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Processor upgrade i7 2600 to i5 3570K/ i7

dandubi

dandubi

dandubi

Associate
Joined
12 Nov 2012
Posts
170
Just wondering if someone could help me out.

I currently have a non 'K' edition of the i7-2600 CPU and was wondering if I would notice much difference in selling it and getting an i5-3570K / i7-3770K. I play BF3 and will be playing BF4 in the future and other FPS games mainly.

I have an after market CPU cooler (think it is an Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E SE) so a basic overclock would be possible also.

I am also in the market for a new GPU (currently have an EVGA 570 SC) but I wonder if the extra money used to upgrade the CPU would be better spent on buying a slightly better GPU or will my current CPU struggle with a single 7970 Matrix/TOP, Sapphire R9 280X Toxic OC or an NVIDIA equivalent...

System:
Intel 2600 CPU (not K edition)
MSI Mpower Z77 Motherboard
16GB Ram - Can't currently remember what speed / manufacturer.
2 x Samsung 840 SSD
Corsair HX750 PSU

Many Thanks,
Dan
 
The performance difference is pretty small but if you do want to change don't get the 3570K. Since you already have a 2600 a 3570K would be a waste of money, especially if you plan to play modern titles such as BF4. This is because the 3570K only has 4 cores whereas your processor has 4 cores 4 threads. The per core performance increase is fairly small between Sandy and Ivy bridge.

Your CPU should be perfectly fine for a 7970 in most, if not all, situations :)
 
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A stock 2600 will not bottleneck any of the cards you mentioned.

Getting a 3570K would be more of a side-grade than an upgrade since even when overclocked to 4.5+ Ghz the i5 would still be very very close to the 2600 in performance.

A 3770K would be the same as the 3570K in the games that use 1-4 cores while pulling ahead in ones that take advantage of 4+ cores.

If you want to prepare for new games like BF4 and Crysis 3 that are optimized for 4+ cores a 3770K would be better.

My opinion tho is to try and squeeze as much as you can from your 2600 and get a new GPU.
 
I've just had a look and your CPU turbos to 3.8ghz. I would imagine that's on one core, so let's say roughly 3.6ghz (that's how it worked on my old Sandy).

At that speed for gaming I wouldn't say your CPU is going to cut it. I ran my Xeon @ 3.8ghz (four cores sandy) and it bottlenecked my 670s like mad. Ideally you want 4.2-4.5ghz which is pretty optimal on Sandy but you're not going to get there with a 2600.

Soo, I would aim for 4ghz. Do some benchmarks now (3dmark 11 and Cinebench) then use my guide. You should get 4ghz on Turbo on all cores using my guide. If you want to approach the FSB too then you can squeeze out another 200 mhz or so.

At 4.2ghz? I believe you would be OK, and, no 3570k would even come close when everything your CPU has is being used.
 
dandubi said:
Appreciate the feedback on this.

Also thanks for the guide ALXAndy - I will give this a read and see what i can do.
Click to expand...

Wicked :) let us know how you get on. I never did get to fully try it out because my board fluffed a bios update and died :( I did get the bus clocks going though :D
 
No not really. What cooling do you have?

Edit. No that doesn't sound right at all seeing what cooler you have.
 
This is my current temps being displayed...

ahOQNX8l.jpg
 
dandubi said:
Yeah, I didn't realise that the BIOS did that. Under windows the temps are much better and the CPU fan was only spinning 620 RPM.

Thanks again for your help ALXAndy.
Click to expand...

No worries man my pleasure :) Did you bus clock it too?

Nice that you can give it a shove when you need it really :)
 
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