Upgrading from an Intel i5 2320 suggestions.

So I'm thinking about upgrading my i5 2320 3ghz. I have no intention of changing out my motherboard, so I'm left with the LGA 1155 socket. (My terminology may be a bit off, forgive me).

I'm really only using my computer for gaming. So far, I've came across an i5 3570k 3.4ghz and an i7 3370s 3.1ghz. (Both at Fry's near my house). From what I understand so far, the 3570k is decent enough for me.

Im still doing a little searching but I thought I may as well toss this one out here and see if anyone has some more recommendations.

ETA - Also found an i7 3770k 3.5ghz at Best Buy.

a reply to: buni11687

Go with the i7 3770k. It is much faster than the others.

Reference here Link

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Depends on what chipset is on your motherboard, which motherboard is it ? If you are not on a z77 chipset then paying the extra cash for a "K" cpu is a bit useless... As the Ks are specifically made for overclocking (unlocked ratio) and are only usefull on chipsets adapted for overclocking, the z77 in the case of 1155 sockets.

So if you haven't got a z77 chipset and you don't want to overclock, you might as well get a 3770 (non K) and that's providing your motherboard supports 77w TDP cpus otherwise get a 3770s

In gaming without overclocking you probably won't notice any differences, between the 3770k 3770 and 3770s, so I'd say go for the cheapest 3770 cpu.

You will even see the same performance boost with an i5 3570 (non K) as a i7 3770, as it has the same base clock as the i7 (but less cache which wouldn't effect your gaming) but 100mhz lower boost (which is nothing especially if the cpu bearly goes into turbo mode). And games are not the best optimised programs on PC, they never use efficiently all the cores/threads available, and sythentic benchmarks aren't the best thing to look at (like pcmark, passmark, etc...) if you are interested in gaming performance you have to look at gaming benchmarks (cpu heavy ones, like battlefield 4 multiplayer for exemple, skyrim, watchdogs, which are cpu bound games)

www.techpowerup.com...

Techpowerup do good benchmarks, looking at equivalent clock speed, you see no difference. And K or non K cpu have exactly the same performance at the clock same speed.

And also what gpu are you using, most of the time for gaming your better off upgrading your gpu rather than your cpu

a reply to: WeSbO

Depends on what chipset is on your motherboard, which motherboard is it ?

H67 chipset. I dont have plans to overclock either. Im still leaning towards the i5, since I dont really see anything that justifies the extra over $100 price difference for the i7.

And also what gpu are you using, most of the time for gaming your better off upgrading your gpu rather than your cpu

I currently use a gtx 750. I can push games like Skyrim and Total War: Attila on high settings no problem. The only game I have to lower the settings on is Witcher 3. The 750 has held up pretty well over the years, but I'm thinking it's reached its peak and it's time to move on to big and better things. (looking to be ready for the next few years of gaming).

After thinking about it awhile longer, I may end up scrapping the processor upgrade and spend the cash on a new psu and gtx 960. Im just a bit worried looking into the next few years when it comes to processors. For example, I currently run 3ghz, while Witcher 3's minimum system requirements are 3.3ghz.

ETA - Im really new to understanding processors and some other computer components. The only hardware im really familiar with is gpu's.

One other thing in regards to the i5 3570.... Fry's has the 3570k in my store for $169.

After browsing Amazon and Newegg, their cheapest 3570's are a tad bit over $200. (non K models....not sure if Im searching wrong or something?)

....for the price at Fry's, even though I dont really need the "K" model, should I jump at that price?

Yes the 100$ will not be justified for an I7 in your case. And if you don't plan to overclock you can gain a bit more money by going for the non k 3570 i5, you might gain somewhere near 150$ like that

Sell that gtx 750 (you might get 70ish $ for it) save up a bit and go for a higher end card (maybe a second hand 970)

Or don't change your cpu and go for a card straight away (don't bother with the 960 if your really invested in gaming). I'll just have to check if you will be cpu limited* with your (i5 2320) which is highly possible...

*CPU limited means that your cpu isn't powerfull enough to enable a high end GPU to run at it's full potential (just in case you didn't know what that means)

- I've checked and with a 970 or 980 for that matter your cpu won't bottleneck/limit your gpu, these i5 2320 believe it or not are still solid CPUs ! I probably wouldn't bother changing the cpu for gaming and go with a higher end GPU instead.

What is your PSU ? What's the full specs of your pc for that matter ? And how much money do you have to spare ?

ETA : oh yes and don't take too much notice of the amount of GHZ, as you can't really say (even though developpers do...) this game needs this amount of GHZ, as it depends highly on architecture also...

a reply to: buni11687

Yeah a 3570k at 170$ is quite a good price, but I'm thinking that you might be quite disappointed in the perf gain (you will gain though, but maybe not as much as you think you will around 5fps)

a reply to: buni11687

Are you entirely sold on an Intel chip?

I would suggest one of the newer Vishera's or a Kaveri

www.newegg.com...

Cheap and high performing. Power draw is a bit much, but overall, pretty good.

~Tenth

a reply to: WeSbO

I currently have a psu with 430 watts. Im shooting for around a $350 price tag when it comes to a new gpu and power supply.

The 970's and 980's just seem a bit too far out of my price range currently, so that's why I'm thinking about the 960, or if there's an equivalent to it.

a reply to: tothetenthpower

Nooo !! Look at the benchmarks for gaming the a10-7850k performs lower than a i5 2320 ! Definitely not worth the money in changing CPU and motherboard if it's to buy an a10-7850k ! Money and less performance.

And that's coming from an AMD 8350 cpu user (which are far from the best CPUs, but the APUs are a joke for gaming, except if you haven't got the money to buy a GPU, but the 750 he has is better than the integrated graphics on the a10-7850k apu)

a reply to: buni11687

What make an model of PSU exactly? Yes 430w is a bit low, but if it's a good 430w psu you'll be ok. But yeah would be better to change the PSU...

350$ is enough to buy a 970... just have to make sure that the psu is enough

a reply to: WeSbO

LOL,

Benchmarks are not everything, a properly configured 8350 with the right GPU will outperform an i7.

AMD has taken tons of flack in the past for bad CPU's, but they've come a long way in the last few years.

And besides:

www.cpubenchmark.net...

Of the first ten CPU's on the list, the difference between the first and the last isn't even 75 points.

Negligible.

~Tenth

originally posted by: WeSbO
a reply to: buni11687

What make an model of PSU exactly? Yes 430w is a bit low, but if it's a good 430w psu you'll be ok. But yeah would be better to change the PSU...

350$ is enough to buy a 970... just have to make sure that the psu is enough

Thermaltake TR2.

originally posted by: tothetenthpower
a reply to: WeSbO

LOL,

Benchmarks are not everything,

As I mentioned above also! But an i5 2320 outperforms an a10-7850k in cpu compute power that is a fact, and especialey in games, due to single core performance. If you don't want to buy a dedicated gpu (as I mentioned above) the a10-7850k is the best bet (but you need some speedy ram, as fast ram gives better performance on these APUs), but combined with a dedicated gpu even a 750 the 2320 is still better.

Oh and the graphs that you are showing for passmark are just price to performance ratios, given at a certain time with a certain price, not very usefull in this case. CPUbenchmark is really not a reliable website, as it is not updated frequently (concerning the prices) and a lot of the good shops aren't referenced, mostly just newegg and amazon and when you click the prices aren't even right... And mixing mobile and desktop cpus in the same chart makes no sense at all.

a reply to: WeSbO

OH without the GPU yeah, I'd go Intel, the on board has always been a bit better.

Raw power isn't always a good indication of performance though. I've seen low end chips work far better after overclocking and some high end chips work better after under clocking them. It's all relative to whatever other hardware you're putting in there.

Bottlenecks can spring up in the most unlikely of places.

~Tenth

a reply to: tothetenthpower

Yeah that was the only thing that worried me is that a 970 would be bottlenecked by a 2320, but it isn't after checking. Though of course you would get better performance with a 4770 for example, but there is no bottleneck which is a good thing.

With 350$ for gaming a definitely would have gone with a gtx970 instead of changing cpu, considering that in a 18-24 months the 970 should still be relevant... with dx12 and everything...

a reply to: WeSbO

I replaced all by GTX stuff with R9's.

I have a 295x and a 290 right now. The wider bit path just makes it a superior card overall.

~Tenth

a reply to: buni11687

Nope a tr2 430w won't cut it unfortunately ... Not enough power given with the PCI-E connector. And not because there is not enough watts, a 2320 at full load pulls about 100w a gtx 970 (depending on model) around 200w, the rest doesn't pull 100w.

Get a 970, sell your 750, and you psu, you might get a 100$ for another psu.

a reply to: WeSbO

Yeah agreed...I would even suggest an 1250 lol.

I don't screw around when it comes to power supplies. Spent the little extra money and get a good one.

~Tenth

originally posted by: tothetenthpower
a reply to: WeSbO

Yeah agreed...I would even suggest an 1250 lol.

I don't screw around when it comes to power supplies. Spent the little extra money and get a good one.

~Tenth

Nah no need for a 1250w, coz if your pulling 400w max out of the PSU, that mean it will be at the lowest of it's efficiency, so that it would only be using 75-80% which means it's pulling 25% power out of the wall than what is needed.

Your better off going with a good high end 550w-600w that would never be at it's peak power, and would be running at 90-95% efficiency (which is really good for a PSU) the sweetspot for a PSU

It's not the watts that are important with a PSU, but the quality, your better off with an expensive low watt output than a cheap high watt output (and they would even be at around the same price).
Personnally I like the evga supernova range