Worth upgrading to i5 3570k?

[Rossi1911]

I'm still using my old Core 2 Quad Q9550 @2.8 GHz.

I'm using my PC for gaming and daily productivity such as Word, Excel, Photoshop, etc.

Is it worth upgrading to i5 3570k? If it's worth it, I should upgrade my mainboard and RAM as well because they're still LGA 775 socket.

My current specs:

CPU: Q9550
Graphic card: GTX 560
Hard Drive: 500GB
Memory: 4GB DDR2

[Trevor]

You woud have to upgrade the moutherboard and RAM.

[_I_]

yes, that would be a huge improvement over the c2d

gtx 560 is still a decent card, similar to a 7850

if you are near a microcenter
http://www.microcenter.com/site/stores/default.aspx
3570k combos start at $215+tax
http://www.microcenter.com/site/brands/intel-processor-bundles.aspx

and 8g ram kits are around $50-60

Crucial Ballistix Elite 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 8 Dual Channel Kit 1600 cl8 1.5v (PC3 12800) BLE2CP4G3D1608DE1TX0
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006YG9398/?tag=pcpapi-20

[Mr_MUS1C]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html

A helpful hierarchy chart puts 3670k three tiers higher than Q9950.

[Rossi1911]

Escrito originalmente por _I_:

yes, that would be a huge improvement over the c2d

gtx 560 is still a decent card, similar to a 7850

if you are near a microcenter
http://www.microcenter.com/site/stores/default.aspx
3570k combos start at $215+tax
http://www.microcenter.com/site/brands/intel-processor-bundles.aspx

and 8g ram kits are around $50-60

Crucial Ballistix Elite 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM 8 Dual Channel Kit 1600 cl8 1.5v (PC3 12800) BLE2CP4G3D1608DE1TX0
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006YG9398/?tag=pcpapi-20

You're mistaken. My current cpu is Core 2 Quad not Core 2 Duo.

for 8GB RAM, is Crucial a decent RAM? Or should I pick Corsair?

Thanks.

[Mr_MUS1C]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/7PY6

If you are after a m-atx board this one comes with 8GB of Crucial ram for free atm.

[_I_]

oops, misread it, still a good improvement over c2q tho

newegg combos arent the best choices
thats a single 8g dimm, not bad if you want to buy another for dual channel, but if you only need 8g its not a good choice

[banzaigtv]

An i5-3570k may be a fine choice, but keep in mind that next-generation games will be multithreaded and therefore, the i7-3770k would be a smarter choice if you want to "future-proof" your rig. When playing Crysis 3, all eight threads of my CPU nearly max out. Also, Haswell 4th generation is coming out next month and you should actually wait a little while for that.

[[☥] - CJ -]

an i5 is plenty.

i went from a Q8300 setup to an i5 2500k rig and the difference was AMAZING! and being as you have a GTX 560 you will definately see a boost just as i did when i had a 460 SE at the time.

As said, you could wait a lil while till the new socket comes out. wait n see reviews n benchmarks for the new socket. Ivy Bridge doesnt overclock as well as Sandy Bridge CPUs do as they run a lil hotter, so maybe Intel has fixed that little flaw in the new CPUs.

RAM/CPU and Motherboard cost me a lil over $500 in total and that was with choosing a $200ish ASUS motherboard and 8GB Corsair Vengeance 1600 RAM, so yeah go with Corsair. ive NEVER had a problem with it and its Overclocked to 1657mhz.

i had Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR2 800mhz RAM in my 775 rig and you wouldnt believe how much trouble i had in that system all due to 1 of the RAM sticks being bad. now i dunno if DDR3 Crucial is higher quality, but all the same Corsair is better.


If you can do that while reusing your PC Case and such then go for it. Though you may want to spend a lil more and get yourself a new SATA III Hard Drive.
-

This is pretty much the Z77 version of my Z68 board, absolutely a great board. - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131819

[rotNdude]

I upgraded from a QX6700 to an i5 3570K and the difference is significant. It was very much worth the money.

[[☥] - CJ -]

bout time you upgraded rotN

[Joscco]

I'd say it's absolutely worth the money. The 3570K is an excellent gaming CPU. I upgraded from an Intel Core 2 Quad 2.66GHZ Q9400 to an Intel i5-2500K and the difference was crazy. You'll also have to get a new motherboard to support the socket of the 3570K.

[Faces of Death]

I'd suggest just waiting out a little bit for Haswell.

[rotNdude]

Escrito originalmente por PerpetualDeath:

I'd suggest just waiting out a little bit for Haswell.

I don't think I would. Haswell offers a slight improvement for IPC, but other than that it's more about the on-chip video. The CPUs will be about the same price.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haswell_(microarchitecture)

[Faces of Death]

Escrito originalmente por rotNdude:

Escrito originalmente por PerpetualDeath:

I'd suggest just waiting out a little bit for Haswell.

I don't think I would. Haswell offers a slight improvement for IPC, but other than that it's more about the on-chip video. The CPUs will be about the same price.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haswell_(microarchitecture)

I didn't mean just for performance gain, though. It'll make future upgrades easier because they will probably follow with the z87 chipset.

[JammyGuns]

I went from a qq6600 to a 3570k in a new rig just recently, and unsurprisingly it was definitely a performance boost. Every game improved to some degree. How much? Depends on the game. Skyrim for instance is night and day better, literally something like a 15 - 20 fps improvement from where I was. It runs at a solid 60 fps whereever I go in the game, whereas before in some of the more taxing locations/towns, I would perhaps drop below 30 (I'm using the same GPU - GTX 560 TI OC). So that's more than a significant increase. Other games... a handful of frames better but still well worth it if you've got the dosh.