Just the other day I made the choice to upgrade my i5 3570k to a i7 3770k as a stop gap until 2017 and probably the main stream release of 6+ core. I personally don't see ddr4 plus the other features worthwhile currently if on Ivybridge or greater and given my PC is used predominantly for gaming. I also never intend to go dual card for the foreseeable future.
There's always lots of posts about this choice on various forums including during the decision on a new build so I thought I'd post my initial impressions, as it's a mixed bag from what I've seen online.
After sale of the i5, the upgrades probably in the region of £100 give or take on my 1155 platform. I did however pay a little more than I could have in buying from a reputable seller and to secure a good batch number (not really important given my mild clock and cooler setup).
Installation couldn't of been easier, BIOS auto detecting new CPU - F1 into setup and no need for the key in windows again.
My 3570k was ran at 4.3 @ 1.24v max under an Alpenfohn Matterhorn. I'm using the same cooler on the 3770k currently also at 4.3 @ 1.2v. This may need tweaking however and it's fair to say the 3570k could have probably been ran at a lower voltage, however the temperatures never bothered me. All other settings are identical. The 3770k does run noticeably hotter given the hyper-threading despite the decrease in voltage. Whilst I may see a 1-2c drop after full cure time, it's still a good 5c-6c over the i5 despite the decrease in voltage. If your cooling isn't sufficient to hold an i5 under 80c in prime or the like, it's certainly worth changing your cooler, which adds to the cost and makes everything less worthwhile compared to a new full/near full build.
In terms of performance, on Windows 10 even with a SSD, it does appear slightly snappier in overall use. Full boot time seems marginally quicker, shut down time is certainly quicker. It's not like going from a HDD to a SSD as you would expect though.
So far, I've benched the following:
Cinebench R15:
3570k @ 4.3 - 599
3770k @ 4.3 - 783
31% gain
3D Mark 11:
3570k @ 4.3 - P12,435
3770k @ 4.3 - P13,541
8% gain
It's worth noting that in the 3d mark 11 physics test, the increase was 24%. The combined test was also noticeably better.
I have also managed to take a look CPU usage in The Division. This was the game that got me wanting to upgrade. My 3570k at 4.3 would regularly see 80%+, sometimes 90%+ and very occasionally see the full 100% usage. This isn't on max settings either, not even close in fact. This kind of use made me reluctant to want to upgrade the gpu. So far on the i7, I've yet to see into 70%+. I would guess the average has dropped in the region of 15-20% on the 3770k at 4.3.
I've yet to test BF4 minimums, TW3 and to see how Doom does (supposedly well multi threaded), however already I would say the upgrade is worthwhile in giving some longevity to older systems. I've gone from contemplating thinking of selling this build to at most wanting a 1070 onto eyeing a 1080, happily moving to 1440p and still not feel like I'm missing out. I'll just have to ignore the fact that some of the tech in the system is as old as when the iPhone 5 was the latest thing
There's always lots of posts about this choice on various forums including during the decision on a new build so I thought I'd post my initial impressions, as it's a mixed bag from what I've seen online.
After sale of the i5, the upgrades probably in the region of £100 give or take on my 1155 platform. I did however pay a little more than I could have in buying from a reputable seller and to secure a good batch number (not really important given my mild clock and cooler setup).
Installation couldn't of been easier, BIOS auto detecting new CPU - F1 into setup and no need for the key in windows again.
My 3570k was ran at 4.3 @ 1.24v max under an Alpenfohn Matterhorn. I'm using the same cooler on the 3770k currently also at 4.3 @ 1.2v. This may need tweaking however and it's fair to say the 3570k could have probably been ran at a lower voltage, however the temperatures never bothered me. All other settings are identical. The 3770k does run noticeably hotter given the hyper-threading despite the decrease in voltage. Whilst I may see a 1-2c drop after full cure time, it's still a good 5c-6c over the i5 despite the decrease in voltage. If your cooling isn't sufficient to hold an i5 under 80c in prime or the like, it's certainly worth changing your cooler, which adds to the cost and makes everything less worthwhile compared to a new full/near full build.
In terms of performance, on Windows 10 even with a SSD, it does appear slightly snappier in overall use. Full boot time seems marginally quicker, shut down time is certainly quicker. It's not like going from a HDD to a SSD as you would expect though.
So far, I've benched the following:
Cinebench R15:
3570k @ 4.3 - 599
3770k @ 4.3 - 783
31% gain
3D Mark 11:
3570k @ 4.3 - P12,435
3770k @ 4.3 - P13,541
8% gain
It's worth noting that in the 3d mark 11 physics test, the increase was 24%. The combined test was also noticeably better.
I have also managed to take a look CPU usage in The Division. This was the game that got me wanting to upgrade. My 3570k at 4.3 would regularly see 80%+, sometimes 90%+ and very occasionally see the full 100% usage. This isn't on max settings either, not even close in fact. This kind of use made me reluctant to want to upgrade the gpu. So far on the i7, I've yet to see into 70%+. I would guess the average has dropped in the region of 15-20% on the 3770k at 4.3.
I've yet to test BF4 minimums, TW3 and to see how Doom does (supposedly well multi threaded), however already I would say the upgrade is worthwhile in giving some longevity to older systems. I've gone from contemplating thinking of selling this build to at most wanting a 1070 onto eyeing a 1080, happily moving to 1440p and still not feel like I'm missing out. I'll just have to ignore the fact that some of the tech in the system is as old as when the iPhone 5 was the latest thing
Last edited:
