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Go up to i5 or stick with i3?

Moonpie2

Moonpie2

Moonpie2

Soldato
Joined
23 Dec 2002
Posts
2,881
Location
Shiny Shanghai
So my pc is acting weird.
It keeps dying and I cannot for the life of me find the problem.
So since I've had it around 2 years it might be time to start swapping out the components anyway, gonna start with the cheapest ones then work my way up.

I currently have an i3 540, but I'm wondering if an i5 (3450 or 3470) is gonna be THAT much better, or should I just pop another i3 back into it?

Cheers
 
Depends of what you play and what your budget is. Personally, I wouldn't go for anything short of a i5 that can overclock.

With that said, are you sure you can't fix your existing PC? Could be just problem with currupted windows (can be fixed by a fresh install), or may be just the PSU need replacing.

While the i3 540 is no beast at stock clock, when it is overclocked to 4.2GHz or above, it still a sturdy little CPU that can still handle what you throw at it quite well.
 
I've tried everything I can think of.
Uninstalling and reinstalling drivers.
Fresh install of windows.
Running Memtest and Prime95 type stuff.
I'm really at a loose end !!

Oh well, these things happen :)

So you think get a cheap i3 again and maybe overclock it a little?
 
Moonpie2 said:
I've tried everything I can think of.
Uninstalling and reinstalling drivers.
Fresh install of windows.
Running Memtest and Prime95 type stuff.
I'm really at a loose end !!

Oh well, these things happen :)

So you think get a cheap i3 again and maybe overclock it a little?
Click to expand...
Have you tried reseating the memory and/or tried one stick at a time?

But if your heart is set on upgrading, then I guess it's really time to move on...but my worry is that if it is problem with the memory, upgrading the motherboard and CPU you would still have the same problem.

I have to make one thing clear about the new i3- they cannot be overclocked. For Intel's Sandy/Ivy Bridge CPUs, only the K-version CPU can overclock (only i5 or i7), and you would need either a Z77 or Z68 board. The old P67 board would overclock SandyBridge i5, but I don't think it would support the new IvyBridge CPU and considering it is long pass it's EOL, you might as well forget about it. If you are going to get a board, I would say just get a Z77 board to save yourself the trouble.

However despite the IvyBridge i3 3220 cannot be overclocked, it is still offer quite decent gaming performance for its price. For most FPS games in general, it should have no problem doing around 40-60fps minimum frame rate. However, if your main preference in multiplayer online games like mmos etc, I would strongly suggest you to spend the extra and get either i5 2500K or a i5 3570K depending on your budget. I would recommend getting a i5 2500K new as it is not much cheaper than the faster i5 3570K, but if you can find one 2nd hand for a bargain price, it is worth thinking about.
 
Last edited:
Thanx for the large reply !!

Like I say, every test I've done tells me that my hardware is fine.
Yet a fresh windows installation didn't solve the problem.

I'm going to treat myself to some nice memory first and run the PC for a week and see how things go. If the dying keeps happening, then I'll go for a new CPU.

I think I might just go for an i5. That should keep me going for another year or so before I start getting jealous of all the new CPUs ;)
 
By the way you didn't mention anything about your graphic card...any chance it is that that is on its way out?

Also to clarify one more time- IvyBridge is newer and faster than SandyBridge and is on 22nm process intead of 32nm process.
 
It's a weird way of dying. Not really pointing to the GFX card.

It tends to happen when listening to MP3s (but not exclusively).
So I'll be listening to something.... anything...... then suddenly and without warning, the MP3 will start to play about 20 times slower, it's actually kinda spooky.

Then over the course of about a minute, the super slow sound will gradually fade to silence and all the time this is happening absolutely nothing is responsive. :confused:
 
On the gpu front are you able to use the igpu for a bit and see if that stops it occuring?

Anyway to me that sounds like either a driver, failing drive or motherboard problem of some kind.
 
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