're one of those guys who finds pleasure in optimizing everything, however most retro machines see so little use that 5° C won't have any practical effect on lifetime etc.

I'm guessing victormun was talking about the possibility of the paste between the chip and IHS going dry, since Intel stopped soldering them with Ivy.

I've got no idea what kind of paste they used but I suppose none of them last forever. Probably aren't going to go unusably dry anytime soon though.

Ah. It's some kind of grey ceramic TIM, looks very similar to the Arctic MX series pastes.

I don't believe it matters if it dries anyways, the TIM interface is centered and well protected under the IHS, which is glued to the substrate. There won't be much relative movement exposing the interface to mechanical stress.

The only reason I can see to delid and replace it is to optimize heat transmission.

3770K TIM really hampers overclocking. So if that is a concern, you should pick 2700K or delid. PCIe 2.0 does not hamper performance of Windows XP compatible GPUs significantly.

Also, Sandy can in general OC higher than Ivy.
So, any performance gains from IPC on it can be "eaten" by frequency limitations.